The air has a snap to it on a blue-skied April day in Virginia; a beautiful day for a funeral. As the thin crowd of mourners—friends and a scattering of the family—ebb away to go on with their lives, four men remain at the graveside. Two sons who’ll never see 30 lying in their coffins, two fathers struggling to speak. What do you say when you’re burying your boy and his husband, a loving couple whose marriage ceremony you missed, whom you struggled to understand or accept?
Buddy Lee Jenkins, a wiry and weathered white man, introduces himself to Ike Randolph, then spies the lion and twin swords tattooed on the Black man’s hand. Prison ink. Buddy recognizes it from his own experience; he did a nickel Upstate himself. Two ex-con fathers, two murdered sons. Ike has spent 15 years staying away from “Riot” Randolph, the man he used to be. Now he has a landscaping business to run, an orphaned granddaughter to raise, and no time left to mend fences or find forgiveness from Isiah, a son he loved and let down. Again and again.
Tears glisten in Buddy Lee’s eyes as he recalls whipping his son Derek with a belt when his boy was 14 years old and had been kissing a boy by the creek behind their trailer.
“You think they gonna catch who did it?” Buddy Lee shouts to Ike’s back as he stomps away.
It won’t be the only funeral in this story.
This story is from the Fall #169, 2021 edition of Mystery Scene.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the Fall #169, 2021 edition of Mystery Scene.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
6 New Writers to Watch
Wiley Cash’s debut, A Land More Kind Than Home, about the bond between two brothers landed on the New York Times Best Sellers List and received the Crime Writers’ Association Debut of the Year.
ANN CLEEVES
British author Ann Cleeves has an affinity for remote areas and how these isolated regions affect her characters.
CARLENE O'CONNOR
“Anyone can play Snow White. It takes real talent to play the Wicked Witch.”
Mystery Scene MISCELLANY
FIRST USE OF FINGERPRINTS
PANIC ATTACK
The newest entry in my Pittsburgh set series of thrillers is called Panic Attack. It’s the sixth book featuring Daniel Rinaldi, a psychologist and trauma expert who consults with the Pittsburgh Police.
LAIDLAW'S LEGACY
During the pandemic, Ian Rankin stepped away from Rebus and into the shoes of friend and literary hero, the “Godfather of Tartan Noir” William McIlvanney.
HILARY DAVIDSON
Call it The Case of Life Imitating Art.
Thomas Walsh - The Unusual Suspect
Any paternity test on the sub-genre of police procedural will identify the DNA of Ed McBain and Lawrence Treat, as well as the 1948 movie The Naked City and the radio and TV series Dragnet…and of course Thomas Walsh.
S.A. COSBY
In Razorblade Tears, two aging men—one Black, one white, both with criminal pasts—join forces to seek revenge for the murders of their gay sons. The themes of fathers and sons and toxic masculinity will be familar to fans of Cosby’s 2020 breakout Blacktop Wasteland.
VIPER'S NEST OF LIES
A slip of the tongue is a dangerous thing. Not only does it expose indiscretions, it also can lead to murder. The latter especially applies to me.
