A Painted House Quotes
"The most perfect of days, my mother would quietly say to me, 'Don’t worry. The men will find something to worry about.'"
"His theory was that every automobile had a speed at which it ran most efficiently."
"The crops were coming in, and money was changing hands."
"Modern sedans were scarce in rural Arkansas."
"We watched them until they were out of sight."
"Pappy claimed his life had been saved in the First War by a young French girl named Isabel."
"The crops looked good. If our luck continued through the picking, and the fields yielded a bale an acre, then the Chandler farming operation would break even."
"They would leave and return to the hills. The trees would turn, winter would come, and we would spend many cold nights huddled around the fire telling stories about the Spruills."
"Gran hovered near the stove, checking the corn bread, stirring the potatoes, okra, and corn."
"A baseball was about to get ripped into some remote section of Sportsman’s Park."
"I’d been expected to pick fifty pounds a day, and my fear was that this quota was about to be increased."
"The Mexicans knew their place, and the hill people were expected to know theirs."
"But during the fall harvest, with the sun about to catch us, we ate with a purpose."
"At the first hint of cool weather I would wear the jacket to school every day, and to church on Sundays."
"The year before, he’d led the National League with a .355 batting average, and in 1952, he was running neck and neck with the Cubs’ Frankie Baumholtz for the lead."
"In the living room we had a box fan, a large window unit, which in theory was supposed to suck the hot air through the house and blow it out across the barnyard."
"I couldn’t think of my shiny red Cardinals baseball jacket."
"But a new chef was with us, and I was eager to measure Miguel’s food against Juan’s."
"The Mexicans were sprawled in the shade of the north end of the barn, most of them sleeping on the grass."
"Only those two were allowed to weigh the cotton, and if they happened to be deep in a row somewhere, then you got a break while they worked their way back to the trailer."
"Gran carefully picked her moments to speak. There were times, usually once a week, when she would take me for a walk, or meet me on the porch, just the two of us."
"We were both digesting our dinner. I was thinking about Hank and trying to decide what to do."
"I decided I would simply avoid Hank and the rest of the Spruills until the picking was over and they went back to the hills."
"We talked baseball for a while. The Montgomerys did not own a radio, so their knowledge of the Cardinals was limited."
"If it involved bad news about farming, she would eventually tell me."
"We didn’t want Stick to hear us, so we said nothing throughout the entire meal."
"I couldn’t think of a single soul in Black Oak who would reach out to the Siscos."
"I glanced at Dewayne, who had one eye on me."
"The fight should’ve been over, but Hank had other plans."
"I counted eleven trailers ahead of us when we arrived at the gin."
"I said nothing as we left Black Oak. When the lights were behind us, I laid my head on the window opening so the wind would hit my lace."
"I was mesmerized by the gossip. We sat on the front steps of the church, looking down the sidewalk toward Main Street."
"The men and older boys grouped near the front of the church, and Dewayne and I milled around, just listening."
"The Siscos were in the process of picking him up again when Mr. Hank Spruill, he of the tree-trunk neck, stepped out from the crowd and hit Jerry hard."
"I wouldn’t tell anybody since there was no way to win."
"But we were determined not to drown. The fish were biting, small bream that I hooked and threw back."
"I wanted to run into the house and lock the doors."
"Let’s keep quiet about this," Pappy said, smug that he’d confirmed a rumor.
"We can rest in the winter," Gran was fond of saying.
"I would defend Ricky forever, and if anybody mentioned the Latcher baby, then I’d be ready to fight."
"I sorely wanted to be in the back of our pickup over at the Latchers’, eavesdropping on the men as they handled the situation."
"Long after I’d been sent to bed, I lay awake, fighting sleep because the air was alive with voices."
"Certain that I was asleep, they talked louder than they normally would have."
"I absorbed every sound. Things had not gone well at the Latchers’."
"But they had witnesses. Mr. Latcher himself said that on two occasions, just after Christmas, Ricky pulled up in their front yard in Pappy’s pickup and took Libby for a ride."
"My father speculated that if that really did happen, then Ricky chose Monette because fewer people would know him there."
"My one recollection of the newest Latcher was that of a small object that reminded me, at the time, of my baseball glove."
"Gran needed groceries, especially flour and coffee, and my mother needed to go to the drugstore."
"A new horror was upon us, one that was far more frightening than all this business about Hank Spruill."
"Little was said over breakfast. We were still very subdued, and I think this was because we all knew the truth."
"We were instantly soaked; I wouldn’t have been wetter if I’d jumped in the creek."
"We loaded onto the flatbed trailer, all of us scrambling in a great hurry."
"I’d heard horror stories of the beatings Pappy had given him, and never, according to his parents and mine, had he been brought to tears."
"The front yard had been overwhelmed by the Spruills."
"Maybe the size of the snake, but for the most part I clung to the truth."
"Little boys shouldn’t keep secrets from their mothers."
"You speak one word about tonight, and I will kill your mother."
"You can’t make a married woman do a damned thing."
"Why would a nice girl like Tally want to marry a Mexican?"
"Change is always difficult, Luke, but it can also be exciting."
"She treated me like a confidant, and she protected me like a big sister."
"Our food being given away. I was horrified at the thought, and I was furious with Gran for making such an offer without first discussing it with the rest of us."
"I’d never seen a poorer, dirtier, or more broken man."
"I’d never heard of such nonsense. A baby without a name."
"I was already hoping that perhaps she liked me."
"They’re here, they have no place else to go, and we’ll take care of them."
"What if someone got sick and needed a doctor or medicine?"
"We waved until he was out of sight. My heart ached as I watched his old truck turn the corner and disappear."