Magic World: Bernard McFreed Orc Driver

Welcome back, and thanks for joining me. 

Today is the last of the main characters for my Magic World story. I still have a dead guy to write up, but other than that, this is it. I'm thinking I actually might write a couple of scenes, or maybe even a chapter by the end of this week. No promises, but if I feel up to it, I could potentially get a lot done

Also the Santa Society is still in the works, but I'm going to need a bit more inspiration for that one, probably I'll have to go on Netflix and watch Sports Night, and maybe that Parenthood show.

But that means that I have to get some stuff done here right?

Okay so right now when people think of Orcs they think of the bad guys from Lord of the Rings, with the black or green skin, and the grotesque faces. But actually other than a slight cleft of the nose, a slight underbite, slightly lengthened inscisors on the bottom, and skin ranging from dark grey to black, with slight pigmentation, Orcs are just like anyone else.  Sure generally speaking they're bigger and stronger, but not all of them are.

And this is why the Native Americans alway used Orcs as the warriors of their tribes, and the same goes for the tribes in Africa. The best and strongest were always the Orcs. This led to the belief that Orcs were brainless savages, which of course was not true. Atilla the Hun may have been savage, but also had a cunning intellect which allowed him to overrun a good portion of the continent before his empire was spread too far.

Orcs get a bad reputation because there are too many prominent examples of Orcs behaving as people expect Orcs to behave. But of course those Orcs are the very loud minority. Most Orcs are just regular people who lead regular lives.

Which is more or less how it was with Bernard's mother, who was born in east London. Her father was a Nigerian refugee, but she had grown up in the city, and thanks to her fathers good business sense, grew up fairly "posh," and somewhat spoiled and entitled. She was a bit of a party girl early 70's London, and as is often the case, ended up pregnant.

And she was a good mother for a while, as she had the support of her father, who was often quite generous. However when he died without a will, according to the stipulations of his company all his personal assets went to the company upon his death, leaving her homeless and penniless. She took several jobs through the years, often several at a time, to support herself and her son Bernard. But the years and the stress took their toll, and she ended up bitter and apathetic. She loved Bernard, but also felt resentful of him, believing her life would have been easier if this had happened without him.

But Bernard wanted to be useful, and helpful, and though he couldn't get a job he did learn how to fix household items. He was very good at working out the inner workings mechanical devices, but not so much electronics. Still he was able to fix the VCR and the toaster, and the turntable on the microwave, and the tape deck, and several other mechanical devices in the house by the time he was 12, and he did it for all their neighbors, some of whom tipped him very well.

But it was when he turned 14 that a neighbor was outside working on a car that he realized his true calling. Bernard was always interested in cars, but he always used public transportation, and they did not own a car. But when he stood next to the mechanic, standing there in his overalls, and looked into the car while the mechanic scratched his head, he noticed that there was a rubber tube worn through. He pointed it out to the mechanic who looked quizzically at him. The mechanic replaced the tube and started the car, which started up with no problem. When the mechanic asked how he knew that was the problem Bernard said, "Sounded like it was having trouble breathing."

The mechanic, Giraldo Felice got permission from his mother, and took Bernard to the shop he owned. Bernard was able to diagnose every problem they put in front of him, not by name, but he was able to describe  the problem, and point it out on the car.

Giraldo took Bernard under his wing then, teaching him everything he could about auto-mechanics, and taught him to drive, which Bernard took to right away. Giraldo taught him all the laws, and how to follow them, then showed him how to break them, and get away with it.

Then on his 16th birthday Giraldo took Bernard on his first boost.

Bernard hadn't really been aware of it up to that point, but realized that he should have know that the shop he had been hanging out in was a chop shop. And Giraldo had been training him as a getaway driver, teaching him how and when to break the rules.

At first he was scared, sure that he was going to end up in jail or dead.... then he started to realize the possibilities, and potential to help out his mother. His first job was boosting a black 1968 Camero. He had practiced hot-wiring, thinking that it would be for repo jobs, or other situations where someone had lost their keys, so he had gotten  quite good at it.

He was in and away in 38 seconds flat.

Jump ahead fifteen years, Bernard was working as a getaway driver in America, when he was approached by an older gentleman who wanted him as a getaway driver for a museum job. He insisted that it was vital that he be away from the museum and on his boat as quickly as possible, preferably within five minutes. The boat in question was eight miles away, via normal surface roads.

However thanks to extra time, and good planning Bernard was able to make it in four and a half minutes. It was one his most entertaining getaways ever, and Bernard made the old man promise to call him again next time he planned to do something like this.

So, a few years later, when the old man had turned up dead, Bernard was curious, and decided to check it out.

******************

And that's it! I still have some things to work out, some fine detail to bang out, but I'm pretty much ready to get moving. However I will have to work out the details of the old man, the one who brings them all into this situation, and the details of his death, and I think come up with a bad guy. But the important thing is that the characters are in place, and really it's how they interact that makes all the difference.

So, fair warning, and I'll put it in the title, tomorrow's post may have storyline soilers, so if you're the type who doesn't like to know the ending, or likes to figure things out on your own, you may want to skip the post tomorrow.

As always, comments and suggestions are welcome.

Thanks for Reading!