By Jeff Harvey
Perry stole an issue of People Magazine, the one with Tony Orlando on the cover, and placed it in an old fruitcake tin, hidden under his bed along with his diary, pictures of Joe Namath cut from a magazine, and a copy of Fear of Flying. When he returned from summer band camp, his mom had displayed all his secret box items on their kitchen table and said What would Reverend Price say if he knew what you had under your bed. She threw everything in the fireplace and burned his secrets.
During a career planning class in his senior year, Perry decided he wanted to be an actor or a game show host, something in entertainment. He played clarinet, and had performed the role of Conrad Birdie in band camp’s production of Bye Bye Birdie. He loved Warren Beatty, The Hollywood Squares, and had watched every episode of All in the Family. His mom found his folder and suggested that he consider a respectable career like running a car wash or taxidermy.
At his wedding which his mom had organized including choosing his bride, the sixteen-year-old daughter of their Pentecostal minister, Perry squirmed while she made her speech and said Perry is so special, and I’ve always told him I’d be proud of him regardless of the path he took in life. His mom died a few years later in a car crash and Perry fell into a pattern of alcohol abuse, popping pills, and buying porn tapes but was afraid to watch them. After three DUIs, a judge sentenced him to six months in rehab or in jail. His wife told him it’s rehab or she was leaving him. His counselor said It’s time to face the truth and be honest about who you are.
When Perry returned home, he discovered his wife had moved to Omaha with a truck driver to work at a slaughterhouse. Their home was in foreclosure. Memphis Discount Auto had closed, and Perry no longer had a job.
He sold his few possessions at a flea market including his collection of TV Guide magazines. Across from his booth, Perry spotted a tattered copy of People Magazine, the one with Tony Orlando on the cover, and bought it.
That evening he boarded a Greyhound headed west. Perry sat on the last row and opened a burgundy diary. He wrote his first entry: Mom’s abuse started after she found Dad skinny dipping with our insurance agent in Lake Berryton. I never saw again Dad after that weekend.
While waiting to transfer buses in El Paso, Perry ate a catfish taco and pulled out the copy of People Magazine and reread the article about how Tony Orlando fought prejudice, broke through the pack, and became a star. The Los Angeles bus rolled into the station and Perry sat on the front seat for the final leg of his trip.
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Jeff Harvey lives in Madrid and edits Gooseberry Pie Lit. His work recently appeared or is forthcoming in MoonPark Review, Ghost Parachute, trampset, Moon City Review, Your Impossible Voice and other litmags.