Heaven Quotes

“Me and Butchy sit in front of the TV and watch another church fall down in flames. Flames that I can feel sitting a thousand miles away. Flames that I will feel long after the TV is turned off. Flames and the looks on the faces of people watching their churches burn down—burning hot into the night, burning dark when the morning comes up.”
― Angela Johnson, Heaven

“I say, “I hate this ‘keepin’ it real’ stuff. What’s it all about, anyway? Real is what is. If you have to keep something the way it is, then it’s not going with the natural flow. That’s lying. I mean, if you can’t change because you think this is the way it always was and anything else would be phony, that’s stupid.”
― Angela Johnson, Heaven

“The two people I like most—outside my family—have secrets that I don’t ask about. Momma says it’s a flaw. She says I should be more interested; that people like to be asked about themselves. I should find out what made them who they are. I look at Shoogy and Bobby and think it doesn’t matter ’cause the past doesn’t always make sense of the present.”
― Angela Johnson, Heaven