“You gonna do somethin'? Or are you just gonna stand there and bleed?”

“YOU GONNA STAND THERE WITH YOUR BUTT ON THE BACK OF YOUR BODY OR ARE YOU GONNA GET IN ON THIS, BEEF?”

“Pa? You never said. What'm I gonna be? Good or bad? He kisses the top of my head. Whispers in my ear, so's only him and me can hear. You, my darlin daughter, are gonna be somethin else entirely.”

“So are you gonna cry about it like a punk, or are you gonna do something?”

“Do you have something to surrender today? Do you need God to meet you in the fire like he did those three men? Because sometimes you have to step out on faith into something that’s gonna scare you so bad, your hair’s gonna stand and you’re gonna be crying for your mama before God pulls you through the other side.”

“The world is gonna try to clean you up, what the f**k you gonna do about it? You're gonna say, "I wanna stay ugly".”