Where the Heart Is- Forney My Love Pgs. 354-358

I found a phone booth and I knew what I had to do.  I had to call Forney.  I needed him to know the truth and I needed him to hear me say that I actually do love him. 

            I as stepped into the phone booth and dialed his number all I could think about was how nervous I was to speak to him.  After the phone rang a few times I got a scared and then luckily he answered on the SEVENTH ring.  When he answered the phone I just stood here speechless. I couldn’t talk to him and then I knew if I didn’t do anything that he would hang up so I made a soft whimpering noise.  He asked me to speak up and then I just blurted out his name. 

            “Novalee?” is that you? Yes, and I called you because…. I got extremely nervous and really couldn’t speak.  Is Americus alright are you alright? He asked me. I thought it was so thoughtful that he cared so much about us.  Anyway then I again blurted out “I lied” Forney I lied and that what I needed to tell you.  What are you talking about? He asked and I said you know the time you asked me if I loved you and I said no, yeah he replied.  Well, I lied I really and truly did love you and I still love you now.  I was afraid that I was holding you back and that you are better than me and that I don’t deserve to have a man like you in my life. 

            You have to be kidding me! Novalee, the truth is that you are the best and there’s nothing that can be better than you.  Where are you now he asked and I told him how I was going back to Tellico Plains to drop someone off who wanted to go home.  After, we hung up the phone and I went back into the car I started to think about this whole experience and about the people that have impacted my life over the last couple of years. 

            There was this old blue haired lady who told me that “home is the place that’ll catch you when you fall and we all fall.”  I thought about the man with the camera that helped spark my interest in photography who said to me “you don’t need to be scared…remember, you know about taking pictures from the heart.”  I didn’t think I’d would meet a boy who was full of magic and a woman you would teach me about friendship or a sweet man who would introduce me to true love or even a child named Americus who would help inspire me and help me live everyday fully and to its most potential. 

            That is my life and my story of how at the age of seventeen I was pregnant with my disgusting boyfriend who leaves me at Wal-Mart and then leaves. But I guess it was all for the best because if he didn’t do that I would not have met these great people that I did.

Pgs. 354-358

Where the Heart Is- I Love You? Pgs. 322-326

            Forney’s sister died and he has gone to Maine to bury her in the family plot.  And now he is back and I am scared to call him.  But, because I’m crazy I did called him and told him that I would come over to see him.  When I got there and he answered the door he smelled delightful and sweet.  I asked him if he was sure that it was okay to be here this late and of course without hesitation he said it was fine.  He started to ask me how I was while he was gone and if everything with Americus is alright.  And everything was fine and swell.  I told him how Americus was going to be Annie Oakley in the Western Days Parade on Saturday and he enjoyed that information.  Then he said that he had bought her a book and that reminded him of the library and he started to ask questions about the library.   I told him that Retha, the mayor’s daughter, was going to be the new librarian but Forney wasn’t surprised. 

            As we started talking and getting into conversations we got on the topic of us and I told him that he should follow his dream and become a teacher.  Little did I know that he wanted me and Americus and that’s it.  he loved us and wanted to be with us and nothing else.  But I didn’t want to be the person to hold him back of everything he could do with his life.  So when he told me that he was in love with me I did not respond.  Then he asked me if I cared about him at all and I said yes as a friend.  I knew that if I kept on thinking about him and me and that night we spent together that I would not be able to lie to him and I would tell him the truth and say that I love him with all my heart.  But he kept insisting that I tell him whether or not I love him and finally he asked me …Novalee… DO YOU LOVE ME?  And I looked at him and said I do love you but not in the way in which you should be loved.  Saying that to him killed me inside.   I didn’t want to break his heart or mine even but, I felt like it had to be done so that Forney could finally leave this place and live his life the way he had always wanted to….free.

Pgs. 322-326

Where the Heart Is- Lexi's Unfortuante Luck Pgs. 279-285

            I was sitting in the kitchen sorting negatives when I phone rang and I got up and answered it but when I said hello no one answered.  I kind of felt disappointed in a way.  I mean I was not upset to the point where I wanted to cry but I did feel somewhat disappointed.  So I started to go back and try to figure out all this stuff with photography and these negatives.  When the phone rang again but when I answered it none spoke but I heard a faint whisper.  I said “hello” and asked “who is this?” and I got a reply of “Brummett”.  The phone call came from Lexi’s son Brownie and I automatically knew that something was terribly wrong.  Rodger was all I could get out of him.   So I quickly hopped into my car and my usual ten minutes that it takes me to get to her house, I drove it in five! 

