48. No

The phone was ringing when I got back to my office. Hank wanted to talk to Gerry.  I called Gerry into my office and put him on the phone. Stepping out of my office, I shut the door behind me.

When I went back to my office, Gerry was staring at the phone, his hand gripping the armrests of his chair. “This is the third time he’s told me not to work for the airline,” Gerry said.  “He demanded I move back home. How many times do I have to say no, I’m done doing things his way?”

“So if your buddy who’s a dealer keeps calling you, what are you supposed to do?” I asked. “Do you keep taking his calls, hoping you’ll win every argument with him? Convincing him again you’re serious about staying clean? Or do you block his number, maybe change yours?  You gotta stop trying to win arguments with your dad.”

“Ken, with all his faults, he’s still my dad.  I have to take his calls.”

“You don’t. I know that sounds cold.  Family is important.  But sometimes you have to stop answering people, even if they’re family.”

Today, if someone won’t take ‘no’ for an answer, I’ll quitting answering them.

Needles Not For Knitting is a work of fiction.  Any resemblance between the characters and anyone you might know is purely coincidental.

Needles Not For Knitting (c) 2017 by Ken Montrose

Other works by Ken Montrose are available at:

http://www.amazon.com/Ken-Montrose/e/B001K8MG0S