C4 antho - Chamber Four

The Next Thing on Benefit ~251~
slackly in a wheelchair pushed with difficulty by the woman
over the sandy path. The girls might have been twins. Both
had badly crossed eyes, as did the man. The girls, and the
woman, wore long dresses of plain gray cotton that covered
their arms and hung to the ground. The man and the boy
wore long-sleeved shirts and black trousers.
The woman did the talking; the others were silent. She
was tall and thin and had a long face and big teeth. She was
very friendly and eager to converse, as though she didn’t get
much chance to. She told Sharon that they were a religious
community: Pentecostals from Little Rock. They lived at a
derelict sugar refinery at the other end of the island. The
plant had been abandoned decades since, and the community
lived in a trailer on the grounds. They hoped to build a
church on the site, but they awaited the arrival of more
members of their congregation. At present their community
was themselves. Were they a family, Sharon wondered? The
man and the woman looked old to have such young children.
“Are these your kids?” Sharon asked.
“These are our gifts,” the tall woman said.
Later, when Sharon told Munro and Patrick about her
meeting on the sand path, “What did you say they said they
were?” asked Munro.
“Pentecostals,” said Sharon. “From Little Rock,
Arkansas. What’s a Pentecostal?”
“It’s some kind of Christian,” said Munro. “Christians.
This place is going to hell. How many of them did you say
there were?”
“Five.”
“Five Christians,” said Munro. “Five of them. Can you
beat it? God, how I hate a fucking Christian.”
“Oh, really, sir,” said Patrick.