When I got there I walked right up to the house and walked in.  The house looked clean and untouched.  When I walked further into the apartment I saw this shadow of a child so I went into the backroom and found the twins huddled together in pillows and quilts.  When I saw them I asked them where their mother was but they said nothing and just clanged onto me.  Then I asked them where the baby was and Cherry pointed to the lump under the covers.  So I walked over and pulled the covers down and the baby was sleeping in a puddle of fresh pee.  After I made sure they were okay I went to go and look for the other to children and Lexi.  I went into Lexi’s room and when I opened the door I found Praline on the ground in the corner completely naked except for gray socks and her hair was wet and plastered to her face.  The poor girl was terrified and then  I saw Brummett trying to open a bottle of child-proof Tylenol.  Then before I could ask where there mother was I saw Lexi.  She was beaten up very badly and I needed to get her help right away. 

            After everyone was taken out of that house and cleaned up and stable again they came and lived with me.  Which I was glad about because I didn’t want that family to get hurt like that ever again.

Pgs. 279-285

Where the Heart Is- Thelma's Tornado Pgs. 228-235

            As I was entering the house from the crazy weather outside Americus was quick to tell me that a storm was coming and Thelma said that they had put a tornado warning out and that we should get going to the storm cellar quickly.  So I packed a few essential things and got Americus.  As we ready to go I turned to Thelma and asked her if she was going to go with us she said that she made Dixie the neighbor some potato soup and she was going to go over and give it to them and then she’ll be over.  And then the lights dimmed and a big crack of thundered followed.  I got really nervous and said that was close. And Thelma said that was God’s way of telling us to take Americus and get on down to the cellar.

            So we went out and settled ourselves in the cellar with the Ortiz family.  The storm was getting closer and closer by every minute and Sister Husband was not back yet and I was getting extremely worried.  So I told Mrs. Ortiz that I was going to quickly go out and try to get to the house to see if she is in there and when I walked up and outside I saw the tornado coming straight for us.  Debris was flying everywhere and a piece came flying at me and it nipped me.  I knew that I couldn’t make it to the house so I started for the cellar and when I was going down it started to hail so tried to close the door but I could not do it.   Then the wind picked up and I almost flew away until Mrs. Ortiz pulled my arm and I fell back onto the cellar floor.  My heart was racing and I was so thankful to be on the ground.  Americus came running into my arms and I held her tightly while we waiting out this horrific storm.  I only wished and prayed that Sister Husband was okay.

            After the storm passed and it was okay to come out the destruction was terrible.  Everything was gone or torn down into a pile of nothingness.  Many people died in this storm including our own Thelma Sister Husband.  Although she didn’t die right away in the storm it gave us false hope that she was going to live and after being on life support for five days they took her off and she died.    I felt half of me was missing after Thelma died.  She helped me through everything.  She was like a mom to me and I will never ever forget everything she gave me and helped me to accomplish.  She was my hero and best friend and both Americus and I will miss her greatly.

Pgs. 228-235

Where the Heart Is- Christmas Kidnapping Pgs. 182-185 & 201-203

Forney and I went out to go and buy a Christmas tree.  I mean a real live Christmas tree not a fake one or anything like that but a really live tree.  I never actually had a real Christmas tree before.   And I told Forney about my past Christmas experiences and my life and we had a few laughs and a few sad moments but besides that it was a fun time.  But, after we had found our tree and loaded it up onto the truck and headed home, the worst thing imaginable happened. 

            As we came closer to Sister Husband’s trailer we saw red and blue lights flashing into front of her house.  And my heart automatically dropped down into my gut.  I rushed to the house passed the police and detective’s and ran until Thelma came outside and said that she doesn’t know-, I looked at her and she told me that Americus is gone.  The detectives asked me how old she was and I said simply seven months old.  Then I realized she was SEVEN months old!    And at that single moment I felt as though my life had ended.  I felt liking sobbing and falling to the ground and curling up into a ball.  I didn’t want to hear those words ever again and I didn’t want to believe them.

