Perry Busby
excerpt from The Hacks of Life
Phil hadn’t spoken to Wes since Roxy had
embarrassed him at dinner. When he walked
into the den, Wes was reading the newspaper.
Discarded and unread sections were sprawled on
either side of the recliner.
“Ann’s a beautiful girl,” Wes said from behind
the newspaper. “I think the two of you make a
very nice young couple. Reminds me of your
mama and me.” He put the paper down and
looked at Phil. “About the other night …”
“Daddy, Roxy made it sound like more than it
was,” Phil interjected.
“How do you know what it sounded like to me?”
“Daddy, I told her what I told you. That’s it. I
wasn’t doing anything more. You let Roxy run those
games on you every time.”
“First, you tell me what I’m hearing; now, you
want to tell me it’s all Roxy’s fault.” He looked at
Phil and shook his head.
The conversation was reminiscent of the one Wes
had with J.D. thirty-eight years ago. Back then, he
was the one who was excited and didn’t want to
listen to his father’s warnings because he thought
J.D. didn’t understand. Now that he was on the other
side, Wes prayed Phil wouldn’t do the same. “Son,
there are two things I have learned in life. The first
is when you look for answers to problems that don’t
exist, you can best believe you’re going to end up
with a shitload of problems that you can’t solve. Do
you understand what I’m saying?”
“I understand.”