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Denise
Chickie Pete is a former Nickel Boy whom Turner (who at the time goes by Elwood) encounters on the streets of New York City. It has been decades since both Turner and Chickie left Nickel, so the two men decide to catch up at a nearby bar. Chickie explains that he has served in the military and worked a number of odd jobs, and that he recently got out of a rehabilitation clinic for alcoholism, though he tells this to Turner while drinking beer. Much to Turner’s disappointment, Chickie doesn’t even remember that Turner escaped from Nickel. Frustrated, Turner decides to leave, promising to call Chickie to give him a job at his moving company, though he never really intends to do this.
Chickie Pete Quotes in The Nickel Boys
The The Nickel Boys quotes below are all either spoken by Chickie Pete or refer to Chickie Pete. 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:
).
Chapter Twelve
Quotes
Chickie Pete and his trumpet. He might have played professionally, why not? A session man in a funk band, or an orchestra. If things had been different. The boys could have been many things had they not been ruined by that place. Doctors who cure diseases or perform brain surgery, inventing shit that saves lives. Run for president. All those lost geniuses—sure not all of them were geniuses, Chickie Pete for example was not solving special relativity—but they had been denied even the simple pleasure of being ordinary. Hobbled and handicapped before the race even began, never figuring out how to be normal.
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Chapter Thirteen
Quotes
It was funny, how much he had liked the idea of his Great Escape making the rounds of the school. Pissing off the staff when they heard the boys talking about it. He thought this city was a good place for him because nobody knew him—and he liked the contradiction that the one place that did know him was the one place he didn’t want to be. It tied him to all those other people who come to New York, running away from hometowns and worse. But even Nickel had forgotten his story.
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Get the entire The Nickel Boys LitChart as a printable PDF.
Chickie Pete Quotes in The Nickel Boys
The The Nickel Boys quotes below are all either spoken by Chickie Pete or refer to Chickie Pete. 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:
).
Chapter Twelve
Quotes
Chickie Pete and his trumpet. He might have played professionally, why not? A session man in a funk band, or an orchestra. If things had been different. The boys could have been many things had they not been ruined by that place. Doctors who cure diseases or perform brain surgery, inventing shit that saves lives. Run for president. All those lost geniuses—sure not all of them were geniuses, Chickie Pete for example was not solving special relativity—but they had been denied even the simple pleasure of being ordinary. Hobbled and handicapped before the race even began, never figuring out how to be normal.
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter Thirteen
Quotes
It was funny, how much he had liked the idea of his Great Escape making the rounds of the school. Pissing off the staff when they heard the boys talking about it. He thought this city was a good place for him because nobody knew him—and he liked the contradiction that the one place that did know him was the one place he didn’t want to be. It tied him to all those other people who come to New York, running away from hometowns and worse. But even Nickel had forgotten his story.
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
