Contents
Chapter 12: Annie
Overview
Annie delays leaving Lulabelle’s until rumors of a haunting push the group to depart. Lulabelle settles accounts, insists Annie take everyone, and warns about returning. Annie and Bobo consummate their relationship and pledge love, strengthening their bond as Shadrack finishes the car and they plan to head for Memphis.
Summary
Despite plans to leave, Annie, Bobo, Clyde, and Babydoll linger at Lulabelle’s until Bobo’s ghost story spooks Clyde and leaves him impotent, which Babydoll welcomes as leverage. Seeking their ledger status, Annie visits Lulabelle’s home, where the Gibson girl speaks of a haint seen near the rose shack, warning that names empower spirits.
Lulabelle meets Annie with the ledger and says Shadrack is getting his due by the creek, signaling the car’s readiness and that it is time to go. Lulabelle allows Annie to stay but orders the rest off her property because the haunting could attract dangerous attention, and she hints that Bobo had tended the shack’s stairs, proof the spirit has returned. Hearing Bobo was heartbroken by the vision of a white man violating the haint, Lulabelle bluntly advises Annie to marry him.
After Annie reads from Revelation, Lulabelle pays thirty-three dollars—ten for Babydoll and twenty-three for Annie—and counsels Annie to keep a secret stash. That night, Bobo barters a girl’s night off to give Babydoll and Clyde privacy elsewhere, then confesses his love. Annie and Bobo make love and commit to each other.
At dawn, Annie embraces her new sense of womanhood and tells Lulabelle they will leave for Memphis that morning. Lulabelle insists they take everyone, especially Babydoll, and implies her sister favors Babydoll. She bids Annie a tender farewell, warning that once she leaves, she must pray to stay gone, underscoring the danger of returning to Bible Alley.
Who Appears
- AnnieNarrator; verifies their debt, receives payment, commits to leaving, and consummates a loving relationship with Bobo.
- BoboAnnie’s lover; spreads ghost tale to motivate Clyde, tends the shack steps, barters for privacy, professes love.
- LulabelleBrothel owner; reviews the ledger, pays Annie, orders the group to leave due to the haint, offers stern farewell advice.
- BabydollClyde’s partner; pleased by Clyde’s impotence, receives ten dollars, spends a private night away from Annie and Bobo.
- ClydeReluctant worker; frightened and sexually impaired by haunting rumors, plans to leave with the others.
- Gibson girlLulabelle’s daughter; describes the haint at the rose shack and warns against naming spirits.
- ShadrackMechanic; finishing work by the creek, enabling the group’s planned departure for Memphis.
- The haintGhost at the rose shack; vision of violation unsettles the house and hastens the group’s exit.