Summary

In "Consider the Lilies," the Saints from Lula's church gather around her bed and sing. Emotion overwhelms Sheila, Dee, Josie, and Justine. Justine tries focusing on Lula's paintings to feel better. Her sisters try comforting her with prayers and words of faith. Lula's condition has worsened after having a stroke. Justine stays silent, running her fingers over the scar on her other hand. "All these years later, the X is still ropy and thick from the infection I got when I marked myself with a razor blade" (230). She realizes now that she never got the change or the newness she wanted.

When Lula's health worsened, Justine left Pitch. After Ferrell died, Justine does not think Pitch has "anything holding him to this Earth anymore" (233). She swears she saw him trying to disappear in...