Who is Laura from The Dark-Thirty: Southern Tales of the Supernatural and what is their importance?

Laura appears in the story, The Gingi. She is a modern woman, who no longer believes in religion of her culture. One day, she buys a statue that has a woman of the Dabobo hidden inside. She is warned not to invite such an object into her home, but she ignores those warnings. Almost immediately, bad things begin to happen..... a rabid dog attacks daughter and her husband is nearly electrocuted. When Laura tries to remove the bad spirit from her home, things only get worse. In the end, they are forced to move out.