David Ladd

David Ladd, usually called Davy by those close to him, is a lawyer with a corner office at one of Tucson’s leading firms and the godson of Gabe “Fat Crack” Ortiz. His brief appearances turn on a decisive choice after Fat Crack’s death: David answers a family call, agrees to help prepare the grave, and gives up a planned trip to Phoenix. The contrast between his professional setting and the physical work of burial makes his enduring ties to Fat Crack’s family visible through action rather than explanation.

Identity and Introduction

David is introduced at work, where he is ordinarily addressed as Mr. Ladd. The familiar name Davy belongs to a more intimate circle: Lani is usually the one who calls him that. When a man he does not recognize uses the name, David pauses to ask who is calling. The exchange establishes both the distinction between his public and private identities and the close familiarity associated with his family life.

The caller is Richard Ortiz, who identifies himself as Baby Fat Crack and says his mother wanted David to know about his father. The news is that Fat Crack died that afternoon. David is his godson, a relationship that gives the call immediate personal force and explains why the family approaches him not simply as an acquaintance but as someone entitled to share in a significant obligation.

Fat Crack’s Death and the Grave

Richard tells David that the funeral will be held Monday afternoon in Sells. Before then, Richard and his brother Leo Ortiz will dig their father’s grave at the cemetery in Ban Thak. They invite David to join them, explaining that they plan to start early, at about six, to avoid the heat. David accepts at once and asks what time to come.

The invitation carries a particular weight because David once helped dig a grave for his beloved Nana Dahd in that same cemetery. His response links the present task to an earlier act of mourning: the place is not an abstract setting but one where he has already taken part in burying someone dear to him. The narrative records his heart constricting when he understands the honor Fat Crack’s family is offering. He nevertheless answers without hesitation, accepting both the practical labor and the intimacy of being asked to undertake it.

Richard also asks whether David’s friend Brian Fellows might want to come. He remembers Brian as someone who spent time with David and whom Fat Crack liked. David says he will call him, while making clear that he himself will be there. The invitation thus extends the family’s welcome to David’s friendship circle, but David’s own commitment is settled independently of whether Brian can attend.

Family and Friendship

David’s ties to Fat Crack’s household are shown across several generations. Fat Crack’s sons, Richard and Leo, are the ones preparing their father’s grave; David, as godson, is invited to work beside them. The shared task places him within a circle of care that is expressed through labor and presence rather than formal ceremony alone.

The surrounding family arrangements reinforce that sense of connection. Diana Ladd tells David that she has already offered to help Wanda Ortiz cook. When Diana later calls to ask whether he can drive to Phoenix on Sunday to meet his sister’s flight, David has to decline: his morning is already committed to the grave digging. The exchange presents family obligations as overlapping rather than neatly separable. Diana has made her own contribution to the funeral preparations, while David’s is to join the men at the cemetery.

Brian Fellows is identified as David’s friend, and Fat Crack’s affection for him is part of the reason Richard includes him in the invitation. The detail shows that David’s relationship with Fat Crack also encompasses the people close to David. The family does not treat friendship as a barrier to mourning; it makes room for Brian to participate if he wishes.

Characterization and Narrative Role

David’s defining action in these scenes is an unqualified acceptance of the grave-digging invitation. The narrative first places him in a leading law firm, in an office where strangers might call him Mr. Ladd; it then follows him toward Ban Thak, where he will take a shovel and share the work with Richard and Leo. This shift of setting makes clear that professional standing does not displace his personal obligations.

His participation also joins separate strands of remembrance. The cemetery recalls Nana Dahd, while the grave being prepared is Fat Crack’s; David’s past experience of helping bury someone beloved informs the significance of the present invitation without making the two losses interchangeable. He is not shown speaking at the funeral or delivering a formal tribute. Instead, his promise to come, his call to Brian, and his decision to forgo the Phoenix drive establish his place in the family’s mourning through concrete commitments.

The available episodes leave David’s broader life and later course largely outside the frame. Within the events shown, however, his role is clear: he is a godson welcomed into Fat Crack’s family circle, a friend whose companion is also remembered fondly, and a man who responds to bereavement by showing up for the work that must be done.