             Pgs. 182-185

            We got a call from the police saying that they police have caught the people who have kidnapped your baby.  And they told us where your child is.  They said that the baby was at the Risen Life Church.  So we rushed to the church and found baby Americus lying in the nativity scene.  Americus cold and terrified had cried herself tearless.  I grabbed her and held her tightly into her mother’s comforting warmth grasp.  Americus was home again, safe and sound.

Pgs. 201-203  

Where the Heart Is- Mama's Home Pgs. 105-110

            After I had delivered my baby I ended up in the hospital and I was an overnight celebrity.  When I woke up my nurse Lexi told me that there were all of these reporters and news stations outside wanting to ask me questions about what they call “The Wal-Mart” baby.  And from all of this publicity and being on the news and stuff somehow my mother , you know the one that left me when I was seven and I never saw again, ended up in my hospital room.  I was so confused to how she got here and where she has been all these years and how she got here. 

            She told me that she saw me on the news and drove here just to see her.  I asked here where she had been living and she told me that she had been living in New Orleans for the past couple of years.  Then I asked her if she was staying with Fred and she looked at me like I was crazy or something and then she realized who I was talking about.  Then she asked me why I thought about him.  And I looked at her in confusion and told her that he was the reason why she left.  And she had the nerve to say “left what?”  I looked at her and  said “me”.  You left me for him.  I was upset that she really did not even care that she had left me her only daughter for a man named Fred that was an umpire for softball games.    

            But while half of me was mad the other half of me was happy that my mother was actually home.  She started talking to me about how she had some money and how we were going to move into a home together and be like a family.  Then I told her that the owner of Wal-Mart gave me almost six-hundred dollars and that we could put that towards our new life.  I was so excited everything was falling into place, my mother was home and we are going to liv e to together and I have a new healthy baby and things were going great.  So I told my mom to pick me up tomorrow at nine o’ clock in the morning.  And she said okay and walked out of the hospital.  The next morning as time was ticking away, this old horrible feeling grew over me and my mother had once again abandoned me but this time she had also took all of my money.  

Pgs. 105-110

Where the Heart Is- Forney My Hero Pgs. 58-91

I started to make my new life somewhat do-able.  I was doing all of my necessities at Wal-Mart like sleeping, eating and showering.  It has been a couple of weeks since Willy Jack had left me in the parking lot to fend for myself basically.  But to me everything was going be descent.  And I even met this guy named Forney.  He lived at the local library.  He is extremely smart and I even had a chance to get to know him a little better over a dinner that we shared.    I will tell you about how we first met and how I was reluctant to meet him at first.  When I first walked into the library i felt like I walked into a special place.  Then I heard someone angrily say that the librarian’s not here.   So I said okay in a sort of scared voice and started to slip backwards towards the door.  But he said that i didn’t have to leave in a sweeter tone and wanted to know what I was looking for and I told him that I was looking for a book about trees, buckeye trees to be exact.  And then we talked about trees for awhile after and then we finally had dinner.

But even though I somewhat knew Forney personally I did not expect for him to do what he did for me.  Even though I was making friends and adapting to my new lifestyle none knew that I was living at Wal-Mart.  One night when I was lying down I started to feel a difference in my body and I realized that I was contracting and that my water broke.  I was so scared and nervous and could not believe that I was going to have this baby all by myself in a Wal-Mart.  While the pain got worse and it was getting closer to the time of the delivery, Forney comes smashing through the Wal-Mart window and comes to my side to help me deliver this baby if need be.  I asked him to call an ambulance and to get a knife to ease my pain. 

After I had delivered the baby I was lying on the floor and Forney asked me what I should name this baby and then I got it.  I knew what I wanted to name my baby…Americus.

Pgs. 58-91

Where the Heart Is- Thelma "Sister" Husband Pgs. 17-22

            As I tried to collect myself and figure out what my next move was going to be, on a bench outside of the Wal-Mart.   This blue haired lady came over to me and insisted that I knew her and that I was Ruth Ann Mott.  But, when I tried to tell her that I was not Ruth Ann Mott she insisted that I was and that I did not remember her.  She said her name was Thelma Husband but everyone called her Sister Husband because her brother, Brother Husband, was a devoted man to god.  Thelma Husband kept telling me that I knew her and that the last time she saw me was when my mother passed away about fourteen years ago.  And that I used to call her Telma because I could not get out the name Thelma.  After some time I stop trying to tell her that I was Ruth Ann Mott and that I was actually Novalee Nation. 

