Decisions

Angela receives the Phone Call Of Doom!

   I went back to my usual evening visits with Gustafa.  His talk with Nami apparently did some good because she didn't threaten me any more.  She showed up at Gustafa's yurt every evening, but pointedly ignored me.  It wasn't an ideal situation, but at least she wasn't openly hostile.  When Gustafa and I were alone one night, I asked him what he said to her.  He danced around the question a bit, but finally said "I told her we can all be friends and that threatening people wasn't groovy." I couldn't help it, I had to laugh.  Eventually, Nami lightened up a bit.  I kept giving her presents and made sure she knew the gifts were expressions of my friendship.  I emphasized that I wasn't trying to get to Gustafa through her, and I finally told her, "Nami, I really like you."  I'm not sure how she took that bit of information, but she didn't get mad, so I figured things were OK.

    Summer finally gave way to Fall and I got the phone call of doom.  Mother said college was starting soon and wanted to know if I had gotten over my "little problem".  She told me the horrible gossip had died down and I could come home now.  I thought about it for a moment, then replied "I am home.  I'm happy here and I'm staying."  As I expected, mother threw a fit.  She was screaming so loudly, I had to hold the phone away from my ear.  When she started yelling about me becoming a poor, dirty farmer, I hung up on her.  I had never felt so good in my life.

    The next day, I went through my usual routine, then talked to Takakura about buying some more farm animals.  Takakura was overjoyed that I was going to stay on the farm.  He almost made me cry when he said "Your father would be so proud of you."  He gave me some advice on which animals to invest in, and which crops would be good for Fall.   I decided to visit all the people in town and give them the good news.  This 'city girl' was going to become a full-time farmer.

   When I got back home, I took care of the evening farm chores.  Then I headed back into the house to clean up a bit before visiting Gustafa and Nami.  Suddenly, there was a knock at my door.  I wondered who would be visiting this late in the day.  When I opened the door, an extremely worried Tim and Ruby greeted me.  "Nami is gone!  We can't find her anywhere.  She's not in her room at the Inn and all of her belongings are gone!" Ruby wailed.  Tim tried to calm his wife down, then added "Nami got a phone call from her father late last night.  I don't know what it was about, but she seemed pretty upset."   I agreed to help search the town for Nami and headed out the door to enlist the help of anyone I could find.

    I immediately headed to Gustafa's yurt and gave him the horrible news.  He looked worried, but assured me that Nami wouldn't leave.  I headed for Turtle Pond, but no one was there except the turtle.  I stopped by Cody's house and got him to help with the search.  I checked all of Nami's regular hang-outs, but didn't see a sign of her.  It was starting to get really dark and I didn't know where else to look for Nami.  Dejected, I slowly walked back toward Gustafa's yurt.  Why would Nami leave?  She didn't even say goodbye.  As I neared the beach, I thought I heard faint crying on the wind.  I headed toward the source of the noise and saw someone far down the beach, near the rocks.  Nami wouldn't kill herself, would she?!   I started to run as that thought occured to me.  When I skidded to a halt next to her, Nami was curled up on the sand, crying her eyes out.  She noticed me and tried to hide her tears.  Why do you have to be so tough all the time, Nami?  "Why are you leaving town?  Please tell me what's wrong, Nami." I pleaded.  She wiped her eyes and stared into the distant waves.  "Please, Nami, tell me.  I care about you." I whispered.  In an almost emotionless voice, she said "I've run out of money and my father wants me to come home.  He says I've had enough time to wander around being foolish.  My parents want me to come home and marry the husband they have chosen for me."  I was taken completely by surprise.  Arranged marriages were very rare.  I just couldn't picture free-spirited Nami marrying a man she didn't even know.  I sat down in the sand and put my arm around her.  She didn't try to pull away, so I just kept her warm and comforted her with my presence. She would talk when she felt like it. 

   "I want to stay here." Nami finally whispered, "There are people here that I care about."  I cheered up at her words, hoping I was one of those people.  "If you need money, I'm sure we can find you a job." I added hopefully.  She shook her head sadly and replied, "There aren't many jobs in a town this small."  I suddenly had a wonderful idea.  "Nami, I decided to stay here in Forget-Me-Not Valley and become a farmer.  I'm not going back to Castanet.  I ordered some extra livestock and I'm going to need some help on the farm..." I trailed off, hoping she would get the picture.  I could see a faint smile on her lips as the moonlight reflected off the waves.  "You know, I think I'd like that." Nami finally said.