“Stick Boy liked Match Girl,he liked her a lot.He liked her cute figure,he thought she was hot.”

“It was deeper than some boy thinking she was cute. It was more like she was food and he was hungry. It was as if Mars needed her to survive.”

“She's really gone, then. The little girl with the back of her shirt sticking out like a duck tail,”

“He planned to stick to her like pasties on a stripper.”

“He thought how much he liked her and had in common with her, and how much she'd like and have in common with him if she only knew him.”

“The barking of the dogs was getting louder, closer once more. Jesse's finger curledaround the trigger. He tried to still his mind from all thoughts. But the image of MissAlthea lingered.Sweet-smelling Miss Althea with her warm smile and her so very round parts. She never looked at him mean or like she was afraid. She looked at him loving, warm and loving, like she looked at the boy. She looked at Jesse that way. And he liked it. He really liked it. But he wanted it different, too. He was not a boy. Jesse was a man. He wanted Miss Althea to see that. He wanted to put meat on her table. That's what men do for the women they love.”