“I won’t let him retreat from me. We’ve come too far. I’ll fight for us even if it’s him I have to fight.”

“I watch him fight back a smile and lose. What comes through isn’t smug, or even crooked. It’s proud. And I can’t help it. I smile a little too.”

“Now I have done what I can, he thought. Let him begin to circle and let the fight come.”

“If it’ll make you feel better, I won’t let him touch me. I won’t even let him get one in for his fans.”

“I’ll wait for you Layla. Forever if I have to; because there will never be anyone else for me. You are my only love and I won’t give up fighting for you.”

“All my life I had to fight. I had to fight my daddy. I had to fight my brothers. I had to fight my cousins and my uncles. A girl child ain't safe in a family of men. But I never thought I'd have to fight in my own house. She let out her breath. I loves Harpo, she say. God knows I do. But I'll kill him dead before I let him beat me.”