B (29:28)
Our only plan was that we had reserved a cabin for a month in the mountains of Tennessee on a lake. And that was the extent of our plan. There was so much adrenaline from the escape and then driving all night and not having any sleep. John didn't want to travel on the interstates because he felt like, you know, there's always police on the interstates looking for stuff. And for the first time, you know, I kind of saw him as immature, you know, which he was younger than me by quite a lot. But inside the prison, I mean, he acted like he was 35 or 40. He just had the experience and the intellect and the calm demeanor. But during the escape, there were times when I could see a teenager, you know, driving that car, and it was not what I had expected. It took us forever to get there. It's about an eight hour drive if we would have driven interstates. But it took us 24 hours to get there, and we were just exhausted by the time we got there. And then, you know, of course, when we got to the cabin, that was really the best part of our relationship, was the physical part. It just was such a fulfillment of such a desire. Everything about the physical part of our relationship was what I imagined. And it was, it was. It was really good. I thought that we would just stay hidden in that cabin because, you know, John had just escaped from prison. But John said, I want to live. I want to see the world. I want to experience the world. He wanted to go to a steakhouse. He wanted to go to McDonald's. He wanted to see the mountains. He wanted to see a snake exhibit. He wanted to go to the Movies. He stopped at a Russell Stover's candy store and bought me some chocolates. And then we went to a pet store and he bought me a bird. Every time we went out, we wore wigs. And I had bought wigs before we left, and I had them stored in the truck. And my purpose with the wigs was to get something really different than our natural hair color or style. So I got a really dark wig for me that was longer. And I got John a man's wig that had graying hair in it. And he was like, I am not wearing gray hair. I am just not doing it. And I said, well, why not? They won't be looking for that. And so he insisted. We went to a wig shop, and he went in and bought his own wig. And it was a long hippie wig with blonde hair that went past his elbows and just parted down the middle. And I said, john, no guys wear their hair that way anymore. He said, well, that's how I'm wearing mine. John did a really good job about keeping me in the dark and keeping me ignorant of what was going on. We never turned on the TV and we never turned on the radio because he knew we'd be on the news, and he knew if I saw it that I would get all freaked out. And so I never did see it. But then one day we drove through this McDonald's drive through, and I had my laptop. I brought my laptop with me, and I opened the laptop, and it automatically connected to the Wi Fi at McDonald's. And my homepage for the Internet was Kansas City dot com. That's just what had been set to always. There was a big headline that said, dog trainer Implicated in Escape. And I freaked out. I said, john, they know I was involved. You told me they would never suspect me, you know. And he slammed the lid of the computer shut and said, don't turn that computer on again. We went into Chattanooga and we went to an IMAX movie, and then we went to the aquarium. And then we stopped at a Barnes and Noble bookstore because he wanted to buy me where the Red Fern Grows because it was one of his favorite books. And when we walked out of the bookstore, we walked in front of these two marshals. They were sitting in the parking lot, and we walked right in front of their truck. We got into our truck and we started down the highway, and they followed us. And when we got up and we came over this hill, they had the highway closed. And the only cars on the highway were a bunch of police cars. And there was like 40 or 50 police cars there was every color, every department, every type of police car you could imagine was on this highway waiting to trap us into not being able to move. And John said to me, toby, what do you want to do? I mean, you're part of this too, so you should have a say. And I said, well, if they turn on their sirens and, and tell you to pull over, you've got to pull over because it's the law. He said, okay, if you want to pull over, that's what we'll do. And just then a car sped around us and zipped in front of us and slammed on their brakes and wanting us to hit them so we couldn't go. And it made John mad and he said, they're trying to kill us. I'm going to just drive till we run out of gas. And I remember looking at the gas tank and seeing three quarters of a tank and I thought, I can't make it through 3/4 of a tank of a car chase, you know, and, and we took off and we were going like 100 miles an hour and he was weaving in and out of these cars. I have never driven over the speed limit or, or not stopped at a stop sign. I'm, I'm very, you