Jodie Slaughter > Quotes

“Generalized anxiety disorder.” She said the words matter-of-factly, like she was introducing herself to him for the first time.”
― Jodie Slaughter, Bet on It

“I reached up and laid a hand on his cheek. “I know, honey.” His eyes softened a bit at my endearment. “Because you’re going to kill him for me, aren’t you?” His lips quirked just the slightest. “I’m going to destroy him for you, Halle.”
― Jodie Slaughter, All Things Burn

“She felt like she was falling into an ocean of fear and doubt, the water unyielding as it surrounded her up to her ears. So she hadn’t gone.”
― Jodie Slaughter, Bet on It

“was buckled into the front seat of whatever hooptie his dad had gotten his hands on, and the next, he was standing on the curb watching Benny get ushered into a police car for possession of a controlled substance. They hadn’t taken Walker down to the station, and since his mother had split town years”
― Jodie Slaughter, Bet on It

“digging through simple conversations for unspoken things that she’d already convinced herself were real, even against all logic.”
― Jodie Slaughter, Bet on It

“Shit’s hard. It’s important to be open and honest when you’re ready and willin’. But I don’t think we owe it to anybody to tell them shit we aren’t comfortable tellin’ them either.”
― Jodie Slaughter, Bet on It

“The second he met Aja he’d made an effort to remember her name. He’d repeated it in his head six different times. He would have written it down, but he”
― Jodie Slaughter, Bet on It

“Somebody said when that granny of his finally took him from Benny, Wally tried to fight her. You know, like, physically.” “That boy ain’t right in the head. Both of ’em fucked him up so bad, he never stood a chance. Poor thing.”
― Jodie Slaughter, Bet on It

“I was twenty before I saw a psychiatrist and got diagnosed, and I didn’t tell anybody about it for a long time after that. Not even Gram.”
― Jodie Slaughter, Bet on It

“Like I said then—I get it. I spent my entire childhood with undiagnosed and untreated complex PTSD. I’m very familiar with freakin’ the fuck out.” “Complex PTSD?”
― Jodie Slaughter, Bet on It

“How easy it would be to widen his legs and pull her between his thighs until they were brushed up against one another so intimately that he could feel nothing but her, smell nothing but her.”
― Jodie Slaughter

“I don’t think it’s a bad thing to want somebody to understand you in that way. I mean, I know we live in a time where some people feel more comfortable talkin’ about mental health than they have in the past, but it’s still easy to feel alone when you’re in the thick of it. Plus, it’s not like society as a whole makes it safe for people to be as open as they might want to be about this kind of thing.”
― Jodie Slaughter, Bet on It

“Some of the thematic material in Bet on It discusses mental illness, panic attacks, drug abuse, and child endangerment. For a more detailed description of sensitive content, please visit jodieslaughter.com.”
― Jodie Slaughter, Bet on It

“He’d always been drawn to women who were less than forthcoming with their entire personalities. He liked to be the one to draw hidden shit out of people, loved it when they trusted him enough to open up and let him see everything they kept shut away.”
― Jodie Slaughter, Bet on It

“Her skin was a dark golden brown that caught the sun just right, making his breath hitch.”
― Jodie Slaughter

“The second he met Aja he’d made an effort to remember her name. He’d repeated it in his head six different times. He would have written it down, but he had no idea how she spelled it. So he turned it into a little tune instead. Aja. Aja. Aja Ow-ens. Aja. Aja. Aja Ow-ens.”
― Jodie Slaughter, Bet on It

“had no idea how she spelled it. So he turned it into a little tune instead. Aja. Aja. Aja Ow-ens. Aja. Aja. Aja Ow-ens. It was catchy. So much so, it had gotten stuck in his head. He’d found himself singing it while showering and while eating his late-night apples and peanut butter. The tune had run its”
― Jodie Slaughter, Bet on It

“Her brain loved to overthink things. Find hidden meanings in moments without any. She was always”
― Jodie Slaughter, Bet on It

“Your life is not defined by how much labor you perform or how many books you read.'
'What's it defined by then?' Her jaw was tight now.
'It's defined by whatever you want it to be defined by. That's for you to figure out.”
― Jodie Slaughter, To Be Alone With You

“For however good his meal proved to be, he was willing to bet she tasted better.”
― Jodie Slaughter, Bet on It

“He’d spent most of his adolescence trying to remain invisible—folding into himself, keeping his head down and his eyes ahead. It hadn’t worked—not after he’d become so prone to public panic attacks that he”
― Jodie Slaughter, Bet on It

“This cobbler transcends familial ties, Aja. I’m pretty sure Minnie sold her soul to some kind of demon for this recipe.” He forewent all manners,”
― Jodie Slaughter, Bet on It

“Her brain loved to overthink things. Find hidden meanings in moments without any. She was always digging through simple conversations for unspoken things that she’d already convinced herself were real, even against all logic.”
― Jodie Slaughter, Bet on It

“some things never changed. Relationships did. Feelings did. Even love did. But Black mamas were timeless.”
― Jodie Slaughter, Play to Win

“I heard Wally Abbott’s no-good daddy got him strung out on meth young. That’s why he can barely go a month without freakin’ out like somebody’s about to kill him.”
― Jodie Slaughter, Bet on It

“There was something about a man who could command a space but was still mindful not to take up too much of it that was intoxicating.”
― Jodie Slaughter, To Be Alone With You

“got pitying, but judgmental, looks everywhere he went. He was thirty now—broader, bulkier, and less attached to his own shadow. Therapy and Zoloft had reduced his number of panic attacks by a whole hell of a lot.”
― Jodie Slaughter, Bet on It

“before, there was only one person to call. Gram had picked him up right at the scene. The next day, she’d forced him out of bed early, cleaned him up, and taken him to Minnie’s,”
― Jodie Slaughter, Bet on It

“He saw a little boy who was quiet and buzzing with anxious energy. One who felt more comfortable huddled in the back of a closet than he did anywhere else. The first ten years”
― Jodie Slaughter, Bet on It

“Her face was there too, sweet and round. All dark hooded eyes and lips so full he could have shed a tear over them.”
― Jodie Slaughter, Bet on It