Homer Conway

Concept: Kitchen Table Gun Dealer

Desc: Homer is a pretty stringy piece of beef. Always relatively skinny and tall. Over the years he’s filled out some and he’s got some serious muscle. He has the kind of arms and hands that say to anyone who knows what to look for, that he’s worked with his hands...and fists all his life. Homer is on the other side of seventy and his white fringe of hair and his lined face show it. Homer is missing a front tooth. His eyes are clear and sharp for the most part unless he’s been drinking.  His right knee is turning to liquid shit and gives him some trouble. He tends towards stiffening up if he sits in one place long enough.  The knee is also pretty good about warning when the weather’s getting ready to change.  His back, chest, arms, and neck are a long connected canvas of ink that tell almost the entire story of bad decisions made and bad ideas embraced. All of the art on him is professional grade, even the prison ink.

History:

The torso tells the story pretty well.  A tattoo or two indicating some time in Vietnam as an infantryman, Some time in the stockade.  A return home, Joining a local motorcycle club, (A membership he retains to this day.) Scars from knife fights, and gun fights. Prison ink indicating various stretches in stir. An impressive number of white supremacist tats (He still retains some of those attitudes) He’s got the “14 words” across his shoulders just above his MC tattoo. 

  And then...Well...There’s the tattoo that says “Luanne Forever” and to Homer’s credit. Luanne’s the ONLY name on his body. Luanne gave him the family that has given him better purpose and more focus. She died some years ago and he took it pretty hard, The lung cancer took a long time eating her up. But she gave him sons that he could be proud of, and daughters that gentled his spirit some.  Now he’s got grandkids and he has a hard time explaining some of the more lurid aspects of his ink to them. Some would say that he’s gone soft...But probably not to his face.

While he ostensibly earns the bulk of his income as an auto mechanic, most days he simply sits in the office and shoots the shit with the other guys who do all the heavy lifting. But every so often he gets a call and he heads home. His home garage is an impressive array of ordinance to anyone with the right amount of money and the right skin color. He’s also more than capable of making a number of after-market alterations to firearms and vehicles if someone is looking for that kind of thing. So far, he’s been able to stay off the ATF’s radar.  He’s careful and has a pretty good sense about people. 

Attitude: No longer as much piss and vinegar as he used to be. He still has a mean streak. He’s still hella strong and while he hasn’t thrown a punch in anger in many years, (Luanne’s shit-head brother at her funeral) he hasn’t exactly forgotten how. He’s not as active with his MC or the Klan as he used to be, but they are the people who are his primary customers and referrers so he stays abreast of things that are going on.  He’s always a little nervous dealing guns to anybody who’s had recent law trouble AND has a family to think about.   Odds are good that ATF might be squeezing them some.  Homer is perfectly willing to deal weapons to people of color as long as their willing to put up with a 400% markup, and do so with a smile. Most aren’t.

Homer gets his weapons in bulk from a few different sources, at least one of which is an east german arms manufacturer that has found the bulk of their market is white supremacists. He’s also got some sources in Ireland and Canada. He’s got connections on the riverfront among career smugglers.

Skills: Crafts 4 at least with a goodly spread of specializations.  More than capable in a fight with a gun, knife, pool cue, two-by-four, tire iron, bike chain, or half dozen other found objects. Likely has dots in a simple fighting style. Strong Back, and brawling dodge and weaponry dodge.  

Gear: He'll always have a pocketknife and a multi-tool on his person. He'll usually have wd-40 in a small spray bottle and gorilla tape on him or near to hand. His personal sidearm is a 44 Magnum usually tucked into the back of his pants, and yeah, he's got a permit and a concealed carry license (where applicable.) He's still in the habit of using a motorcycle chain as a belt, so he's got that to work with as well.

Home: The home he shared with Luanne is a far cry from some of the shithole places that the kids grew up in. It's a bit schizophrenic these days.  The places in the house that were uniquely Luanne's  (Her reading nook. The kitchen, the upstairs bathroom) Homer doesn't want to change at all. He may have it in the back of his mind that Luanne isn't really gone, and could come back at any time, and he wouldn't want her to be upset.  The rest of the house is running to seed a bit. Too many nights falling asleep on the couch with a beer in hand. Nodding off to ESPN. On occasion, Homer finds himself with a weekend with nothing to do, and on those occasions, he either works on projects out in the shed or cleans the house from top to bottom.

Circle: On the social side, he’s likely to have all sort of criminal allies and a dot or two of contacts to stay on top of what ATF is trying to do these days.  He’s got a few dots of social stuff so he can sniff out cops and feds who come nosing around.  It’s hard to get it past him if you know what I mean.

Story Uses:

“Well as a matter of fact. I do have this lovely little rig. Looks custom. Dude lost it in a card game. He was real upset about it.”

Any character who finds themselves delving into a shadowy world is going to need someone who can get them some serious ordinance. And Homer may be a lot of things, but incompetent is not one of them.  As long as you are white, or can pass for white, He’ll sell to you...And if you’re not, he’ll still sell to you, but you are going to pay out through the nose. Grandkids gotta go to college, you know?

“Oh sure. I know those dudes. I think I still got their number in the kitchen.”

Maybe your character is looking to make some connections among bikers or the KKK, or some of those Neo-Nazi dudes. If so, Homer could be your in with them.  Most of the people he knows like and/or respect him and his eldest boy is the shot caller for one of the MC’s in town. 

Connections:
* Parker Mortuary and Black Creek Cemetery is where Luanne is buried. He sold that guy Trent a nice big pistol for home defense. Guy seemed nervous.
* Officer Honus Brightwater is his nephew. A stand-up guy, for a fella in Law Enforcement. Seems to have a temper, though.
Once sold a 454 Linebaugh to Gilbert Savage of Holmes, Gillis, Baker, Savage, North and Dean. Which is odd considering that it is a HUGE handgun and has a crippling kick on it. That fellow couldn't be more than 130 soaking wet.
* The Grimoire's Bear Houseman used to be a running buddy back in the day. Obviously, they've gone different directions in life, but you never know. Some of those bonds may still be in effect.