Character Sketch of Boss Finley

My name is Thomas Finley, people call me boss.  I was born outside of  St. Cloud (Alexandria) LA in August of 1907 that makes me 58 years old this year.  Grew up in a two room shack not far from there.  Attended public school until I got noticed by the local politicians and recommended to work for them in St. Cloud (Alexandria) and, later, in Baton Rouge doing odd politico jobs.

I literally came from the clay streets of the little town where I grew up.  My family was poor, my daddy no good for nothing, my mother stern but loving.  I started in politics young (15) and got the schooling and experience I needed in the Democratic machine.  Everyone knew I played for keeps and more than one bit the dust.

I am now the most powerful politician in Louisiana and Southern Mississippi.  And I'm dirty, I know it and use it to my best advantage.  I am totally self-centered and look out only for my own self-interest and enrichment.  I am going to die as rich and famous as I was once poor, and no wife and/or family is going to get in my way.

Heavenly Finley, my daughter and younger child is 27 years old, and my only daughter.  She's the younger sister of Tom Finley Jr; and Chance Wayne’s longtime sweetheart. Like her late mother she is a practicing Catholic, although this frustrates me because my "base" is protestant. 

When she was 15, Heavenly suffered through an awful loss, an operation to eliminate a venereal disease that left her sterile.  The operation was at my behest.  She put on black in mourning. Although we attempted to keep her circumstances private, there are rumors throughout St. Cloud (Alexandria) that something tragic has happened concerning Heavenly.

Tom Jr is my legacy and I'm grooming him to step in for me.  Miss Lucy is a necessary encumbrance on my life; she takes care of my "needs."  Chance Wayne is nobody, of no use to me, and certainly not going to marry my daughter even if that’s what she wants.  It was he that infected her with the disease.

The current situation is: I'm making a public appearance at a dinner.  There's talk about Heavenly and she is feeling sorry for herself and pining over Chance.  She's going to go with me come hell or high water and make a good show of it.  It's an opportunity to showcase Tom Jr and put the gossip about Heavenly to rest.