“She smelled like herself, like the wind through a tree.”

“In love! She wafted through her day like a woman with a concussion.”

“Run a hand through your hair, like the white boys do, even though the only thing that runs easily through your hair is Africa.”

“Don't panic. Say, Hey, no problem. Run a hand through your hair like the whiteboys do even though the only thing that runs easily through your hair is Africa.”

“Don’t tell her that your moms knew right away what it was, that she recognized its smell from the year the United States invaded your island.”

“Ybon was the one who suggested calling the wait something else. Yeah, like what? Maybe, she said, you could call it life.”

“Something must have happened, your mother speculated. In her mind a woman with no child could only be explained by vast untrammeled calamity.Maybe she just doesn't like children.Nobody likes children, your mother assured you. That doesn't mean you don't have them.”