“Connie went away completely bewildered. She was not sure whether she had been insulted and mortally offended, or not.”

“She wanted to be alone - to think things out - to adjust herself, if it were possible, to the new world in which she seemed to have been transplanted with a suddenness and completeness that left her half bewildered to her own identity.”

“bunny was a good soul and a strong believer but she would have been that way whether she went to church or not, wouldn't she. church doesn't make you a better person. ”

“She had never been afraid to be Black in a White world, and she had sure taken a lot of abuse because of it.”

“She kept asking herself whether, if he had looked cleaner, she might have been more concerned; whether, on some subliminal level, she had confused his obvious signs of neglect with street-smartness, toughness and resilience.”

“He took a moment to get over the shock, and to remind himself that this had surely been difficult for her and she was probably bracing herself for a rejection.At least he hoped she was. If she wasn’t, she needed to do that straight away, because it was coming. God damn right it was coming.”