“...She expected people to accept her for who she was. But she never really accepted herself.”

“She had never been afraid to be Black in a White world, and she had sure taken a lot of abuse because of it.”

“You flatter yourself...you're too young for me to take you seriously.”

“More than any of us, she had written her own story; yet she could not wash it out with all her tears, return to her victims what she had torn from them, and by so doing, save herself...”

“Most people who think they're happy are really just stupid.”

“She tasted sweet, like oranges, liquid sunshine in my mouth as we kissed, our tongues playing together.”

“He lifted his gaze to the framed photograph of Tanya and him taken on their wedding day. God, she had been lovely. Her smile had come through her eyes straight from her heart. He had known unequivocally that she loved him. He believed to this day that she had died knowing that he loved her. How could she not know? He had dedicated his life to never letting her doubt it.”