“and the rain went rollin down the windowpanes, and the shadows wiggled n' squiggled on her check and forehead like black veins.”

“Shadows were too black, and when a breeze stirred the trees, the shadows changed in a disquieting way.”

“Her body was wrapped in shadows like moth wings, like rose-petals.”

“But listen to me, all three of you, n hear this if you don't hear nothing else: everything I did, I did for love . . . the love a natural mother feels for her children. That's the strongest love there is in the world, and it's the deadliest. There's no bitch on earth like a mother frightened for her kids.”

“Hey, Trash, what did old lady Semple say when you torched her pension check?”

“Pray for rain all you like, but dig a well as you do it.”

“I just didn't want her to get hurt. I thought she was going to be. But everyone gets their share, don't they? Sure. Pow, in the nose. Pow, in the eye. Pow, below the belt, down you go, and the ref just went out for a hot dog.”