Meda Quotes

No, I should kill him. He said himself he would eventually go back to the demons. But he turns long-lashed eyes on me, full of entreaty, as if he were saying: please, please let me come murder the molester with you. How do you say "no" to eyes like those? They are a magical combination of sex and puppy.
Better than it sounds, I promise. ~ Eliza Crewe

And since when does Hell have royalty? I thought they were all bureaucrats." "Oh, sweetie," he says, patronizing. "That's cute." "What's cute?" "That you think celebrity children of powerful people aren't royalty." "Are you accusing me of being a Hilton?" I sputter. "Or a, a–" my head might explode, "Kardashian?" "The Hellish equivalent. ~ Eliza Crewe

The gang may be a safer place than home, but it's not without its problems. In some instances, especially in the Latino community, the boys have very traditional views of femininity even though they are gang members. The girls can be [seen] as sexually available, but not the good girl that you want to take home to your family, even by young men in the gangs. ~ Meda Chesney-Lind

Stupid Crusaders with their stupid rules. For a homicidal group, they're appallingly restrictive.
No, Meda, you can't leave campus.
No, Meda, you know we have a curfew.
No, Meda, you can't eat that guy. ~ Eliza Crewe

But I am not sick, or crazy, or broken.
I am Meda Melange, demon-saint monster girl. I make full-grown men scream in terror. I break bones and drain blood. I turn nightmares into reality.
I am the most powerful creature on earth. I do not wear a leash. ~ Eliza Crewe

Because the dumb slut slept with him, and he's too nice to–" WHAM, out of nowhere he nose-butts me in the fist! ~ Eliza Crewe

In the '60s and '70s, people didn't pay a lot of attention to gangs. I think gangs still existed, but gangs had fallen out of criminological favor. ~ Meda Chesney-Lind

I suppose it should bother me to be so hated but, without it, I wouldn't have the delight of torturing them with my presence. What can I say? My cheerful spirit can't help but spot silver linings. ~ Eliza Crewe

Girls often feel very powerless in their lives and their families, and they kind of mimic the male violence as a way to try and get some of that male power that they see lacking in their own lives. ~ Meda Chesney-Lind

Girls come to the gang for very different reasons than boys. For boys in marginalized communities, they have a gender problem, and they solve it often through gang membership. They find an ability to do masculinity in a way that reasserts their importance in a society that mostly ignores them. For girls, they're coming out of more damaged backgrounds. Their families are often the reason they get propelled into gang membership. ~ Meda Chesney-Lind

I laugh. "How exactly do you see this…" I wave between the two of us, unable to come up with a descriptor
"Beautiful friendship?" he supplies with a devilish grin.
"…going?" I finish, ignoring him. "Us being mortal enemies and all."
"I prefer the term 'star-crossed lovers.'"
I snort. "Regardless, it can't end well."
"The best romances don't. ~ Eliza Crewe

Forget them, Meda. Forget her." He reaches up and puts his hand on the side of my face, tugging it toward him. "I like you as you are. Good, evil, whatever. All I care about is that you're alive. Please, Meda. ~ Eliza Crewe

They say curiosity killed the cat but I am unconcerned. I am smarter, though slightly less evil, than any cat. ~ Eliza Crewe

My hands twitch and wiggle.
Jo sees them, shakes her head and mouths, "Sit on your hands."
She can't be serious. As if my butt would stop my hands even if it could. Does she not realize it's in league with the rest of me? ~ Eliza Crewe

Ah well, no rest for the wicked and all that. I'll just have to kill him myself. ~ Eliza Crewe

Violence among boys is so valorized and so encouraged that you have to do things different in violence prevention with boys than with girls. ~ Meda Chesney-Lind

You are a total nerd."
Not what he's expecting, the darkness wiped away by a startled laugh. "What?"
"Why else would you possibly know that?" I say it like I'm piecing together a puzzle – and I'm appalled by the picture it's making. "You're a nerd. A complete nerd. You nerdified sex. That just happened. ~ Eliza Crewe

Girls begin to have second thoughts about the violence. Studies show they feel a considerable amount of guilt about it. They feel bad later and want to apologize. ~ Meda Chesney-Lind

The most dangerous kind of girl involvement with gangs is one where the girls are just sort of hanging around the gang boys or even being part of the male gang. ~ Meda Chesney-Lind

I hear Jo in my head trying to douse the fire in my heart. "Be good, Meda." Good, good, good, good, good. The word plays in a loop until it means nothing. I've been good and they refuse to feed me. I've been good and they won't train me. I've been good and they changed the locks. I've been good and they want to send me away. ~ Eliza Crewe

One of the differences between boy gangs and girl gangs is for girls it's much more relational and much less violent. ~ Meda Chesney-Lind

You said you'd cooperate."
I knew I'd regret my promise, just not quite this soon. "You don't wear pink!"
"Yeah, well, no one thinks I'm in league with the devil."
She shoves it into my chest. I narrow my eyes. "I do. ~ Eliza Crewe

Get him! My hormones scream.
Don't fall for it, my brain cautions.
Pretty! They whine. Stupid hormones.
Calm down, hormones. We are just pumping him – (really brain, you chose the word pumping?) – for information. He is literally evil. We need to keep our distance. ~ Eliza Crewe