“Two babies in little more than a year and a half. Knockout Jimmy was forced to give up boxing and take a job in the paper mill. It broke him, and in turn, he broke us all.”

“This is where they failed, all those years back, he believes. In taking care of one another when tragedy struck. It broke them, broke them all.”

“Being a junkie, when you broke it down, was nothing more than a crazed day job.”

“the next morning, fang and i broke up. now let me get this strait, i broke up with him. a split second after he broke up with me.”

“James “Knockout Jimmy” O’Brien, Granite Fall’s very own boxing legend—a title he held until a young groupie poked holes in the condom she made him wear “for protection.”My brother was born nine months later, fists already swinging.”

“I loved someone so much that I broke up with him because I didn't want to get hurt. Then when he proved he loved me back, I broke up with him again. I'm a fucking mess, but so are you. Most of us are.”