HEALER By Joyce Carol Thomas Abyssinia Jackson heals in her outdoor garden where she counsels young women, Jasmine and Ginger. The dancing Ginger was adopted (and spoiled) by the recently married Zenobia. Jasmine, a broken doll of a young woman, waits to be mended in the garden. And the recovering alcoholic Laura Hawkins, upset by her best friend Zenobia s happy wedding, backslides into drunkenness. In a drunken drama at the Dew Drop Inn, Laura defends God s presence on the penny and His name in the Pledge of Allegiance. The scene of Jasmine s tirade in the Ponca City cemetery takes ugliness to a new dimension as we glimpse the source of her sadness. In the graveyard, Sheneeka, a young white woman led by an extraordinary spirit, unexpectedly comes to Jasmine s aid. Seamstress Jasmine, Dancer Ginger, and Drummer Sheneeka find answers they did not know they needed as Abyssinia prays for their safe journey through life. .
