Part 36 (1/2)

She worked out a way to get the twins into nursery school for 286 three hours a day and she let the Ortiz girls take the baby to the park every afternoon. Then Novalee tackled the house.

After she rigged up more clothesline in the backyard, she found a rhythm to doing five loads of laundry every day. But cooking for eight instead of two took some practice.

Her garden still had onions, okra, tomatoes, and peas, enough to last for a while. And Mr. Sprock, who always complained of his harvest going to waste, delighted in bringing baskets of corn, squash and potatoes.

Mrs. Ortiz taught her how to make calabazas mexicana, calabazas mexicana, a kind of squash soup everyone liked except Brummett. Forney threw a little of everything in a pot to make gallons of a mystery he called slumgullion and Certain brought boxes of sweet potatoes that Novalee baked in breads and pies. a kind of squash soup everyone liked except Brummett. Forney threw a little of everything in a pot to make gallons of a mystery he called slumgullion and Certain brought boxes of sweet potatoes that Novalee baked in breads and pies.

Lexie lived on whatever could be sucked through a straw, but she drew the line at sweet potato milk shakes. When she began to lose weight, she wrote Novalee a note saying she'd finally found a diet that worked.

Lexie could talk even with the wires in her jaw, but had to contort her mouth into grotesque shapes that scared Pauline and made her cry, so Lexie wrote notes if she had something to say. In a way this was a blessing, for she seemed to find less pain in silence.

Americus fussed around like a five-year-old nanny. She helped the twins get dressed, gave the baby his bottle, and brushed Pauline's hair without pulling at tangles. She left small treats for Brummett, on his plate or under his pillow, but he usually swatted them away or tossed them on the floor. She gave Lexie a bell to ring when she needed fresh water or wanted to close her door.

When Lexie was able to get up and around, she helped out wherever she could, but she had little energy and tired quickly. Novalee could Where the Heart Is 287.

see the pain in her eyes, but she didn't think it came from st.i.tches and wires. She waited for Lexie to talk about what had happened, what Roger Briscoe had done to them, but she didn't push.

Two policemen came by once with a picture for Lexie to see, but it wasn't Roger Briscoe. When they left, she went to bed and stayed all day. Pauline, who couldn't bear to be separated from her, went to bed, too.

Brummett stayed away from his mother as much as he could, avoided rooms where she was, spoke to her almost not at all. But he watched her when he was sure she wasn't looking.

On their first visit to the psychologist at County Mental Health, Novalee drove them over and waited while they were inside. When they came out an hour later, Pauline was crying, clinging to Lexie. But Brummett stomped out alone, then rode home in sullen silence, his body pressed against the door. When Novalee parked in the driveway, he bolted from the car, running toward the woods a block away. He didn't come back until after supper.

That night, Novalee dreamed of Forney, something she had done often in the past few months. He was outside her house trying to find his way in, trying to find his way to her. But there were too many doors, hundreds of doors, all of them locked except for one.

Novalee wanted to call out, tell him which door would open, but she couldn't. She could only wait.

And then she heard the whine of the screen, and knew Forney had found the unlocked door. But when she heard a familiar metallic click, she sat up in bed, no longer dreaming. Someone had just opened her front door and she knew it wasn't Forney Hull.

Slipping out of bed without waking Americus, she tip-toed down the hall to the living room. The twins were asleep on the couch, but Brummett and his cot were gone.

288.

”He moved his bed outside. To the deck.” Lexie was sitting at the kitchen table in the dark.

”Lexie, are you okay?”

”I got up to go to the bathroom.”

”You want some water? Something to drink?”

”I was standing beside the cot, watching him sleep. But then he woke up and stared up at me . . . and I saw something in his eyes.”

Novalee sat down, folded her legs under her and tucked her gown around her feet. ”Did he say anything?”

”Not a word. Just jumped up, grabbed his cot and went out the front door.”

”Well, he's moved that cot before. Never know where he'll be come morning.”

”He hates me, Novalee.”

”No, he doesn't. He's just confused.”

Lexie pulled in a deep breath, then said, ”I was supposed to work until four o'clock that day, but I skipped my lunch hour and got off at three because Roger was coming in from Fort Worth.”

”Are you sure you're ready to do this, Lexie?” Novalee reached for Lexie's hand.

”I stopped by the day care for the twins and the baby, then hurried home. I wanted to take a shower and shampoo my hair before Roger got there. Get the smell of hospital off of me.

”Anyway, his car was parked out front when I pulled in. I was surprised because he said he wouldn't be in until after four. But Praline and Brownie were home, so I knew he hadn't had to wait outside in the heat.”

Lexie tightened her grip on Novalee's hand, her thumb beginning to move in hard circles.

”When I opened the door, I heard a sound coming from the back Where the Heart Is 289.

of the apartment. It sounded like Brownie, like he was choking. All I could think was that he was strangled on something.

”I shoved the baby at Cherry and I ran to the back, ran toward the sound. My bedroom.”

Lexie's fingernails were cutting into Novalee's palm, her hand locked like a clamp around her fingers.

”Something was against the door. I had to push to get it open. It was Pauline, crumpled in the floor, her hands over her eyes.

”Roger had Brummett on the bed, bent over the end of the bed, and he . . . Roger had . . .” Lexie's breathing quickened. ”He had his .

. . he was inside Brummett, Novalee. Inside my baby.”

Lexie shook her head as if she might dislodge the image.

”I flew at him. I was going to kill him. I wanted to, more than anything in the world. I think I hit him twice before . . .” Lexie s.h.i.+vered.

”That's all I remember.” She dropped Novalee's hand and let her head fall forward.

”You couldn't save them that, Lexie. But you may have saved them from something worse. After he beat you, he ran. And as horrible as it was for Brummett . . . and for Pauline . . .”

”You know he didn't rape her, don't you?”

”Yes, they told me at the hospital.”

”When he tried . . . tried to put it in her mouth, she threw up on him.

And that's when Brownie walked in. That's when he took Brownie instead.”

”Lexie, Brummett knows it wasn't your fault. But he's just a little boy. He's going to need some time.”

”How much time, I wonder. A lifetime?”