How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
She cuts a knife right through my space and turns. And I slam my fist into my other hand because she's as good as jumped and I say, "Her. I'm gonna kick that ass at two forty-five." (3.60)
This is the choice that Dominique makes that starts it all. Dominique feels invisible from her conversations with Coach and Hershheiser, and she isn't really able to reconcile with them, so she makes a decision to regain her power the only way she can—by taking her anger out on someone else.
Quote #2
It won't shatter anyone's world if I walk into class late. I start spilling and stretching the story beyond the split seconds that it occurred. (4.21)
Leticia is all about the dirt, and her choice here shows us where her priorities are—on gossip, not on her education.
Quote #3
Bea eats up thirty whole seconds of my phone minutes to say how wrong, how trifling it is and that—get this—I shouldn't let it go down like this, and then asks again if I'm sure that Trina doesn't know. (4.36)
Bea is serving as a conscience that Leticia ignores. Throughout the novel, we learn that Leticia shirks pretty much all responsibility for her actions, so it doesn't really surprise us to see that Leticia is not too enthused about telling Trina. Bea's right—the situation is trifling, but Bea doesn't take it upon herself to call the school.
Quote #4
You can't get your money back from the store if it looks used. It's not easy to read a book you don't crack open all the way but I've mastered the art of keeping the book brand-new. (7.8)
Leticia buys books for class, reads them, and then returns them to the store to get her money back. In contrast, Bea's books look destroyed with all the turned corners and writing in the margin. What does Leticia's choice to game the system reveal to us about her character?
Quote #5
Got to give it to him, the poor bastard. He shows up. Suited. Ready. This is his game. His minutes. It's gotta suck when you're the only one ready on game day.
So I call out, "Trust. It doesn't mean they trust each other." (10.8-9)
In history class, Dominique feels badly for her teacher, Delmonico; she doesn't have to throw him a bone, but she does. Dominique is totally capable of understanding others; in fact, she's perceptive beyond her athletic stereotype. And this demonstration of her empathy makes her decision to jump Trina that much sadder.
Quote #6
See, it's those two words, Leticia said, that cause problems. Because what should Leticia have done in the first place? Minded her own business. Half the turmoil brewing happens because so-and-so didn't do what? Mind her business. (13.5)
Leticia uses Dominique's philosophy of minding one's own business to justify her decision to say nothing. She doesn't think she bears any responsibility in getting involved in whatever is happening between Dominique and Trina, though it seems like an excuse to us to keep her passive streak alive.
Quote #7
And that's why Trina can't blame anyone but Trina for this mess. So no. I don't have to tell Trina a thing. This might even be good for her. She might learn a lesson. (22.10)
It's in the lunchroom that Leticia makes her final decision about whether or not to tell Trina. Do you agree with why Leticia decides not to tell Trina that Dominique will jump her after school? Why or why not?
Quote #8
Steinbeck set Lennie up. Made him big, dumb, and too strong for his own good. Made him like soft things. Made him kill every soft thing he touched. What choice did Lennie have? What else was he going to do when that soft blonde flit came shaking her blonde curls in his face? (27.5)
Dominique has to write about the novel Of Mice and Men.She implies that Lennie didn't really have a choice when Curly's wife comes to him, that it's in his nature to destroy nice, soft things. What does this imply about how Dominique sees her own choices and her own nature?
Quote #9
I calmed down, whipped out Celina, hit 3 on speed dial, and started telling Bea what was happening. She started hollering in my ear while I tried to calm her down, but she wouldn't calm down. She kept saying, "Do something, Leticia. Do something." (29.7)
When Leticia's teacher Mr. Yerkewicz had a heart attack last year, Leticia chose to call Bea and gossip instead of calling 9-1-1. Wow. Just wow. Clearly, Leticia's priorities are totally selfish, and that selfishness is how she makes decisions.
Quote #10
"Why are you doing this, Coach?" I ask. "Why you benching me?"
"You know my rules," Coach says. "Seventy-five to take the floor."
"But I need to play. I need my minutes."
"Look, Duncan. I'm not in control of that. You are. Kick up your grades and I'll play you." (30.16-19)
Dominique's coach chooses to set high standards for her players, and she doesn't bend. If she bends the rules for Dominique, other players might expect her to do the same. But, then, if she had bent the rules for Dominique, maybe Dominique wouldn't have gotten as mad at Trina as she did. There's no way to know for sure.