“He bowed jokingly, and everyone laughed as Mrs.Anderson shook her head. "Did you even read the material?""of course I did.""Who was the leader of the North?""Lincoln.""No, he was the president.""Yes, which means he was the fucking leader of everyone."-- Carmine”

“I see you’re not being as sneaky this time around. I’m glad. You make a gorgeous couple.”Carmine smirked as he looked at Haven, seeing the blush rise up into her cheeks. “We do look good, don’t we?”Celia laughed. “I see your ego’s still as big.”“That’s not the only thing big about me,” Carmine joked. “Isn’t that right, tesoro?”

“Dr. DeMarco nodded, motioning toward Carmine. “I’m thankful for the Mazda— damn thankful you didn’t return it scratched,” he said, glaring at his father. “I’m thankful to be out of that ridiculous boarding school. Thankful for music and my gun... I fucking love my gun.” Haven looked at him with surprise as Dr. DeMarco laughed. “It’s a nice gun. I checked it out. A 1911 .45 ACP. Where’d you get it?”Carmine shrugged. “Maybe I don’t recall.” “Fair enough,” Dr. DeMarco said. ”Are you done?” “Uh, I'm thankful for you all, even if you get on my nerves sometimes,” Carmine said. “Oh, and orgasms... definitely thankful for those.” “That’s enough,” Dr. DeMarco said, shaking his head as he turned to her. “What are you thankful for, child?” She hesitated, her nerves running amuck. “Having food to eat. A bed to sleep in, too.”

“She's a great cook.""Yeah," Carmine said. "Probably the Italian in her."[...]Dominic laughed. "Must be. You know damn well she has Carmine's full-blooded Italian in her all the time."Carmine's muscles went rigid, and Vincent started coughing as he choked on his drink. Celia snorted, trying to hold back her amusement, but Dominic didn't bother containing himself.”

“You’re too good for me.”He laughed. “Are we talking about the same person? The selfish fucker who curses and yells, blows up cars and beats up people, because he has a temper he can’t control? You know, the one who drinks like a fish and fries his brain with drugs? That person is too good for you?”She shook her head. “I’m talking about the boy who shared his chocolate bar with me when he probably never shared anything before, who gave me his mama’s favourite book, because he thought I deserved to read. The one who seems to be constantly fixing me up when I get hurt. I’m talking about the boy who treats me like I’m a regular girl, the one who desperately needs his bedroom cleaned and laundry washed but chooses to live in a mess and wear dirty clothes, because he’s too polite to ask the girl he kisses for help.”“Wow,” Carmine said. “I’d like to meet that motherfucker.”

“Same difference,” he said. “The South lost and the North won. Abraham Lincoln came and gave the Emancipation Proclamation.”“The Gettysburg Address,” Mrs. Anderson said. “The Emancipation Proclamation was delivered six months before the battle.”He gave an exaggerated sigh. “Who's giving the report here?”She waved her hand. “Proceed then.”“Like I said, the North won. The slaves were all freed. Hurrah, hurrah. The end.”

“See how much she’s changed… you did that for her”“I didn’t do anything”…“You’re the one who made the difference … no matter what you do tomorrow, Carmine, what matters is that you did that today.”…“All I did was love her.”“Ever think maybe that’s what she needed? Sometimes we don’t have to really do anything. We just have to be.”