“There's a man who's been out sailingIn a decade full of dreamsAnd he takes her to a schoonerAnd he treats her like a queenBearing beads from CaliforniaWith their amber stones and greenHe has called her from the harborHe has kissed her with his freedomHe has heard her off to starboardIn the breaking and the breathingOf the water weedsWhile she was busy being free”

“She has been trying to pull her worth from him for so long. She has been trying to extract her beauty from his skin. She has been dying to be loved by him again...but he will always leave her empty”

“Staying away from her has been damn near impossible. I feel drawn to her like there's a force field of energy that has been pulling me into her life.”

“He has been disassembled by her. And if she has brought him to this, what has he brought her to?”

“She has committed no crime, she has merely broken a rigid and time-honored code of our society, a code so severe that whoever breaks it is hounded from our midst as unfit to live with. She is the victim of cruel poverty and ignorance, but I cannot pity her: she is white. She knew full well the enormity of her offense, but because her desires were stronger than the code she was breaking, she persisted in breaking it. She persisted, and her subsequent reaction is something that all of us have known at one time or another. She did something every child has done-she tried to put the evidence of her offense away from her. But in this case she was no child hiding stolen contraband: she struck out at her victim-of necessity she must put him away from her-he must be removed from her presence, from this world. She must destroy the evidence of her offense.”

“Lily has never gotton used to being alone. They turn in the water and turn again, then Ambrose lifts her above the surface once more and the creek rains down from her. He lays her gently on her back and her heart breaks. Her tears begin to flow because he is leaving - don't go! He sinks into the water on his back - take me with you! His body turns white again and shimmers into segments until all the pieces disappear. Lily lies face down at right angles to the creek, her head hanging over the edge, arms outstretched towards the spot where she last saw her brother.”