“I thank her for starting that rumor in my brain that I was lovable. I thank her for her one-woman cult of blood, cum, spit, and razors that called me exquisite and shunned all the winners, cheerleaders, cops, and clear-skinned Hollywood movie stars.”

“My mother called the cops and demanded they remove me from the house. I was never sure if she had me removed because she was scared of me or mad that all her alcohol was in puddles mixed with glass and my blood. When the police and paramedics brought me into the sunlight, I saw. I saw the glass in my skin. The sun reveals what I really am, Livia. I hit a woman. My own mother. The glass and liquor seeped in, and I can’t get it out.”

“I don't know, Pepper. I have large chunks of my childhood missing thanks to her and her Benadryl supply.”

“All right, I thought, as one long-winded winner ("And I'd like to thanks my parakeet and his veterinarian...") finally exited”

“I only know this, that she thanks God for all her tribulations, and, above all, because her husband is dead.”

“Dwayne is right: blood does call to blood. I was always waiting for hers to beckon to mine, but I never considered that it would be my blood that would call upon hers.”