Цитаты из книг — Лоренцо Каркатерра

'You want a Rolls Royce, you go to England or wherever the fuck they make it,' Fat Mancho said. 'You want champagne, you go see the French. You want money, find a Jew. But you want dirt, scum buried under a rock, a secret nobody wants anybody to know, you want that and you want that fast, there's only one place to go –…

I had walked into Wilkinson a boy. Now, I wasn't at all sure who or what I was. The months there had changed me, that was for certain. I just didn't know how or in what way the changes would manifest themselves. On the surface, I wasn't as physically ruined as John, nor as beaten down as Tommy. I wasn't the lit fuse…

'I ain't gonna forget you did this,' Ferguson said, pointing a shaking finger at both me and John. 'You two hear me? I ain't gonna forget this.' 'It's a devil's deal, then,' I said. 'What the fuck's that mean?' Ferguson said. John explained it to him. 'First one to forget dies,' he said.

I walked over to where John was standing, the steel look still on his face, his eyes honed in on Ferguson. I rested my hand against the one holding the knife, knuckles tight around the edge of the blade. 'It's okay, Johnny,' I said. 'You can let go now. It's okay.' 'He's not gonna touch me again,' John said, the voice no…

John moved the knife away from Ferguson's neck, stepping back, holding the sharp edge of the blade in the palm of his hand. His face was a portrait of hard hate, emptied of its sweet-eyed charm, a resting place for all the torment and abuse he had endured. In so many ways, he was no longer the John I had known, the John I…

I thought about my mother, wishing I had a cup of her ricotta to take away the aches and chills. She would fill a large pot with water and set it to boil, throw in three sliced apples and lemons, two tea bags, two spoonfuls of honey and a half glass of Italian whiskey. She boiled everything down until the contents were…

'Will you write to me?' he asked. I wanted so much to cry, to put my arms around him and hold him as close as I had held my father. I fought back the tears and tried to swallow, my mouth dirt dry. 'Don't worry,' I managed to say. 'You'll hear from me.' 'It'll mean a lot,' Father Bobby said, his voice as choked and cracked…

Whenever we went out as a group, Carol would walk between Michael and John, grasping their arms, at ease and in step between the lawyer and the killer. These were my friends.

The door to the club remained open, the lilting sound of Doris Day singing 'Que Sera, Sera' easing its way onto the street. It was King Benny's favorite song. 'I see you've still got a thing for Doris Day,' I said, coming up next to him. 'She's a good woman,' King Benny said. 'You like her movies?' I asked. 'I don't go to…

'Hey, Ness,' Davenport said, sliding over to where I had been sitting and rolling down the window. 'What?' I said, standing by the curb. 'You ever think of becoming a cop?' he asked, smiling. 'And leave the good guys?' I said with a laugh. 'Never happen.'

A number of the inmates, as tough as they acted during the day, would often cry themselves to sleep at night, their wails creeping through the cell walls like ghostly pleas. There were other cries too. These differed from those filled with fear and loneliness. They were lower and muffled, the sounds of pained anguish, raw…

It doesn't take very long to know how tough a person you are or how strong you can be. I knew from my first day at Wilkinson that I was neither tough nor strong. It only takes a moment for the fear to find its way, to seep through the carefully constructed armor. Once it does, it finds a permanent place. It is as true for…

'Will you still be here when I get back?' I asked, my voice choked, my eyes focusing on the two men outside, trying not to let King Benny see me cry. 'I'll always be here,' he said. 'Doing what I always do.' 'What do you do here?' I asked, a smile at the center of my tears. King Benny pointed to the empty espresso pot. 'I…

'Think we can push it?' Michael asked. 'The three of us?' 'Push it where?' John asked. 'Couple of blocks away,' Michael said. 'Be a nice surprise for the guy when he gets back from chasing Shakes not to find his cart.' 'What if somebody takes it?' Tommy said. 'You gotta be pretty dumb to steal a hot dog cart,' Michael…

Outside events meant little. In a society changing radically by the hour, we focused on the constants in our own small, controlled space. It was the sixties, and we watched the images scattered nightly across TV screens with skepticism, never trusting the players, always suspecting a scam. It was the way we were taught to…

'Always watch out for men like your father,' King Benny said. 'They go down bad streets. And they never go down alone.' 'He tries,' I said. 'He just gets caught up.' 'There are other ways,' he said. 'Better ways. You should walk away from the table knowing that.' 'He wants to make money,' I said. 'Same as everybody around…

'Bless me Father for I have sinned,' the man said, his voice baritone deep. 'So?' John said. 'What's that make you? Special?'

'I don't know if these brakes are gonna hold,' I said. 'Don't think brakes,' Michael hissed. 'Think speed.' 'How do I stop?' I asked with a hint of panic. 'You'll hit somethin',' Michael said. 'Don't worry.' 'That's what I love, Mikey,' I told him. 'You just think of everything.'