Pleasantview Quotes

“All you need is a sip of this babash, girl,” Winston said, waving the bottle. “My cousin-and-them make this down Moruga. It go burn out any problem you have inside you.”
― Celeste Mohammed, Pleasantview

“She gripped the burglar bars, stretching onto tiptoes to unlatch the window so she could macco next door, into the rumshop yard where the wake had already started.”
― Celeste Mohammed, Pleasantview

“bathing with blue laundry soap, pinning blue cloth to her bosom—but nothing had helped.”
― Celeste Mohammed, Pleasantview

“You must be as outsider as it get, so you very surprised that Becky always squeezing in a line or two ’bout how black men are so hot and how the Caribbean accent is so sexy. Like is only one fuckin’ accent for everybody in the whole Caribbean Sea. Steups!”
― Celeste Mohammed, Pleasantview

“You find your suitcase in no time—thanks to the orange ribbon Judith did tie on it.”
― Celeste Mohammed, Pleasantview

“These people seemed, to Declan, eager to prove some kind of scientific correlation between how sinful they were in the past and how much Jesus loved them now. It was especially hard not to laugh at the illiterates, like the man who testified he was a born-and-raised Hindu but his life changed the day he’d heard the story of “The Portugal Son”, and the dougla lady who claimed she was a former prostitute but, even in those days, between jobs, she’d studied “The Book of Palms”.”
― Celeste Mohammed, Pleasantview

“A few years ago, back when her name was still Michelle—she’d actually changed it because “hell” was in the middle”
― Celeste Mohammed, Pleasantview

“Agnita, veteran of these rituals, was ready. “Look,” she replied, “I take this from the drawer. It clean.” From the pocket of her house-dress came a pair of jockey-shorts. Eggplant in color, with white piping. Miss Ivy sprinkled the underwear with holy water from a tiny bottle. Then, gripping the crotch, she closed her eyes and began a rolling chant, “O Mother, O Mother! Mother Sita. O Mother! Mother Mary. O Mother! Mother Earth. O Mother!”
― Celeste Mohammed, Pleasantview

“Agnita napkins from the plastic holder on the table, and wondered if her friend knew the talk on the street about Silence: that he wasn’t such a quiet, gentle boy anymore; that he sold something other than fruits now; that he’d recently become a foot-soldier for Lost Boyz gang. Or was Agnita just like all the other Pleasantview mothers and grandmothers? Playing deaf and dumb until they ended up on the news crying, “He was a good boy, you know!”
― Celeste Mohammed, Pleasantview

“So you hear the news?” Mr. Jagroop said. “Your landlord might be a Member-a-Parliament soon, son. They ask me to be the UNC candidate.”
― Celeste Mohammed, Pleasantview

“Mamacita, take a walk inside! Take a walk inside!” They are accustomed to seeing “Vennies” scurrying around the back streets—to them, every Latina is a Venezuelan whore—so they take her money and ask no questions.”
― Celeste Mohammed, Pleasantview