Fortunate Son: The (Not So) Empty Hearse

  This debrief post contains spoilers, so I've split it under a cut. Proceed with caution if you haven't read Part Two yet, or, better yet, go grab a copy! 

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At the head of the line, a gleaming black Cadillac hearse had been only a formality on the funeral home’s part. The driver and his attendant stood leaning against its grill, smoking, as they waited for the funeral procession to glide slowly out the gates. The attendant was older, graying, his face lined, but his eyes were bright, and quick, and youthful.

The driver was younger, long and lean, slender legs crossed at the ankles. When he took a drag on his cigarette, the matte black metal of a lip ring glimmered dully in the sunlight.

When the last bike was gone, they snuffed their cigarettes, and climbed back into the car. The engine turned over with a muted purr, and the hearse made its way down the swooping driveway, through the gates, and out onto the road.

A mile from the cemetery, the attendant let out a deep, satisfied sigh, and raked off his little black cap. Loosened his tie, popped the top button on his collar.

“Well, that’s done, and done well, I’d say.” His accent was British, precise, but not polished.

The driver tossed his own cap up onto the dash, and his hair, black and shiny, spilled down to his shoulders. He drove one-handed while he fished out a fresh cigarette, and the attendant leaned over to light it for him. “Thanks,” he said after his first puff, and his voice was accented, too, but not British.

They kept driving. 

I've talked before about the way I started conceptualizing Lord Have Mercy back in early 2020, and how it took writing four books to finally get us here. All of the earliest ideas of the book centered around a funeral. 

Someway, somehow, I knew that Mercy was going to fake his death. 

The first draft, so to speak, was all mental. Lots of days tossing ideas around with myself while I cleaned stalls and walked the dog. I knew there was going to be a funeral. And a hearse. And a whole lot of wool pulled over a whole lot of eyes. But initially, I thought I wanted Ava to believe he really had died. When the warehouse exploded, and Mercy was spirited away into "MC wit pro," as Walsh puts it, Ava had no idea he was still alive. 

But I quickly realized that would be one of those "jumping the shark" moments I talked about in yesterday's post. Because Ava would have been distraught; the kids would have been distraught. And there's simply no way on earth Mercy would allow that to happen. I knew that Ava had to be in on it, and the kids, too. This meant I couldn't do a big dramatic reveal; I lost the shock value of his faked death. But proper characterization trumps shock value every single time, despite the trends of primetime TV dramas. Had Mercy allowed his wife to think he was dead when he wasn't, he would have been acting so out of character that no one would have cared to read the rest of the story. 

Rather than a shock, we have a big production of a fake funeral in which all the people Mercy has saved get the chance to return the favor. I loved being able to put Devin and Toly in the hearse as his getaway drivers, because the last two times we saw Mercy (before Lord Have Mercy), he was hauling Devin back inside a shattered window, and torturing someone for Toly. 

Fortunate Son ends as I always intended, with Mercy's funeral. A twist for Boyle though the audience is in on the gag.

Then I hit y'all with the real twist ending. 😜 I know it's cruel! But it's going to be worth it.