Who is Otis from My Louisiana Sky and what is their importance?

Otis works with Lonnie at the Thompson Nursery. As an African-American, he resides in the "colored" part of town, which Tiger has never seen. While working, Lonnie spends his shift with Otis rather than the other workers, as they taunt him for being "slow". Otis and his family are symbolic of Saitter's fringe population...... the people who don't quite fit in with the mainstream population.