know, precise at following all the rules. And being in a high speed car chase was just, I just, it was beyond me. And when we got to the point where we really couldn't go forward, he drove across the median into the lanes going the other way. We came out on the other side and these police cars all followed us through the median. And when he came out on the other side, he lost control of the truck and the steering wheel froze and he couldn't control it anymore. And we went across the interstate right in front of a semi truck. I don't know how it didn't manage to hit us. That whole entire car chase. I went into this weird place where everything was in slow motion. I mean, that car chase took like 20 minutes when I know it was just a minute maybe at the most, but everything was slowed down and I couldn't hear anything. I was in this void with no sound. So there were sirens around me and John was talking. I could see, I could see his mouth flapping. I couldn't hear a word he said. And I knew we were going to hit this tree. I knew which tree we were going to hit. It was almost like a magnet pulling us to it. And I was praying, you know, God, please, please, please just let me die in this crash because I Can't face what comes next. Just let me go. I'm done. And we hit the street head on. And all of a sudden all the sound came back and all the noise and everything was back in normal time. And I didn't die. And I couldn't figure out why God didn't answer my prayer, because it was a fervent prayer. I really meant it. I wanted to go. It was about 100 miles an hour. Crash. And it broke out my window. And the steam was coming out of the engine, and it was night, it was dark. And there was a helicopter up above us shining a light down. And he said, I got to get out of the car, Toby, or they're gonna start shooting. And so he unhooked his seatbelt and he got out, and they were on him immediately. And then some officer came running up to my window, and my window was busted out, and I had a little black shotgun, automatic shotgun thing. And he stuck it in the window and said, get out of the vehicle. And he pulled me out of the window and threw me on the ground. And I remember thinking, who does he think I am? I would have just gotten out and done whatever he told me to do. And I think that's when the realization finally hit me that, you know, this is your new life, Toby. You're this. You're a criminal now. They're going to treat you like a criminal, and it's not going to be pretty. You know, it was just surreal. And then I remember John running around the back of the truck, and he had like four or five marshals hanging on his arms, and he was dragging them, and he was screaming, are you okay? Are you okay? And I remember looking over my shoulder while I was laying on the ground. And when he came around behind the truck, the helicopter was above him, and the helicopter light silhouetted him exactly the same way as the sun had done that very first day I met him. And then that was the last time I saw John. For quite a while. I thought, I'm not ready for this to be over yet. I mean, that was the first thought I had. It's not time. I'm not. I'm not ready. And. And then that was it. We got arrested on a Friday night. And then on a Monday, we went to court in a small town in Tennessee. And I so wasn't prepared for that because, you know, we pulled into town and the whole streets of this town were blocked off, and they had news vans blocking the streets. And my first thought was, oh, brother, now I'm here on A day when something big's happening, not only do I have to go to court, but I'm gonna have to deal with this whole mess. And. And I said something, and the officer turned and looked at me and she said, toby, you are. Why they're. The reporters were sticking microphones in my face. And he said, Toby, were 12 days with John Maynard worth 10 years of your life? And I looked at him and I just kind of collapsed on the sidewalk. And the woman officer that was with me lifted me up and took me into the courthouse. And that was the first time I ever heard a number. And 10 years, you know, I'm thinking, 10 years. What is he talking about? 10 years? I'm going to get 10 years in prison. If I had died in that crash, people would have loved me. They would have said good things about me. You know, they wouldn't be saying these horrible things on tv. They wouldn't, you know, be out to crucify me. They would have loved me. I should have just died in that car crash. It would have been so much easier. I got two state charges for bringing contraband into the prison and for driving John out of the prison. I pled guilty and we agreed to a sentence of 21 months. Of course, my husband was outraged, which I don't blame him for, but he screamed and yelled at me for the whole time we talked. And then finally at the end, he said, what about us? And I said, I've already left. We got our divorce papers finalized the day before my court sentencing. When I went to prison and it felt really like a new beginning,