Mama Lil:
You got a man?
Novalee Nation:
No.
Mama Lil:
Then where is the prick who put you in this mess?
Novalee Nation:
California.
Mama Lil:
That figures. All the pricks move to California. They oughta call it Prickafornia.
Novalee Nation:
Oh, I got money. The president of Wal-Mart gave me five hundred dollars.
Mama Lil:
Why, he's not the father of the baby, is he?
Novalee Nation:
No.
Mama Lil:
Ah, shit.
Novalee Nation:
It's too late, isn't it, Forney?
Forney Hull:
Too late for what?
Novalee Nation:
I lied to you, when you asked me if I loved you, and I said no. Remember?
Forney Hull:
Yes.
Novalee Nation:
I lied. It wasn't true, I-I love you. It's just I lied because I thought you deserved something better.
Forney Hull:
Something better than you? Novalee, there isn't anything better than you.
[
they kiss]
Novalee Nation:
You tell them that our lives can change with every breath we take... and tell 'em to hold on like hell to what they've got: each other, and a mother who would die for them and almost did... You tell them we've all got meanness in us, but we've got goodness too. And the only thing worth living for is the good. And that's why we've got to make sure we pass it on.
Ruth Meyers:
My name is Ruth Meyers. Call me Ruth Meyers.
Ruth Meyers:
Jesus Christ, another guitar player. What's your name?
Willy Jack Pickens:
Willie Jack Pickens.
Ruth Meyers:
I bet you didn't even have to make that up, did you?
Willy Jack Pickens:
What?
Ruth Meyers:
So, you just carry that guitar around to keep your balance?
Willy Jack Pickens:
You want me to play?
Ruth Meyers:
What the fuck do you think I want you to do, call bingo? One tune; your best shot.
Willy Jack Pickens:
Well, I wrote this one myself.
Ruth Meyers:
I have goosebumps already.
Thelma 'Sister' Husband:
Dear Lord, we ask that you bless this food to the nourishment of our bodies. And we ask forgiveness, Lord, for the fornication that Mr. Sprock and me committed this morning on this very table.
Novalee Nation:
I think I might be pregnant. You remember that guy I told you about last month?
Lexie Coop:
The good-lookin' mechanic?
Novalee Nation:
I don't know what's wrong with me. I didn't even want to be with him.
Lexie Coop:
Didn't he use anything?
Novalee Nation:
Just me.
Novalee Nation:
I ain't never lived in a house that didn't have wheels on it.
Thelma 'Sister' Husband:
Harry, we're alcoholics, we're generally satisfied to hurt ourselves.
Forney Hull:
What would a man on a motorcycle want with a woman's pillows?
Thelma 'Sister' Husband:
I'm Sister Husband! Oh you remember me! You used to call me Telma because you couldn't say Thelma.
[
Novalee just looks at her]
Thelma 'Sister' Husband:
Can you say Thelma?
Novalee Nation:
[
softly] Thelma.
Orderly:
Lexie, one of your kids is on the phone.
Lexie Coop:
Which one?
Orderly:
Oh, I don't know. Pez? Twinkie? One of 'em.
Novalee Nation:
Americus what are you doing?
Americus:
Eatin' dough in my nose.
Novalee Nation:
Do i look professional?
Forney Hull:
Well you know what'd help?
Novalee Nation:
What?
Forney Hull:
If you brought your camera
Novalee Nation:
SHIT!...
[
to Americus]
Novalee Nation:
Mommy did'nt say shit!
Americus:
Yes she did.
Novalee Nation:
I lied, Forney.
Forney Hull:
You lied? You didn't go to Tennessee?
Novalee Nation:
At the end of each letter he writes, "Please tell your mother I extend my best wishes."
Lexie Coop:
Hot.
Lexie Coop:
Brownie! Brownie! Do not lasso your sister!
Thelma 'Sister' Husband:
[
answers the door] Yes?
Religious Man:
Ma'am, we've come here today to give the word of God to the Wal-mart baby, and to her young unmarried mother.
Religious Woman:
We drove all the way up from Midnight, Mississippi.
Thelma 'Sister' Husband:
Well, you folks could have saved yourselves a trip because the word of God has been in this house for a very long time.
[
slams door in their faces]
Lexie Coop:
Americus? What kind of a name is Americus?
Novalee Nation:
I wanted her to have a strong name.
Lexie Coop:
Well, I guess I shouldn't talk. I named my kids after snack foods: Brownie, Praline, Cherry and Baby Ruth.
Willy Jack Pickens:
Why does anyone lie? Cuz we're scared? Or crazy? Or jut mean?... There's a million reasons why a person lies... But sometimes, you tell a lie so big... that it changes your whole life... Lie's so big... it makes you think...
Lexie Coop:
This old gypsy woman once told me that if you jump backwards nine times before the sun come up you won't be pregnant. Well, I jumped so far I had to take a bus back and then I had twins.
Lexie Coop:
Honey, I know that your mother walked out on you and what that butthole Willie Jack did. But that is what makes them trash, not you.
Novalee Nation:
You hear that? That little bom-bom-bom? That's where the heart is.
Lexie Coop:
[
eating Novalee's breakfast] I hope you're not hungry.
Thelma 'Sister' Husband:
Home is where your history begins. Home is where they catch you when you fall.
Lexie Coop:
He told you he loved you, and you didn't say anything?
Novalee Nation:
I'm a dope. It was just weird.
Lexie Coop:
Honey, don't take this the wrong way, but Forney is weird.
Novalee Nation:
[
uncertainly] I'm looking for a book on trees.
Forney Hull:
Trees?
Novalee Nation:
Yeah, you know...
[
makes motion over her head to demonstrate]
Moses Whitecotten:
Have you thought of a name yet?
Novalee Nation:
Well, I was thinking about Wendi with an "i."
Moses Whitecotten:
Oh no, don't you dare.
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