Directly above the domino game and through the window
of
the second
floor was the head of a woman whose age appeared to be in the vicinity
of fifty but was actually sixty-two. She had a red cloth tied around
her head of unkempt hair. Everyone knew her as Mavis Warner and usually
referred to her by both names instead of using only one or using a
false name. Mavis got respect from most people in the vicinity of James
Street because she was unusually gifted and was often said to be
possessed. She was suspected of being an obeah woman, dealing with
"water-people," or being a victim of an obeah man.
It had begun a year ago when Mavis moved to Fifty-Seven. As soon as she
saw Milton Johnson she screamed in horror and pointed to his forehead.
Then, in terror, she insisted that Milton's forehead was burst open and
his brain was spilt outside. The tenants took her to her room and
calmed her down. Later in the evening she saw Milton Johnson again and
the display was repeated. The tenants had to calm her down again and
take her to her room. By then the tenants had decided that Mavis should
be sent to the "Nut Factory" in Berbice. Less than an hour later,
Milton Johnson's forehead was burst open and his brain was really
hanging out of his skull because he was hit by a speeding police car in
Charlestown. The tenants were flabbergasted. They kept away from Mavis
because they were afraid she might damn them too.