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OPPORTUNITY - "I didn’t need ROTC. But I did it, and I did it good, because my dad was pretty much making me. He’s one of those dudes who feels like there’s no better opportunity for a black boy in this country than to join the army."
a possibility from a positive situation
DRONE - “And I knew what he was trying to tell me: to get out,” Dad would drone. “But I didn’t know where I was going to go or what I was going to do. I didn’t really do that well in school, and well, college just wasn’t in the cards.”
talk in a boring voice
STEREOTYPICAL - "He was the stereotypical green-eyed pretty boy with parents who spoiled him, so he had fly clothes and tattoos."
lacking originality or individuality
COCKY - "But, unstereotypically, he wasn’t cocky about it like you would think, which of course made the ladies and the teachers and the principal and the parents and even the basketball coach even more crazy about him."
overly self-confident or self-assertive
COMEBACK - "“I don’t even have no girlfriend,” Carlos said. But that didn’t matter. Cracking a joke about somebody’s girlfriend—real or imaginary—is just a great comeback."
a quick reply to a question or remark
MANDATORY - "He and Shannon didn’t have mandatory basketball practice like usual, but were still going to the gym to shoot around because, well, that’s what they did every day."
required by rule
DILEMMA - "While I was trying to figure this out—decisions, decisions—the other person in the store, seemed to be dealing with the same dilemma, but with the beer right behind me. Jerry’s had every kind of beer you could think of."
unsure in a choice between options
TOPPLE - "I thrust one hand down on the floor to save myself from a nasty face-plant, sending the bag of chips up the aisle, while she toppled over, slowly, trying to catch her balance, but failing and falling half on me and half on the flo
fall down, as if collapsing
SCOWL - "Yeah, he was trying to steal those chips!” the clerk interrupted, shouting over the cop’s shoulder. Then, fixing his scowl back on me, he said, “Isn’t that right? Isn’t that what you were trying to do?"
a facial expression of dislike or displeasure
REFLEX - "My hands were already up, a reflex from seeing a cop coming toward me."
an automatic reaction to something
