A Kind of Freedom Quotes

“For the rest of her life, Jackie wouldn't forget that comment. She and her daddy weren't as close as they had been, and she felt a pang in her chest whenever she saw him with Sybil, but most of that jealousy was mitigated by T.C. When she had the baby, she realized how much a parent loved a child, and she assumed her father's feelings for her were at least as sturdy. Because of that perspective, all this time she had also assumed that when he asked her how she was doing, when he drove her car to the lot for oil changes, moved her furniture, stopped by unannounced, and paid her light bill, that there was nothing else in the world he'd rather be doing. In reality though he'd been building up anger with every check he signed, every mile he drove, and the last thing she wanted was a favor laced in resentment. She waited for her mam to cut in with a word that might coat the ferocity of what had just been said, but there was only silence, a heavy resolve as though Jackie were the one who needed to explain, as if she would do anything differently if the circumstances tumbled into her lap again.”
― Margaret Wilkerson Sexton, A Kind of Freedom

“He was by no means a thief, but Jackie had learned the hard way that life could drag disgrace out of you.”
― Margaret Wilkerson Sexton, A Kind of Freedom

“Malik didn't know who his daddy was yet. And T.C. supposed he didn't know who he was yet either. In his son's eyes he saw so many possibilities. Maybe Malik would know him to be a warrior, someone who turned the odds on their head. Maybe he would see him as just a good man, and, yeah, he'd made some mistakes, but he loved his family, he was there for his son. For a second, T.C. could see himself through the same lens. He bathed in that vision, let it wash over him, closed his eyes. the longer he dwelled inside it, the more he could imagine it being real.”
― Margaret Wilkerson Sexton, A Kind of Freedom

“You don’t know what it means to have choices. Don’t throw your life away over a low imagination.”
― Margaret Wilkerson Sexton, A Kind of Freedom

“If you had to convince people who you were, it was too late,”
― Margaret Wilkerson Sexton, A Kind of Freedom

“Only so much you can shine shit.”
― Margaret Wilkerson Sexton, A Kind of Freedom

“There’s all different types of ways to leave somebody. Maybe it’s sadder that she’s there, and she just feels far away.”
― Margaret Wilkerson Sexton, A Kind of Freedom

“If you forget everything I tell you, remember this: You can’t ever be friends with somebody who wants what you have.”
― Margaret Wilkerson Sexton, A Kind of Freedom

“I'm so proud of you," she said, and she supposed she was, or she would have been if her sister hadn't come over and transplanted her mind into Jackie's, if Jackie had time to just sit with the news and process it according to her own values and dreams.”
― Margaret Wilkerson Sexton, A Kind of Freedom

“Evelyn stood over her sister, stared at her, trying to glimpse a change. What happened to the face of a broken woman? Did it turn to covey the loss or did it conspire with her heart to hide it? Looking at her, she thought it was the former. She remembered seeing Ruby so crumpled only when she was a toddler and their mother would leave her. Now as an adult, Evelyn felt genuine sympathy for her for the first time in her life. She sat on the edge of Ruby's bed and stroked her hair, but when Ruby stirred, Evelyn retreated back to her own corner of the room, back to her own life.”
― Margaret Wilkerson Sexton, A Kind of Freedom