Johnny Quotes

“Then he left her there, standing alone, surrounded by word ghosts; things she could have said.”

“You hardly know me, Johnny, so I beg you to believe my reputation: I’m a constant soldier and a sometime poet and I will be King.”

After their mother passes away, Retta, Johnny, and Roy don’t have much parenting in their lives. Their dad is a country singer who keeps them well fed but isn’t around much. Older sister Retta takes control, leading her brothers on all sorts of unwise adventures and promising that one day they’ll have money, safety, and a nice home.

That pool gave the night swimmers a feeling of belonging and happiness, even though the pool didn’t belong to them, it made them feel good pretending. Reality was not as good as the life they pretended when they went out at night. Retta, Roy, and Johnny are the new kids in town. Their father doesn’t spend much time with them, he is usually at a club at night, there he sings his country music.

Retta, the eldest, has tried her best to replace their mother, but Johnny, the middle child, is fed up with Retta. He refuses to let her have any control over him. Desperate to try be a mother to him, she follows him one night when he slips out to be with a friend. She scolds him, but his friend sticks up for him, she can’t help be angry at both of them. Roy, who was left at home, is upset because he was left out of some “secret operation”.

When Retta and Johnny get home, their father, Roy, the Colonel, and their father’s sweet, maternal, girlfriend is there. They all get a wake up call, they all realize each other’s, and their own imperfections. In the end, Brendelle, the girlfriend, points the family in the direction of improvement, and will hopefully come to replace their mother.

Johnny is relishing the annoyance he causes in his older sister and his younger brother. Roy is the young, stupid, naïve little kid. He always gave into his sister, loving her especially when she was like one of those “stern grocery store moms”. He gets frustrated when being left out because he seems like a young little pest. He is upset by the constant loss of the magic and happiness that was once in his life.

“Rock-a-bye baby, thy cradle is green; Father’s a nobleman, Mother’s a queen. And Betty’s a lady, And wears a gold ring; And Johnny’s a drummer, And drums for the king.”

So Johnny begins the life of a stroller - begging on the street, sleeping where he can.

“For a few moments Abel watched Johnny. Then he stood up, stretching. ‘Well, like I said three weeks ago, it’s time.’ Again he looked at Johnny, crafty this time. ‘Anyhow, I’m going. You stay if you’re chicken. ’

“Johnny lay with his eyes closed. Ma didn’t understand. Maybe she though he was lazy. Maybe she couldn’t feel the need that he had, the need to learn. He’d been to school for years now and he’d tried, he really had, but there were many children and no enough teachers; not enough books.”

“Abel passed Johnny half a sandwich, generously, because Abel was hungry too, but he thought he would have good at home tonight. Johnny might not have any.”

“Johnny dragged on for a few more day, but every day seemed emptier, more pointless. He could see no end to it; no reward at the end of the long and tiring time. His mind was strolling already.”

Everything changes for Chris one August evening when red-haired, freckle-faced Johnny turns up on a bicycle, but who is Johnny and why do the police have his bicycle and other belongings?

“Not only that, even though he is small and looks girlish Johnny knows just how to deal with anybody, however clever or though. Before long, Johnny is Chris’s best friend, even thought he’s full of mysteries.”

“That promise about turning over a new leaf wasn’t just talk: there were no more dangerous escapades for a while. It could be Johnny was now so well known, he didn’t need to prove himself any more.”

“But now the police have found Johnny’s bicycle abandoned along with others belongings he would never let out of his sight. They want to know what Chris and Johnny did together, where they went and why.”

“But Johnny has only thought in his head and that’s his beloved bicycle, he just sits there staring at it, examining it, and gauging its chances of a life after this.”

“Nobody has time to note anything scandalous about Johnny’s underpants before he’d pulled up his trousers again, spun round, and butted George in the stomach. George doubled up, only to get an uppercut from the back of Johnny’s head, and then a left hook to the chin which adjusted his beating by ninety degrees.”

“Dad had heard about somebody riding a bike down the Kvarngatan steps. So, it was you, was it! He clapped Johnny on the back and said it was lucky Johnny wasn’t one of his kids, or he’d have had something to say about it. Johnny didn’t look specially worried.”

“He won’t say where he lives or tell his surname or talk about his family or explain where he goes when he disappears for weeks on end. Still, Johnny is the most fascinating, daring person Chris has ever met.”

“Johnny pumped up the front tire, pumped up the back, listened to the echo from the inner tubes, let out a bit of air, jumped in some more, and checked the tires. Having completed that little ceremony, he handed over the pump to me. Me!”

″ Suddenly now isn’t the safe place Johnny once thought it was as he finds himself caught up more and more with then ...”