Small Mercies

Content Warning: This section of the guide describes multiple incidents of racism, racially motivated violence, kidnapping, arson, torture, graphic violence, and murder.

Forty-two-year-old Mary Pat Fennessy awakens in her South Boston apartment to a punishing summer heat made worse by a power outage. Local crime boss Brian Shea pays her an unannounced visit and tasks her with distributing a stack of leaflets that promote a rally against the impending plan to integrate the city’s public schools. The integration plan focuses on busing students from majority-Black neighborhoods such as Roxbury to schools in majority-white neighbors like “Southie,” and vice versa. After Brian leaves, Mary Pat looks at her 17-year-old daughter, Jules, and wonders if the challenges that her daughter has already faced will cause her to age beyond her years.

Mary Pat feels that Jules is too soft and fragile to bear the burdens of life in Southie. Mary Pat has already lost her son, and while she is not prejudiced toward Black people in general, she nonetheless wonders whether the integration process will pose a danger to her daughter. Jules asks Mary Pat to take her shopping, and after protesting that she has no money, she agrees to take Jules after she passes out the flyers.