Beauregard “Bug” Montage
The protagonist—and character around which the entire narrative unfolds—is an African American mechanic who owns an auto shop in a small town in Virginia. He is as gifted behind the wheel as he is under the hood which has led to a secondary career as a getaway driver in is past. And now that his shop is starting to buckle at the strain of a series of economic problems which have come his way, well, the temptation of one last job to solve everything may just be too much to bear.
Ella “Mama” Montage
One of the economic problems that Bug is facing is the staggering surprise of a $48,000 debit in his mother’s account at her health care facility. The source of this suddenly appearing new debt is a “discrepancy” in her Medicaid account which was only just noticed two months earlier. And payment in full is now expected by the end of next month. And Bug, despite his unfortunate nickname, is a good man who loves his Mama. And Mama is a strong woman who is not keen on allowing leverage to go unused when one is in possession of such a rare treasure.
Kia
Kia is Bug’s wife who works at the Comfort Inn, enjoys the occasionally night out drinking with the girls, and is an open book to her husband. While he is more than capable of keeping secrets and telling lies, there is nothing so sacred about Kia’s private life.
Ariel
Ariel is Bug’s seventeen-year-old daughter, a breech baby born to an alcoholic mother from Bug’s past named Janice. He was told after the delivery that had they not gotten to the hospital, the baby would likely have died during what turned out to be an agonizing labor for Janice regardless. She is facing the prospect—and not happily—of having to get a job at Walmart because Janice won’t co-sign for her student loan and Kia is none too thrilled about Bug taking over that particular addition potential debt. If only her mother wasn’t wrecking her car on her third DUI and her father was capable of doing more than just barely getting the bills paid.
Lazarus “Lazy” Mothersbaugh
In reality, there are several characters who are really a collective unit, including Ronnie, Boonie, Quan, Jim Bob, and Carl as well as Lazarus. After all, a getaway driver is not worth much if there isn’t a whole gang around to plan and carry out the actual heist. All the shady characters that seeks to pull Bug from his attempted straight middle-class existence are “characters” in the sense of being exactly what you need in a heist story. Still, it is only of Lazy that the narrator observes that getting a call from him had never once been known to wind up having a positive outcome. Minor spoiler: Lazy’s streak will prove to remain intact. Sort of.
The Duster
The Plymouth Duster—like all the best muscle cars—was at one time a bright and shiny candy apple red, but had since lost its luster. In addition, the passage of time and salty air had pockmarked it with a few patches of rust. Clean enough from a distance, but closer scrutiny revealed how time is not kind to leather interior, either. Despite not quite being what it once was, the Duster has an engine that sounds like angry lions and is a thing so beloved by Bug that it rises to the level of individual character.
