The Women Of Brewster Place Quotes
"Brewster Place was the bastard child of several clandestine meetings between the alderman of the sixth district and the managing director of Unico Realty Company."
"They came together, propositioned, bargained, and slowly worked out the consummation of their respective desires."
"The gray bricks of the buildings were the color of dull silver during Brewster Place’s youth."
"The boulevard became a major business district, but in order to control traffic some of the auxiliary streets had to be walled off."
"Brewster Place grew old with Mrs. Fuelli and the few others who either refused or were unable to leave."
"Integration came to Brewster Place on the rounded shoulders of a short, brown-skinned man who had been hired as janitor and handyman for the buildings."
"Brewster Place became especially fond of its colored daughters as they milled like determined spirits among its decay."
"The rattling moving van crept up Brewster like a huge green slug."
"Mattie saw that the wall reached just above the second-floor apartments, which meant the northern light would be blocked from her plants."
"Sugar cane and summer and Papa and Basil and Butch. And the beginning—the beginning of her long, winding journey to Brewster."
"I been eating sugar cane all my life, fool!"
"Eating cane is like living life. You gotta know when to stop chewing."
"She felt disquieting stirrings at the base of her stomach and in her fingertips as she watched his strong lean body bend and swing the wide-bladed knife against the green and brownish stalks."
"I couldn’t stand it, Mama. I just couldn’t."
"But I’ll quit my man. I’m a lie if I say I won’t."
"Children bloomed on Brewster Place during July and August with their colorful shorts and tops plastered against gold, ebony, and nut-brown legs and arms; they decorated the street, rivaling the geraniums and ivy found on the manicured boulevard downtown."
"There ain’t nothing I ever do Or nothing I ever say That folks don’t criticize me But I’m going to do Just what I want to, anyway And don’t care just what people say."
"Mattie sat in her frayed brocade armchair, pushed up to the front window, and watched her friend’s brave approach through the dusty screen."
"Them that’s got, shall get Them that’s not, shall lose So the Bible says And it still is news."
"Southern trees bear strange fruit Blood on the leaves and blood at the root Black bodies swinging In the southern breeze Strange fruit hanging From the poplar trees."
"And laughter rolled inside of 2E, once again."
"The sunlight was still watery as Ben trudged into Brewster Place, and the street had just begun to yawn and stretch itself."
"The church was small and dark. The air hung about them like a stale blanket."
"And Ciel lay down and cried. But Mattie knew the tears would end. And she would sleep. And morning would come."
"I just don’t know," she sighed aloud, shifted the baby into her arms, and got up to adjust the picture and change channels."
"Why couldn’t they just stay like this—so soft and easy to care for?"
"No, when her babies slept she made sure they went unmolested by those things painted on that clinic poster."
"Don’t understand you, Cora Lee, just don’t understand you."
"She couldn’t bear the thought of those ugly red things creeping into the soft, fragrant curls."
"Why we gotta take a bath—Grandma’s coming over?"
"I’ve already been through four of the buildings and the response is really great."
"You see what I mean—they’re terrible. I just don’t know."
"And this weak and idle theme, No more yielding but a dream..."
"Her babies—all her babies—stared back at her, petrified under the yellowing plastic."
"I’ve told ya a million times to stop swinging on my curtains, so good for you!"
"It’s a shame you ain’t got none of your own. You’re good with kids."
"They love each other like you’d love a man or a man would love you—I guess."
"Maybe it’s not so different," Mattie said, almost to herself.
"I guess you get out the tub with your clothes on, Sophie."
"She came to us with a bunch of lies ’bout Mr. Clyde ’cause she’s too damn lazy to work."
"You forgot to close your shades last night, and I saw the two of you!"
"I’m not going over there tonight. I hate those parties."
"I’ve always hated them. They make me sick with all their prancing and phoniness."
"You and I don’t talk, Tee. You talk—Lorraine listens. You lecture—Lorraine takes notes."
"That only place I’ve found some peace, Tee, is in that damp ugly basement, where I’m not different."
"I have accepted it! I’ve accepted it all my life, and it’s nothing I’m ashamed of."
"There are two things that have been a constant in my life since I was sixteen years old—beige bras and oatmeal."
"I never knew till then why they called it angel food—took one bite and thought I had died and gone to heaven."
"Lord, keep her safe, since you can’t keep her sane."
"This one’s got it, too!" Cora started tearing at another brick."
"No one cries when a street dies. There’s no line of mourners to walk behind the coffin."
"It watched its last generation of children torn away from it by court orders and eviction notices, and it had become too tired and sick to help them."
"They ebb and flow, ebb and flow, but never disappear. So Brewster Place still waits to die."