“Some people would call what I do to Jack bullying, but you have to understand that I’ve known him since elementary school. We have a connection.”

“It’s like I’ve known you my entire life,”“I think, in some ways, we have. Only you could know what I’ve been through; the humiliation, the judgments, the unwanted pity and none of it at your doing. We may not have known each other our whole lives but we’ve definitely lived them in parallel.”

“Remember in elementary school you were told that in case of fire you have to line up quietly in a single file from smallest to tallest? What is the logic in that? What, do tall people burn slower?”

“I’ll make some inquiries, but I won’t do it for you. I’ll do it because Frannie would want me to.”“You love her, don’t you?”“Go to hell.”Jack laughed. “You’re too late with that command, mate. I’ve been there since I was born.”

“In his normal state he would not strike a lamb. I’ve known him to do it’‘Do what?’‘Not strike lambs”

“Jules and I were tiny people. We were delicate. We were almost destroyed. We were vulnerable. Like nerds in a school yard of bullies, we could have traded our stamps and cards of extinct animals. That’s the kind of people we would be if our situation were different.”