Who is Batist from Heaven's Prisoners and what is their importance?

Batist is Dave's closest friend and works with Dave at the bait shop that Dave owns. Batist is married and has kids and lives more-or-less next door to Dave. Batist is described as a veritable giant of a man—Dave is a big man but is at least a head shorter than Batist. Batist speaks an enjoyable patois of Cajun and English, is uneducated but intelligent and insightful, and has a good sense of humor and remains devoted to duty and friendship. Indeed, Batist is the most moral character presented in the book and represents a positive side of humanity that is nearly entirely lacking in any of the other characters. Batist is a minor but recurrent character and arrives at several key points to interrupt the action—for example, he literally saves Dave's life by driving up after Annie is murdered and while the hit men are looking for Dave.