karma’s Reviews > Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood > Status Update

“Growing up in a home of abuse, you struggle with the notion that you can love a person you hate, or hate a person you love. It’s a strange feeling. You want to live in a world where someone is good or bad, where you either hate them or love them, but that’s not how people are.”

“That’s when I realized the police
were not who I thought they were. They were men first, and police second.”

“He’s like an exotic bird collector,” she said. “He only wants a woman who is free because his dream is to put her in a cage.”

“I was made to run off and have fun while my girl step-cousins had to
clean the house and help the women cook. I was in heaven.”

He was handsome, but he wasn’t good-looking.

because you’re giving the kid tough love when maybe he just needs love.

crime succeeds because crime does the one
thing the government doesn’t do: crime cares.

Being chosen is the greatest gift you can
give to another human being.