The Trip to Bountiful Page #4

Yes, ma'am. I'm sorry.

I don't know

what gets into me.

Nobody needs

to be ashamed of crying.

I guess we've all dampened

our pillows at some time,

and lord knows

I have.

[ Sighs ]

If only I could just learn

not to worry.

I know.

I guess we all ask that.

Jessie mae, my daughter-in-law,

she don't worry.

"What for?" She says.

Well,

like I tell her,

it's a fine attitude

if you can cultivate it.

Trouble is,

I can't do it no more.

It is hard.

I didn't

used to worry.

I was so carefree

as a girl.

[ Chuckles ]

I had lots to worry me,

too.

Everybody in bountiful

was so poor.

But we got along.

I said to my papa once after

our third crop failure in a row,

"whoever gave this place

the name of bountiful?"

His papa did,

he said,

because in those days,

it was a land of plenty.

All you had to do

is drop seeds in the ground

and crops

would just spring up...

cotton, corn,

and sugar cane.

I still think it's

the prettiest place I know of.

Jessie mae

says it's the ugliest.

She's just says that,

I know, to make me mad.

And then Sonny...

that's my boy, ludie...

he says

not to answer her back

'cause it only

causes argument

and nobody ever won an argument

with jessie mae.

And I guess that's right.

[ Chuckles ]

Mrs. Watts?

Yes?

I think

I ought to tell you this.

I don't want you to think I'm

interfering in your business,

but your son and daughter-in-law

came in after you left.

No, I know.

I saw them coming.

That's why I ran out

so fast.

[ Chuckles ]

Your son

seemed very concerned.

Bless his heart.

He found a handkerchief

you had left.

[ Gasps ]

Mercy, that's right.

He asked

if I seen you.

I felt like

I had to say yes.

I wouldn't have said anything

if he hadn't asked.

Oh.

That's all right.

I would have done the same thing

in your place.

Did you talk

to jessie mae?

Yes.

Isn't she a sight?

[ Both chuckle ]

I think ludie knows how I feel

about getting back to bountiful.

Once when I was talking

about something

we did back there in the old

days, he just bust out crying.

He was so overcome, he jumped up

and ran out the room.

[ Humming ]

That's a pretty hymn.

What's the name

of it?

"There's not a friend

like the lowly Jesus. "

You like hymns?

Yes, I do.

So do I.

I bet I sing it

a hundred times a day

when jessie mae

ain't home.

Hymns make

jessie mae nervous.

So many people

are nervous today.

Ludie wasn't nervous

back in bountiful.

Neither was I.

Breeze from the Gulf

would always quiet your nerves.

You can sit

on your front gallery

and smell the ocean

blowing in around you.

[ Chuckles ]

Callie says I could always

come back and visit with her.

She meant that,

too.

That's who I'm gonna stay with,

Callie Davis.

I get a card from her

every Christmas.

I wrote her last week,

and I told her to expect me.

I got to get back and smell that

salt air and work that dirt.

Where do you go

from Harrison?

Old Gulf.

My family just moved there

from Louisiana.

Hmm.

I'll stay there

until my husband comes home.

That's nice.

It's gonna be funny

living at home again.

How long

have you been married?

A year.

My husband was anxious

for me to go.

He said he'd worry

about me being alone.

I'm the only child.

My parents and I

are very close.

That's nice.

I so hoped my mother and daddy

would like my husband

and he'd like them.

I needn't have worried.

They liked each other

from the very first.

[ Chuckles ]

Mother and daddy said

they feel like

they have two children now...

a son and a daughter.

Isn't that nice?

I've heard people say

that when your son marries,

you lose a son,

but when your daughter marries,

you get a son.

What's your husband's name?

Robert.

That's a nice name.

I think so.

But I guess any name he had

I'd think was nice.

I love my husband

very much.

Lots of girls I know

think I'm silly about him,

but...

I just can't help it.

[ Chuckles ]

I wasn't in love

with my husband.

Do you believe we're punished

for what we do wrong?

I sometimes think that's why

I've had all my troubles.

I talked to many a preacher

about it,

and all but one

said he didn't think so.

I can't see any other reason,

though.

Of course...

...I didn't lie

to my husband.

I told him

I didn't love him...

that I admired him,

which I did,

but I didn't love him,

that I'd never love anybody

but ray John Murray

as long

as I lived.

And I didn't,

and I couldn't help it.

And after

my husband died

and I had to move in

with mama and papa,

I used to sit on

my front gallery every morning

and every evening

just to nod hello

to ray John Murray as he went by

the house to work at the store.

He went a mile out of his way

to pass the house.

He never loved nobody

but me.

Why didn't you

marry him?

His papa and my papa

didn't speak.

And my papa forced me

to write a letter to him

saying I never wanted

to see him again.

He got drunk

and married out of spite.

I felt sorry

for his wife

because she knew

he never loved her.

I don't think

about those things anymore.

But they're all

a part of bountiful,

so I guess that's why I'm

starting to think of them again.

You're lucky to be married

to the man you love, honey.

I know I am.

Awfully lucky.

[ Gasps ]

Did you see that star

fall over there?

No.

Prettiest thing

I ever saw.

You can make a wish

on a falling star, honey.

I know.

It's too bad I didn't see it.

Take my wish.

Oh, no.

Go on!

I've gotten mine already.

I'm on my way

to bountiful.

Oh.

Good evening.

Good evening.

[ Chuckles ]

You want some help

with these bags?

[ Chuckles ]

Thank you.

You're welcome.

Oh, is this bus to old Gulf

gonna be on time?

Always is.

[ Chuckles ]

What time is it,

honey?

12:
00.

12:
00?

Mm-hmm.

Oh, would Callie Davis

be surprised to see me

walking in at 12:00.

You told her you were

coming into town today?

No.

I didn't know.

I had to wait till jessie mae

went to the drug store.

My bus will be leaving

in a half an hour.

Oh.

I see.

Well, I guess

I'd better be finding out

how I'm gonna get

to bountiful.

You sit down.

I'll ask the man.

Well,

thank you.

Excuse me.

Yes, ma'am?

My friend here

would like to know

how she can get

to bountiful.

Bountiful?

Yes.

What's she

going there for?

Oh, I'm gonna visit

my girlfriend.

I don't know

who that's gonna be.

The last person in bountiful

was miss Callie Davis.

She died

the day before yesterday.

I mean, that is, they found her

the day before yesterday.

She lived all alone,

so they don't know

exactly when she died.

Callie Davis?

Yes, ma'am.

Had the funeral

this morning.

Was she the one

you was going to visit?

She was the one.

Sh-she was my friend,

my girlfriend.

Is there a hotel here?

Yes, ma'am,

the riverview.

How far is it?

About five blocks.

[ Sighs ]

What will you do now,

Mrs. Watts?

I'm thinking,

honey.

I'm thinking.

This comes

as quite a blow.

I'm sorry.

I'm so sorry.

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