The Devil’s Beating His Wife

If I could kill Baxter Bennett, I would. But he’s already dead. Ever since we were kids and my mama washed his family’s dirty clothes, cooked their every meal, and consoled his finicky mother, I have hated how much power his white family held over mine. As a newly commissioned Army officer, he stood by and watched his brother and friends tie a noose around my brother’s neck, string him up, and hang him until his legs stopped swaying. He pledged to protect, honor, and cherish me; instead, when he returned from the War, he ended up stalking, terrorizing, and killing me when I did not return his affections. The decorated hero then turned the gun on himself and ended his life while he cradled my dead body. Through his selfishness, he resigned us to a never-ending purgatory, stuck between the Living and the Dead. As the troubles of the living seep into our unearthly world, I am obliged to find justice for my brother, myself, and those around me. And that means making my murderer my one and only ally.