Crooked Little Lies Quotes
"The trouble with life, as far as Annie Beauchamp was concerned, was that it never gave you a clue about what was coming. When a terrible thing happened, life just charged at you, running full out, clobbering you, usually from behind. You were down then. You were left sick in your stomach and broken in your heart, trying to pick up your wits, your scattered pieces, and when you looked back, you saw that you didn’t have a clue, not one inkling."
"He held himself with his torso awkwardly canted to the right, and the crookedness caused a hitch in his step, yet his pace was dogged, as if he were on a mission. And somehow it was the suggestion of commitment, of fidelity to purpose that hurt her heart worst of all."
"Did anyone know he was out here? Did anyone care? It was crazy, but when he was within feet of her car, she opened the door and got out."
"She wouldn’t tell that she knew this from her own experience. The police would quickly learn of her accident though, and given the nature of her injuries and their lingering effects, they would question her regarding the accuracy of her memory, whereupon she would insist her recollection of the incident was as good as ever, as if insisting made it so."
"But what else was there to count on in this world other than your life and your mind and the rational way the two things worked together?"
"She wanted badly to reassure him, to tell him she was fine, that he could count on her as he once had. Words to that effect flooded her mouth, but she bit down on them and released him."
"But in Lauren’s estimation, too late wasn’t so easily defined; it wasn’t a place you could point to and say, there, that’s the one—the exact moment when ordinary life ended and the nightmare began."
"Honey, you can get happy in the same shoes you get sad in, she said. Trust me."
"A person makes one mistake . . . she said and wondered why she was defending herself, how she could even imagine there was a defense."
"But the worst part for her was the mortification that came from knowing she had been stoned, doped to the max in front of her children and others, their friends and neighbors. She’d made a spectacle of herself."
"Real, she thought, and her heart slammed against the wall of her chest even as her brain betrayed her, leaping as it did with anticipation."
"The old craving was alive inside her, biting and harsh, almost but not quite eclipsing her panic, her wonder."
"What good was it, grieving for what was so clearly lost?"
"Passion was never easy; it wasn’t a joy every moment."
"The words would come, only to scatter like a flock of small birds."
"She was filled with hope. They would be all right."
"You were sick of Diane sticking her nose into everything we do. We both were."
"How are you, dear? She’d ask every time she saw Lauren, and it wasn’t out of genuine caring."
"Taking care of your poor kids? Walking the straight and narrow?"
"If only there were someone she could talk to. Someone safe."
"When I have them on, the noise goes away, and I can hear my mommy singing."
"She’s dead? Annie couldn’t imagine it, not having her mama."
"You can wear these, and maybe you’ll hear her the way I hear my mom."
"He couldn’t concentrate. But then, a patch of days or even weeks would pass and he’d behave almost normally, almost like his old sweet, quirky self."
"She didn’t sleep well that night, and the following day, Monday, when Cooper came into Madeleine’s at the tail end of the lunch rush, her nerves were frayed and raw."
"The ache of missing her? The need to talk to her, to ask her advice?"
"He hears voices in his head sometimes, and when they get really loud, when they shout—"
"She realized it was perverse, and she deplored it, the way she’d cut off her nose to spite her face."
"She felt their concern, and she realized they knew Bo could be in danger."
"Because they weren’t the all-American family? Or any sort of family? Because they didn’t take pictures?"
"You need time, is all, and I’m trying to give it to you."
"Would it never go away? The ache of missing her?"
"Her emotions were in turmoil. She was grateful for their help, but at the same time, her need for it humiliated and infuriated her, which made her feel ashamed."
"But weren’t these volunteers the same people who called him a head case or a retard, the very ones who would turn away from Bo in alarm or disgust or stare with outright annoyance when he erupted into constant chatter or lapsed into sullen silence?"
"I can’t hear him now. I can’t hear him at all."
"Her commiseration was palpable, so heartfelt and true, that Annie was undone by it."
"The soup’s in the kitchen whenever you want it... chicken soup is good anytime and so good for the nerves. Good for everything."
"The moment my legs begin to move, my thoughts begin to flow."
"Understanding of that came later. Initially, Lauren’s single awareness was of pain. Pain and Jeff."
"But devotion borne out of a sense of duty was not the same as devotion that rose, helpless and unbidden, as the extant and unstoppable side effect of love."
"Maybe she couldn’t stand up to the truth if she knew it."
"The idea sat in her head as ugly as it was regretful."
"Sometimes the smallest detail can be the whole answer."
"It doesn’t pay to rely on anyone, to need them, because eventually they left. They always left."
"Hadn’t she tried, a hundred, a thousand times? Would it have worked if she had tried once more?"
"This is such an agonizing situation. I can’t imagine how the family is holding up."
"What sort of person leaves someone to die in the street?"
"I hope they lock him up in prison for the rest of his life, where he has to wake up every day and remember what he did, you know?"
"Sometimes, when nothing else is available, they match dental records."
"At least when you didn’t know for sure, you could invent whatever story you wanted, to explain the circumstances."
"I wish I’d been a better daughter, a better sister. I wish I’d taken better care of Bo."
"Someday you’re going to have to trust somebody again, or you’ll always be alone."
"I think such things happen when you love someone. There’s a special connection."
"I feel as if I should know who that woman is, but then I’m finding out Bo has all sorts of friends I know nothing about."
"It’s hard to keep secrets when someone’s in danger."
"For some reason, I decided to go that night. I drove myself there in my mama’s car, and I drank. I broke every one of my rules."
"Mama didn’t ask any questions or lecture me when I called her. She told me to wait, and she’d come. She said she loved me, and she was glad I didn’t try to drive."
"You think Bo could be messed up with drugs again, JT? You see any sign of that lately?"