Holy Ghost People

A rainy night

On a cold downtown street

I pass by that caf

Where we used to meet

And as I walked by

A cozy scene meets my eye

He's giving his new

love that same ol'

I have to stop

She's pretty, it's true

And it looks like she's trying

real hard to please too

Oh, it's tempting to think

I should step in for her

I could tell her

just what he'll do

Someday he'll break your heart

Just the way he broke mine

I know that's assured

You're awake.

Who the f*** are you?

You left your wallet and keys

at the bar I work at.

You know,

after you got your ass kicked.

Catch.

Get the f*** out.

Ah, not a morning person?

No.

How about I get dressed first?

If you're gonna tell a story,

it's best to tell it

straight and true.

But what if the truth

ain't straight?

This here's the story

of two sisters torn apart.

The question is:
By what?

Fate?

God?

Me?

Maybe.

I found him last night

outside the bar I work at.

Out here all alone

It's time for thinkin'

And dreamin' about

being gone

I call this song my own

I sing it for myself

Just a song before I go

And I remember

How many times we got

to keep doing this, Wayne?

Always trying to make me look

bad in front of my people.

Hey!

- Get off him!

- Step off, b*tch!

Hey, man, you all right?

Want me to call the cops?

Tell me what you want me to do.

Learn how to mind

your own f***ing business.

Ah-ah, ah, ah, ah-ah, oh

Ah-ah, ah, ah, ah-ah, oh

The story

really starts when I was 15...

and my mama got cancer.

One day we're all sittin'

around her hospital bed...

while they drained her blood out

like a bunch of mosquitoes.

Next it's just me and my sister...

figuring out the

world for ourselves.

Once upon a time, we could hide our

pain by slipping into a costume.

Liz, a princess,

and me, Wonder Girl.

But after Mama died,

things got complicated.

I could get high a dozen times

and stop whenever I wanted,

but for Liz,

it wasn't like that.

There's people you miss

when they're gone.

Then there's the people

that's so tangled up with you...

that losing them means cutting off a piece

of your own flesh right along with them.

You cut off

that much of yourself,

it's bound to leave

some scars.

Get in.

Thanks... for bringing

my sh*t back.

Not much I can really do with

six bucks and a military I.D.

See you around.

I'm Charlotte, by the way.

Come on, Shirley.

Ah, Jesus.

Hey!

I need a favor.

Hey!

I need to borrow your car.

No.

But, uh, that's what friends do.

They borrow things.

Oh, you have a friend now, huh?

- When did that happen?

- When I needed a car.

Get out.

Well, how about a ride?

Look, um,

my mom's not doing so good.

I need to go get my sister,

bring her home.

I'll pay you.

$200.

Everything I got.

Let's go.

Where we going?

Up Sugar Mountain.

After this, you can stop

coming around, okay?

Yeah.

Runnin' from the devil

'Cause running's all I know

Ran so far, I got lost

And so I ran some more

Jesus rides ahead of me

But the devil's

gainin' ground

So I'm runnin'

Yes, I'm runnin'

When you're alone in this world,

you learn

to find help anywhere,

any way you can,

including bending the truth

about your own dead mama.

Yes, I'm runnin'

The trick is to find someone who might

just be worse off than you are.

They're the ones

who've got nothing to lose.

I haven't seen or heard from Liz

in over a year.

Then a letter came in the mail.

She wrote that she missed me,

that she was sober and living at

a church up on Sugar Mountain.

Needed me to come get her

right away.

Why?

She didn't say.

Just that she was scared

and needed to come home.

What is this place?

A church, I think.

Goddamn it.

Let it shine

This little light of mine

I'm gonna let it shine

This little light of mine

I'm gonna let it shine

This little light of mine

I'm gonna let it shine

Let it shine,

let it shine, let it shine

I'm gonna let it shine,

let it shine, let it shine

Thank you.

All right.

All right.

- Welcome.

- Welcome!

Yeah!

- This Bible don't lie.

- No, it don't!

No!

It don't do nothin'

but tell God's plain truth...

every word.

Every word.

You don't get to pick and

choose, now, honey, do ya?

This ain't no ice cream parlor.

What do you like,

Smiling Bobby? Vanilla?

No!

How about bubblegum?

It ain't like that, is it?

No, sir.

- No, it ain't!

- He knows it, Brother Bill.

You're either all in...

or you're out.

- That's right!

- You're out!

You are out into that lake of

fire to burn for eternity.

But it don't have to be that way.

Do it, Brother Sherman?

No, sir.

No, it don't.

And why is that?

Why is that?

That's because

Jesus sent us the Holy Ghost.

But there's only one way to

receive that spirit, isn't there?

We got to be in one accord.

- Are we in one accord?

- Yes!

Amen!

Bless your name, holy Jesus.

Satan's sheddin'

big ol' tears tonight.

Yeah!

He's a big boy, ain't he?

I call him Satan,

'cause he's so big and mean.

It's these deadly serpents the Lord

sent us to handle... without fear.

Our hearts are filled

with the Holy Ghost. Mmm.

Get on up here, Brother Cole.

Satan wants to talk to you.

Hey!

Where is she?

I don't know.

I'll be in the car.

You hear stories

trickling down the mountain...

of people up here following

their own sort of laws.

Old laws. You know?

The kind where blood gets shed

when they're broke.

Cops don't even come up here,

let alone a city girl

poking around, asking questions.

How you doing?

How can we help you?

Well, I was wondering...

Mm-hmm?

I was wondering

if I could join your church.

And what about your gentleman friend?

He wanna join too?

Oh, uh, that's my daddy.

Oh, well, your daddy

don't seem too interested.

He has problems with his nerves.

Socially.

Hmm.

We're not so easy to find.

I know.

But, uh, people talk, you know.

No, I don't.

Excuse me.

Wait.

My dad, um...

He has a problem

with the bottle, you see.

And... I've tried everything,

short of kicking his butt

out of the house.

And, uh...

I'm sorry.

You're all right.

You're fine.

Now, what's your name?

Rachel.

All right, Rachel, I'm Billy.

Now, listen.

This mountain,

it gets awfully dark at night,

easy to lose track

of where you're at.

This ain't territory

you wanna get lost in.

I can't just let you up and join.

But...

But what I can do is offer

you a bed for the evening,

and tomorrow you and your

daddy can take a look around,

see if what people's

been saying is the truth.

Plenty of folks out there speaking

with forked tongues these days,

if you know what I mean.

Your dad?

I'll pay you another $200.

When we get back.

Take care of yourself, kid.

Right this way.

Where's your father?

He forgot something in the car.

- Hey.

- You must be Rachel's father.

Wayne.

I'm Sister Sheila.

Y'all need anything else,

don't hesitate to ask.

We'll be fine.

Good night.

Good night.

How'd your sister get

caught up in all this sh*t?

I... I don't know.

You know what you're

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