"Albert
I was born in Cap-Haitien, in the northern part of Haiti. My grandfather who was also born there. You may already know this, but my whole family fought against the Americans during the occupation of 1915. I come from a long line of patriots. My father died never having shaken white man's hand. For him, whites were lower than monkeys. Whenever he saw a white man, he used to say, he always wanted to turn him around to see if he had a tail. My grandfather didn't even go to that much trouble. As far as he was concerned, a white man was an animal, pure and simple. He'd say "the whites" but he was talking mainly about Americans. Those who dared invade Haitian soil. The supreme insult. A slap in the face to a whole generation. I came to work in Port-au-Prince when I was twenty-two, after my father died, and got a job in this hotel right away. If my grandfather knew that his grandson was serving Americans he would die of shame. This new army of occupation isn't armed, but it has packed it suitcase with a scourge much worse than canons: d**. The Queen of Crimes, and she always comes with her two sidekicks: easy money and s**. There's nothing here, sire, that hasn't been touched by one or the other of these plagues. There was a time when we had morals. Now I look around me and I see that everything has come crashing down. I look at our customers, respectable women who twenty years ago, when I first started working here, would have been with their husbands. And what do I see? Lost women, animals lusting after blood and s**m. And whose fault is that? His, the master of desire. He's seventeen years old, he has eyes like glowing embers and a perfect profile. Legba: the Prince of Storms."
"That morning I went to see a friend who works at a small hotel not far from here. When I came back, I walked along the beach. It was dawn. The beach was empty expect for someone who looked as though he'd spent the night there. As I got closer I could see it was Legba. He looked like a sleeping angel, curled up on the sand like that. His face in complete repose. When I reached him it seemed to me that the night had been pretty rough on him. But even then all I saw was a frail young man. He even looked like he was smiling. I don't know why, but I sat down beside him. There was no one else on the beach. There was that strange dawn light. The feeling of being nowhere. I began to stroke his hair. He shivered as though he was cold. I lay down beside him and took him in my arms. I can't tell you how bizarre it all seems to me now. It was like I was watching my double. I remember that light in my eyes. That music in my head. That young body on the beach, almost naked. And no one else about. Careful, I told myself, beware of the sweetness of this skin. And I...kissed him. I kissed Legba. It was the first time I'd ever kissed a man. I kissed him. Everywhere. He responded to my caresses in his sleep, I think it was probably out of habit. I should have gotten up and run away, but it was too late. I was already caught up in the fiery ring of desire. I hadn't known that such physical happiness could exist. That morning I hate of the fruit of the tree of good and evil. Strange, isn't it, that without even asking me any questions you've made me bring up all the secret that I kept hidden in the deepest recesses of my being."
"Ellen
Well, he certainly hid his light, didn't he, the hypocrite! Every time I went out looking for Legba I'd get this mean look from him...Because he was a rival. I wanted to go up to him and slap him in the face. I can tolerate anything but bigotry. Always with his nose stuck in the Bible, the little sh**-a**! Now, that he's got a taste for it as he says, he's not going to switch to another road. I don't believe a word of what he told you: the dawn, the light, the music of the spheres, the forbidden fruit- it's all just sh** in a silk stocking. Oh sure, once it was over he had to rush off and do his penance. I'd like to have seen him whipping himself. He's the worst kind of sadist. And let me tell you something: thats the kind that can k**."
Ellen
If I had my way I'd rid the earth of everything that's dirty, and there's more of what's dirty here in this town than anywhere else I've ever been. So why, dear God, did you plant, in this dungheap, a flower as radiant as Legba? I turned fifty-five last month. I can tell you there are worse things in life. And this young man is as beautiful as a god. Do you think I could find anyone like him in Boston? Don't tell me I could because I've been in every bar in that snobbish who*e of a town a hundred times, and believe me, there is nothing, nothing, you bunch of ba*tards!
Sue
People bring their illusions with them when they come to Port-au-Prince. Even Fat Sue. There is sun here. Fresh fruit, grilled fish, the sea.
And I have a lover.
Brenda
Of course I can't go home. I don't have a home anymore, or a husband. I don't want to have anything more to do with Northern men. I'd like to spend time on other Caribbean islands. Cuba, Guadalupe, Barbados, Martinique, Dominica, Jamaica, Trinidad, the Bahamas...They all have such pretty names. I want to get to know them all.