How we cite our quotes: (Part.Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
"You lost?"
"Naw. I'm making a phone call."
"Where do you live?"
"Just over there," Dicey said, pointing vaguely with her free hand.
"Go home and call from there. Run along now. If you were a girl, I'd walk you over, but—"
"Our phone's broken," Dicey said. "That's why my mom sent me here."
The guard shifted his flashlight, holding it like a club. "Phones don't break. How's a phone break?"
"We've got this dog that chews things up. Slippers, papers, you know. He chewed the phone. The cord, actually, but it's all the same—the phone's broken."
"Are you bulling me?"
"I wish I was."
"What's your name, kid?"
"Danny."
She felt funny, strange, making up lies as quickly and smoothly as if she'd been doing it all her life. (1.1.100-112)
Whoa. Dicey is one smooth operator when it comes to lying. Good thing, too, since she's going to need it for the rest of their journey.
Quote #2
"We've only got fifty-one cents, and around here that won't buy enough to feed even one of us. This is a ritzy area. So—we want some bakery goods, because they're cheapest, but not at full price. So, we've got to make that lady in there feel like giving us a lot for our money. So, we've got to make her feel sorry for us."
James nodded.
"I'll go tell her how hungry I am," Sammy volunteered. "No, you won't and have her start asking questions." Dicey snapped. (1.6.73-75)
Again, there's danger in telling the truth. If Sammy goes into the bakery and explains the situation he might get food, but the kids also might get found out. Dicey can't let that happen, so the lie is safer.
Quote #3
"You know the only thing you can count on, the only thing that's always true? It's the speed of light. Louis told me Einstein figured it out, 186,000 miles per second. That's the only sure thing. Everything else—changes." (1.6.217)
Louis is just so brilliant isn't he? He seems to be saying that truth is relative. What do lies matter in the grand scheme of things? But we know that can't quite be right. There are some things you shouldn't lie about, right?