“The punch connected, but (1) Colin forgot to close his fist, so he was slapping not hitting, and (2) instead of slapping TOC, he ended up slapping Hassan flush across the cheek, whereupon Hassan finally succeeded in falling down.”

“I growled and then slapped him."Hey!" His hand pressed to his cheek."You always say that when I slap you," I said."I think it's a problem that you know what I say when you slap me," he said. "That's not the kind of intimacy I'm looking for.”

“If someone slaps you on one cheek, offer the other cheek also...but of course if you were able to stand soberly after the first slap.”

“Her hand cracked across his face, a slap that rocked him back on his heels. he put his hand to his cheek, more in surprise than pain. "What the hell was that for?""The other ten percent," she said, and they rode the rest of the way down the street in silence.”

“She lived in fear of his shifting moods, his volatile temperament, his insistence on steering even mundane exchanges down a confrontational path that, on occasion, he would resolve with punches, slaps, kicks, and sometimes try to make amends for with polluted apologies, and sometimes not.”

“And if he left me of his own free will, then he should get ready for the bitch-slapping of his life.”