“My biggest mistake is in believing there are limits to how bad it can get.”

“If she'd said she loved me and still did all those cruel and careless things, would my child mind have decided to accept that as the definition of love?Probably.Would I have ended up believing that love was manipulative and hurtful and full of pain, gotten use to being shoved aside, sworn at and disregarded, picked up and hugged, and then slapped around for getting in the way, starved and smiled at, neglected and cursed, told I was no good and would never amount to anything, then hefted high and proudly shown off down at the Walmart, introduced as a little pisser and a big mistake in the same breath?Yes, I would have, because if she said she loved me and then acted that way I would have thought that was how you loved someone, and how someone should love you back.”

“And of how we never really know someone, no matter how much we want to believe that we do.”

“How can you make someone love you when they won't? How long are you supposed to keep trying?”

“Physical imperfections have always offended him, but apparently my bad hygiene wasn't repellent enough. Perhaps Ms. Mues's full-blown adulthood will be.”

“Rape is not a mistake! He did it on purpose, over and over again because he wanted to, because he off on it-”

“The ache starts in my chest and spreads through my veins. The abuse I can handle; it's the happiness that cripples.”