“The boy, not 'my son.' I didn't miss that edge.”

“I'm sorry, Silvan. I didn't mean to wake you.""I wouldn't have missed seeing my son getting barricaded in the privy by a wee lass for anything. Bonny fortune with your plan, m'dear.”

“I missed you, Angel. Not one day went by that I didn't feel you missing from my life.”

“The one thing I did ask my dad was about the boys problems at home. Whether or not he thought the parents hit their son. He told me to mind my own business. Because he didn't know and would never ask and didn't think it mattered."Not everyone has a sob story, Charlie, and even if they do, its no excuse.”

“I didn't talk all the way home, trying not to cry. A missed lesson! But why did it bother me so much? I'd missed lessons before. So what? Mrs. Lawrence was coming back, wasn't she? She had a right to visit her son in Houston, didn't she?...How could I explain I felt as thought part of my personal scaffolding was broken, and how I dangled one-handed from a rope? One-handed from a rope on a sinking ship? (128)”

“If I had a chance with him, I missed it. No, I didn't miss it. I threw it away.”