See, Colie, it's all about understanding. We're all worth something.

It's hard to be nice when the rest of the world is so mean.

You didn't have to take a punch for me, you know,' he said. 'I'm a lover, not a fighter.' 'You're a freak is what you are,' I said. He stuck out his hand. 'Come on, slugger. Walk with me. You know you want to.' And the thing was, despite everything I knew-that it was a mistake, that he was different from the others-I did. How he knew that, I had no idea. But I got up and did it anyway.

There was nothing, nothing to depend on. And why was I surprised?

You couldn't just pick and choose at will when someone depended on you, or loved you. It wasn't like a light switch, easy to turn on or off. If you were in, you were in. Out, you were out.

Honesty in principle was one thing. In someone’s face, it was another.

She stroked my hair and told me I was beautiful, but I was old enough by then to know not to believe it anymore.