Where the Heart Is Page #3

Wow.

So...

I'm thinking...

...what with your money

and my money together...

...we might find a real decent place.

I don't want you to worry

about anything anymore...

...because Mama Lil is here now.

Why don't you come by

and pick us up tomorrow? 9 a.m.?

On the dot.

I got a lot of stuff to do.

We gotta get diapers,

and blankets, and a cradle...

- Mama?

- Yeah?

Thank you for coming.

You bet.

(AMERICUS CRIES)

It's okay, baby. It's okay.

Shh. Okay.

You should try to call

whoever is coming.

I don't know where she is.

I could call a cab for you.

Where are you going?

(AMERICUS CRIES)

Five hundred dollars,

I should have known.

(HONKS)

Hey.

Well, look at all this.

And look at you.

Oh, yes, you're just as cute today

as you were yesterday.

Maybe cuter.

Well...

You know that tree?

Your tree that you planted in my yard?

I'm trying to take care of it.

I don't have the feel for it.

I don't have the time either.

I thought that maybe if you and the

baby came with me for a while...

...you could take care of it for me.

It'd sure help me out a lot.

Okay.

MARY:
Forney.

FORNEY:
What?

MARY:
Where are you?

- I'm putting the dishes in the sink.

MARY:
Forney!

- I'll be right back.

(KNOCKING)

MARY:
Forney!

- We're closed!

MARY:

Forney!

Look...

Hi. Can I come in?

Uh, yeah.

MARY:

I need a towel.

They're in the bathroom.

- Is this a bad time?

- Yeah. No.

- I just wanted to thank you for...

MARY:
I can't reach them!

Give me two minutes!

I'll be right there!

- Sorry, l...

- That's okay, I...

I just wanted

to thank you for, well...

I guess you saved our lives,

me and Americus.

Americus?

You want to hold her?

- Oh.

- It's okay.

Oh. Oh, oh.

Moses Whitecotton gave me this

as a baby gift.

Uh-huh.

Hat.

All right. One, two, three, smile.

MARY:
Forney!

- L...

All right. So...

- I'll see you soon.

- Uh-huh.

Oh, right.

- Bye.

- Bye.

MARY:

Forney!

- You may find...

PRISONER:
Shut up!

Look inside and find the part

(SIGHS)

Look inside and find the part

That's leading you

(GRUNTING)

What do you think?

Took me a whole month to get back

to my old size.

Oh, well, a little weight

on a woman's no harm.

What do you think of that? Breakfast?

No, before work I'm taking your truck

in to get those breaks checked.

I'm paying. Don't argue.

There's people at the door.

Oh, here, hold her.

Here. Here you go.

- Hello.

- Here you go.

- Who's a good girl?

- Yes.

I got her.

Yes?

Ma'am, we have come to bring the word

of God to the Wal-Mart baby...

...and to her young, unmarried mama.

We drove all the way up

from Midnight, Mississippi.

Well, you folks could have saved

yourself a trip...

...because the word of God has been

in this house a long time.

I thought that was over and done...

...people wanting to see

the Wal-Mart baby.

Bye, sweetie.

Mama will be back.

- Bye, Mr. Sprock.

- I made links.

Thank you.

Dear Lord, we pray...

...that you will bless this food...

...and we ask forgiveness...

...for the fornication

that Mr. Sprock and me...

...committed this morning

on this very table.

- Amen.

- Amen.

(BARREL RATTLES)

MAN:
You can't park there.

We ain't open yet.

I know that, but I gotta get to work.

MAN:
I gotta keep the sidewalk clear.

- I'll leave you the key...

(LONESTAR'S "ONLY YOU" PLAYS)

I think I might be pregnant.

You know that guy I met last month?

Yeah, the good-Iooking mechanic.

I don't know what's wrong with me.

I didn't even want to be with him.

- Well, didn't he use anything?

- Just me.

NOVALEE:

I don't know what I'm gonna do.

This gypsy woman told me that

if you jump backwards nine times...

...before sunup,

you won't be pregnant.

So I jumped so far...

...I had to take a bus home,

and then I had twins.

The guy I'm seeing is pretty perfect.

Why's that?

Well, he's sterile as a cotton ball.

- So it's permanent?

- He had mumps when he was 15...

...and they went down on him.

Down where?

To his manly areas.

So they're...?

Oh, God, Novalee, no.

He's just shooting blanks, is all.

Girls like us don't get

the pick of the litter.

I don't think you're pregnant.

You'll have to wait.

- I'll see you.

- Bye.

KIDS:

Bye!

Ready to go?

(NOVALEE GRUNTS)

Are you finding what you want?

I don't know what they're

talking about.

I look up every other word...

...then I look them up

in the children's dictionary.

Takes me a half-hour to read a page.

Maybe it's hard to learn from books.

- I mean, it's photography.

- Hard for me, anyway.

Uh...

- Something wrong?

- Is there a ladies' room?

- Yeah.

- Okay, thanks.

NOVALEE:

Yes! Thank you, Lord!

Thank you so much!

Things went well?

You bet!

Oh, I've gotta go.

- Got a big date or something?

- No.

Oh, because I thought you were

sort of seeing somebody...

No, that's done. That's finished.

I'm done with guys like that.

Like what?

You know, good-Iooking, cocky...

...and look great in some tight jeans

and a white T-shirt.

Those guys are all wrong

for me, Forney.

I don't want that anymore.

I want a change.

No more men at all.

Oh.

(GLASS BREAKING)

Forney, help me.

All right.

Who's that?

Novalee, I'd like you

to meet my sister.

This is Mary Elizabeth Hall.

She's the librarian.

Mary Elizabeth's a lot older than me.

I was still a kid

when she started drinking.

Oh, you're underselling that. Yeah.

I was 10 the first

time my father put her away.

Away? Where?

In a sanitorium back East.

So, what exactly are you looking for?

I'm looking for a gift for Sister

and Mr. Sprock.

- It's their anniversary.

- Anniversary?

Yeah, they've been "close"

for six years.

I was back East at college and...

- College?

- I was studying to be a teacher.

My dad died and my sister

couldn't be left alone.

She begged me not to send her away,

and said she'd kill herself if I did.

That was nine years ago.

So, what are you thinking?

Candlestick holders? Picture frame?

Good God. Who would buy

somebody else's toupee?

Oh, my gosh. Look at this.

It needs a little cleaning, is all.

Hey, Moses, you want to hear

something funny?

I wouldn't mind.

Well, I was thinking that someday...

I mean, a long time from now,

I could...

...maybe be a photographer.

That's not funny.

It's not?

You don't hear me laughing.

(COUNTRY MUSIC PLAYS)

(ENGINE RUMBLES)

("JINGLE BELLS" PLAYS)

I never had a Christmas tree before.

Not a live one.

- You have one of those aluminum ones?

- No.

Those cost money.

No, when I was 8,

I was living with this old lady.

She promised me we'd have

a Christmas tree.

And then she went

and spent all her money...

...on a set of bagpipes because...

Well, I guess she was just insane.

But she felt bad.

So on Christmas morning,

she found some green paint...

...and she painted a Christmas tree

on her living-room wall.

Floor to ceiling. And that was

my only tree till now.

LEXIE:
Hey.

- Hey, Lexie.

- Hi.

KID:
Hi.

Hey, Lex. Hi, kids.

- Everybody say "hi."

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