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Terrence Jumper “TJ”
The protagonist of “The Low Cuts Strike Again,” Bit is the unofficial leader of the Low Cuts. The Low Cuts are a group of four kids whose parents all have cancer—and the group is known for stealing pocket change. While most kids and teachers at school think of the Low Cuts as budding criminals, they only steal the change because they think they have to: cancer treatments have caused all four Low Cuts’ families to fall on hard times, so the kids receive free lunch and usually just want to buy extra food at lunch with the change. Most people seem unaware of this, though, and they don’t understand that the pressure of his mom having cancer causes Bit to act out and be volatile. He’s known for knocking people out if they tease his friends, and so nobody is willing to cross him. In “The Low Cuts Strike Again,” Bit shows how kind and generous he really is, and how this is so often misinterpreted: as the Low Cuts pool their money and purchase candy, adults think the kids are up to no good. But Bit just wants to get enough money to buy his mom, Ms. Burns, ice cream, since she’s just started chemo again.
Britton “Bit” Burns Quotes in Look Both Ways
The Look Both Ways quotes below are all either spoken by Britton “Bit” Burns or refer to Britton “Bit” Burns. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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2. The Low Cuts Strike Again
Quotes
But the Low Cuts don’t take just take to be taking. They don’t steal for fun. Actually, they don’t even like doing it. But they do it because they have to. At least they feel like they have to. Before they named themselves the Low Cuts, they were part of another set that they had no choice but to be down with. The free-lunchers.
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“I hate that sound. Matter of fact, I’d be a school bus that could fly. That way I ain’t gotta hit the brakes and make all that noise.” Bit looked over at Trista. “How ‘bout that?”
“All I’m gon’ say is, I could totally see you, a school bus falling from the sky.” Trista laughed to herself, but just loud enough for Bit to hear.
“Well, at least then I’d be a rocket.”
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“Do I want to know what y’all up to?” she asked, and they just looked at her like she hadn’t asked it. Like she hadn’t said anything. So she acted like she hadn’t said anything either. “Wait right here.”
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The other Low Cuts watched Bit the hustler, Bit who could turn ninety cents into nine bucks—into ice cream—turn into a son. A son who was scared. A son who loved his mom.
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Get the entire Look Both Ways LitChart as a printable PDF.
Britton “Bit” Burns Quotes in Look Both Ways
The Look Both Ways quotes below are all either spoken by Britton “Bit” Burns or refer to Britton “Bit” Burns. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
2. The Low Cuts Strike Again
Quotes
But the Low Cuts don’t take just take to be taking. They don’t steal for fun. Actually, they don’t even like doing it. But they do it because they have to. At least they feel like they have to. Before they named themselves the Low Cuts, they were part of another set that they had no choice but to be down with. The free-lunchers.
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Explanation and Analysis:
“I hate that sound. Matter of fact, I’d be a school bus that could fly. That way I ain’t gotta hit the brakes and make all that noise.” Bit looked over at Trista. “How ‘bout that?”
“All I’m gon’ say is, I could totally see you, a school bus falling from the sky.” Trista laughed to herself, but just loud enough for Bit to hear.
“Well, at least then I’d be a rocket.”
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Explanation and Analysis:
“Do I want to know what y’all up to?” she asked, and they just looked at her like she hadn’t asked it. Like she hadn’t said anything. So she acted like she hadn’t said anything either. “Wait right here.”
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Explanation and Analysis:
The other Low Cuts watched Bit the hustler, Bit who could turn ninety cents into nine bucks—into ice cream—turn into a son. A son who was scared. A son who loved his mom.
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