Ricky: I’ll never stop running!
Paula: Yeah, and I’ll never stop chasing you. I’m relentless, I’m like the Terminator.
At one point, Paula apprehends Ricky in the forest and he taunts her, telling her that she will never catch him. The Child Services worker fires back that she will be able to catch him, and compares herself to the Terminator, an andriod character in a science fiction movie from the 1980s. This is a humorous moment, in which the Child Services worker acts just as childish as the child she is trying to catch and protect.
"Uncle, you're basically a criminal now. But on the bright side, you're famous."
Hec is extremely disconcerted to realize that the authorities believe he has kidnapped and molested Ricky. This means that he will definitely be getting sent to jail, even though he actually did nothing wrong. Ricky tries to comfort him by insisting that at least now he is famous, but this doesn't go very far with Hec.
"I didn't choose the skux life, the skux life chose me."
Later in his journey with Hec, Ricky describes himself as "skux," which is a slang term for "gangsta." This is a humorous line in that it represents a moment in which the largely inept and nonthreatening Ricky thinks he is a badass.
"Me and this fat kid/We ran we ate and read books/And it was the best."
When Ricky goes to visit Hec at his rehabilitation center after Hec has served his time in jail, Hec tells him he's been learning to read and reads him a haiku that he wrote, inspired by Ricky's haikus. It is a humorous but heartfelt ode to their time together in the woods, and represents Hec's admission that he does really love and appreciate Ricky.
"You know, sometimes in life it seems like there's no way out. Like a sheep trapped in a maze designed by wolves."
At Bella's funeral, the priest gives a rambling and rather bizarre eulogy. This is the premise of that eulogy, a rather bizarre and over-the-top metaphor that does little to comfort Hec and Ricky.
"He's molestering me!"
When Hec and Ricky are finally apprehended by the authorities, Ricky becomes worried that Hec is abandoning him by turning himself in. Desperately, he calls out that Hec was a "molesterer" meaning that Hec molested him. It is in this moment that Ricky seals Hec's fate, betraying his only friend.
"Ricky Baker, now you are 13 years old/You are a teenager and you're as good as gold/Ricky Baker, Ricky Baker,/Happy Birthday/Once rejected, now accepted,/By me and Hector/ We're trifecta"
These are the lyrics to a charming and ridiculous song that Bella writes for the occasion of Ricky's birthday. She performs it while playing an electronic keyboard, much to Hec's chagrin and Ricky's delight. The song makes Ricky feel like he belongs.
"I'm still thinking. Something fierce to reflect its true nature. Either Psycho, Megatron or Tupac."
After Bella gives Ricky a pet dog, she asks him what he wants to name it. He tells her what names he likes, all of which are very "tough" but also ridiculous-sounding names for a dog.
"It's gonna be rough, no huts, no tents, real bush life. Can you handle that?"
After Ricky tells him that Child Services will definitely put him in a juvenile prison, Hec decides to bring him along into the bush to live in hiding. He tells Ricky that living in the bush is going to be very tough, and wants to know if he thinks he can handle it.
"Trees. Birds. Rivers. Sky./Running with my Uncle Hec/Living forever."
While staying at Psycho Sam's, Ricky writes this haiku and reads it to Hec. It's all about how much he loves living in the bush with his "Uncle Hec." It reflects how much he appreciates his foster father.