            After a little bit she got up and went over her truck and motioned for me to come over.  She pulled out this gift basket that had matches, emery boards, a phone book, a map of the city, discount coupons and an appointment book.  She told me that this basket was given to me by the city and that this was us welcoming me back home.  She also shared with me that she was an alcoholic and that one or two of her AA meeting appointments were in the appointment book that was in my basket.  After she gave me the basket I asked her if I could take her picture and she was flattered.  When we were done Sister Husband got into her truck and told me that I and the baby were allowed at her house anytime and that we could find it on the map.  She welcomed us home and happily drove away.

            While she drove away I could only think about how nice that was for her to do that.  I kept waving until I couldn’t see the truck anymore.   It was only later know that Thelma Sister Husband would end up being one of my closet friends! 

Pgs. 18-22

Where the Heart Is- Standed Pgs. 14-17

            As I walked into Wal-Mart, I really had to go to the bathroom and I frantically asked someone where the bathroom was and I when I finally went to the bathroom I was so relieved.  When I was done going to the bathroom I came and out and started washing my hands and looking at myself in the mirror.  And I could not believe how I looked.  It wasn’t that I acne all over my face, but my faced look sallow.  I didn’t not like it and couldn’t bare to look at myself anymore.   Then I remembered I need to go and buy a pair of shoes and so I scurried on over to the shoe department of Wal-Mart. 

            I searched for the cheapest household shoes you could ever find and I actually found a pair that I didn’t mind and were cheap, they had polka dots on them.  As I went up to the cashier I was getting very impatient because this man in front of me was taking an awful long time writing out this check and I knew that Willy Jack would probably get very angry if I took any loner.  When I got up to the cashier I handed her a ten dollar bill and started looking at the magazines and then I heard her say “Ma’am. Here’s your change.”  And when I held out my hand she put seven dollars and seventy –seven cents into my palm.  When I looked at my change all I could think about was NO!  I dropped my change and headed for the door.  I already knew that he was gone and headed to California without me.  I knew he had left and was never going to come back.  And while I sat there a man handed me my camera that was left in a parking space and a Wal-Mart employee came out and gave me my change and my shoes.  I was so devastated that he actually left.   I felt like my whole body was numb and saddened by what just happened.  And now I sit here in a Wal-Mart parking lot all alone with basically nothing to my name.  i have no idea what i am going to do!

Pgs. 14-17.

Where the Heart Is- The Begining Pgs. 3-13

Hello,

My name is Novalee Nation and I am seventeen years old and seven months pregnant.  Seven is a very unlucky number for me.  I have a very bad history with sevens.  When I was seven my mother ran away from me for an umpire named Fred.  And ever since then I try to stay away from sevens.  My boyfriend, Willy Jack, and I are going out to California to make a new life for ourselves and our new unborn baby!  We packed the car and are on our way.  I am so excited to be moving.  And Willy Jack said that we are buying a house because of his new job that is going to pay him lots of money!  I really have never lived in a house that didn’t have wheels under it.  But now I can’t wait to get to our new home. 

            The only problem about being pregnant is that I always have to go to the bathroom and Willy Jack gets very upset with me every time I ask because he doesn’t want to take the time out of the trip and stop every sixty miles.  Also, I have been trying to make him stop at every state line so I can a picture with the “Welcome to……..!” sign.   Right now I really have to pee and my feet are extremely swollen.  So I decided to take my sandals off and take a nap to try to get my mind off of my bladder.  But all of a sudden I woke up and Willy Jack was yelling at me.  He seems to be doing that a lot lately.  When I sat up I realized that my shoes were gone and so what the tray that was blocking the floor of the car to the actual ground.  They must have fallen through while I was sleeping.  Then I spotted a Wal-Mart across the way and told Willy Jack that I could go pee there and grab a new pairs of shoes.  And after a few smart comments were thrown he pulled in the parking lot and gave me some money.  Little did I know that at that single moment that was going to be the last time I would ever see Willy Jack for a long time.

Pgs. 3-13