Octavia E. Butler - Earthseed, Book 1 -… [861]

“I hate this room,” he said. “I hate hiding to be with you and I hate playing games.” He paused. “But I do love you. Damn! Sometimes I almost wish I didn’t.” … “Don’t wish that,” I said. He knew so little about me, and he thought he knew everything. — , Octavia E. Butler - Earthseed, Book 1 -…, 861

Note

The triple repetition of ‘I hate’ builds pressure through the small homely detail of the room before cracking into the confession, and the two-beat ‘Damn! Sometimes I almost wish I didn’t’ lets the love and the resentment share a single breath. The follow-up line works as quiet counterpoint: ‘He knew so little about me, and he thought he knew everything’ is a small, exact paradox that turns his declaration of intimacy into evidence of distance.