How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
Mam was working in the kitchen when my parents got back from eating out. I went to the top of the stairs to try to hear what they were talking about. (3.128)
The thing about Victor's family is that they don't spend a whole lot of time together—not with Victor, anyway. His parents are usually off doing their own thing, which is why he has to eavesdrop on them every chance he gets. He just wants to know what's going on in their lives.
Quote #2
The father and mother and a little girl were sitting in chairs out on the porch. Instead of making a throw I skipped up the steps to hand the paper to the father who had tipped me a nickel. As I passed the screen door I took a quick peek inside and there was TV Boy with his face stuck in front of the screen with the sound turned off just like the night before. (4.46)
Going on the paper route gives Victor a glimpse into how other peoples' families work, and sometimes he's baffled by what he sees. Why isn't TV Boy hanging out with the rest of his family on a nice summer evening? What's his deal, anyway?
Quote #3
After I brushed my teeth I went to my parents' bedroom to tell them good night but my mother was at her dresser talking on the telephone to one of her friends about New Orleans. She blew me a good-night kiss. I went to find my father but he was in his office downstairs talking on the phone that he only used when he wanted to talk to people about what they should do with their money. (4.49)
Victor wants to get to know his parents better, but a lot of the time they're too busy for him. They love him, but they have grown-up priorities and events to attend… which is why it's so great for him to have Mam around. She actually takes care of him and listens to all his stories and concerns.
Quote #4
When I turned onto my block I saw both of my parents' cars in the driveway and remembered that my mother had said they weren't going out Friday night and that the three of us were going to have a late supper at home. (6.33)
Victor loves his parents, but they don't spend all that much time with him… at least not as much time as he spends with Mam. A dinner together is a special occasion that they have to plan for.
Quote #5
My mother and father were talking in the breakfast room as I eased down the back stairs. I sat on the landing step to hear what my mother was saying.
His therapist says that stammering is likely generic but no one in my family stammers.
I think you mean genetic. (7.42-44)
Victor gets why his mother would be looking into her family background to see if there are any stutterers, but why does his father seem so unconcerned? Shouldn't he be talking about his family members, too?
Quote #6
My mother's name before she got married was written in at the bottom of the paper on the left beside MOTHER. On the right side next to FATHER was a word I wasn't expecting. (7.76-77)
Talk about a surprise, right? Victor totally didn't expect to find this when snooping in his parents' closet. He doesn't know what to think after he sees his birth certificate and learns that his father isn't his biological dad.
Quote #7
Here was the toughest part to figure out. If some other man and my mother got together to make me then why did I like being around my father more than my mother? I liked to talk to my father a whole lot more than my mother. My father never seemed to mind that I stuttered so much. (8.5)
The most confusing thing about learning the truth about his father is that Victor feels closer to his father than he does to his mother. How can he feel so much like family if they're not even biologically related?
Quote #8
But since my father wasn't the one who made me with my mother he could have said I wasn't of his doing and he wouldn't have had to raise me or make time for me. It seemed I owed him a lot more than I owed somebody who I didn't even know. I wasn't sure I even wanted to learn anything about the other man because he didn't want to know anything about me as far as I could tell. (19.72)
Victor decides that his father is an even better dad than most because he isn't related to him. He doesn't have to take care of Victor so much, but he does because he loves his son—regardless of their biological connection.
Quote #9
My father on the birth certificate might have been Unknown but the tall man throwing ball with me in his white shirt with his necktie stuffed between the buttons was my father as far as I was concerned. He got his shiny dress shoes muddy when he stepped in the flower beds to get a ball. He always tried to do everything in the world for me and he didn't even have to if you wanted to be official about it. (19.73)
His dad may not be the official name listed on the birth certificate, but he's being pretty much the best father in the world. Victor can't imagine a better dad.
Quote #10
I told my father and mother that I was glad I belonged to them no matter how I got there. I told my father I wanted us to try to work on what Mr. Spiro's four words meant. Just the two of us. We could do that instead of playing pitch and catch so much. I told my mother that I wouldn't get mad at her anymore and I would help her find the right words to say if she wanted me to. (20.33)
If Victor could say anything to his parents, he would tell them that he's perfectly happy with the way their family works. He doesn't care that he doesn't know who his biological father is because he knows that a family is made up of more than just genetics.