“Well, I had the other problem," I told him. "I had the heart of the relationship, and no body to grow it in.""What happened then?""What else," I said. "It broke.”

“I had the heart of the relationship, and no body to grow it in... It broke. ”

“Then I said something. I said, Suppose, just suppose, nothing had ever happened. Suppose this was for the first time. Just suppose. It doesn't hurt to suppose. Say none of the other had ever happened. You know what I mean? Then what? I said.”

“What you dream, you can grow. Someone told me that, but I didn't believe it. I said I had nothing and that people with nothing are unable to dream. But I was wrong.”

“For the first time Valentine glanced down at the body of Brother Jeremiah. "I did kill him, and the rest of the Silent Brothers as well. I had to. They had something I needed.""What? A sense of decency?”

“One day I told him about the boys of the neighborhood, about their mocking.He said, "That's because they don't understand.""They should understand, I said. I didn't want to cry, but I was crying."If your mother had diabetes, what would they say?""I don't know.""This is like diabetes. She's not well. That's all."Was that what he told himself? That she was not well? That she might get better? I don't know.”