Kevin R. Tipple’s contribution to Colin Conway’s Back Road Boddy and His Friends is “The Beetle’s Last Fifty Grand”. Rick Wilson woke up battered, beaten, and in a barn. He says, “Well…shit”, then thinks about how it summed up his life and the situation. Wilson isn’t a bad guy, not at all. But he is a man whose life proves that no good deed goes unpunished.
Through Wilson, Tipple tells the story of Wilson’s brother-in-law, Wyatt, aka The Beetle, a name given to him during his tenure as a getaway driver. Wyatt drove with the legendary Handbrake Hardy and is still owed money. With Handbrake on his deathbed and Wyatt in a similar situation, he sends Wilson to collect this money. It’s to be his inheritence.
Really, Wilson should have known it wasn’t going to be that easy.
I finished reading the story a few days ago, at first not have strong feelings one way or another. But Rick Wilson keeps floating to the top of my mind, a sure sign of a good character and strong story. Without asking for empathy, Tipple creates, in a few short pages, a character you care about. One you can’t help shaking your head and thinking, “Well…shit. He got a raw deal.”
TG Wolff 