“Scarlet was in pain all night because she wouldn’t let me sleep with her.”

“I asked her if she’d give me all her love, and she flatly said no. I got excited because while she said she wouldn’t give me all her love, she said nothing about not wanting to give me some of her love.”

“It was not enough to be the last guy she kissed. I wanted to be the last one she loved. And I knew I wasn’t. I knew it, and I hated her for it. I hated her for not caring about me. I hated her for leaving that night, and I hated myself , too, not only because I let her go but because if I had been enough for her, she wouldn’t have even wanted to leave. She would have just lain with me and talked and cried, and I would have listened and kissed at her tears as they pooled in her eyes.”

“She would prove to everyone she could do everything. She wouldn’t let her disability be an excuse, wouldn’t give anyone reason to pity her.”

“Scarlet shut the door behind her, leaning against it as she responded. "I came because you have been in great pain.""Yes. And because of my great pain you still live. It seems my isolation is good for your wellbeing.""The strength of my pulse has little to do with the health of my heart.”

“At night, before she went to sleep in her cabin down in the quarters, she remembered Mawu’s story and told herself that she was a god, a powerful god. Each and every day, she reminded herself of this so that she wouldn’t fall backward. She was more than eyes, ears, lips, and thigh. She was a heart. She was a mind”