Power Games

Danny and I sit there for a bit and talk things through, I make sure that I don’t talk about Tash and the affair yet because I’d rather not deal with that situation right now to make the morning even worse. “Let’s hit the gym and do some boxing training,” I say getting up and going to change before grabbing my bag.

I get the sense if Danny doesn’t know if this is the best idea but he can never say no to doing any boxing training especially if someone else volunteers to do it. We head to the gym and start sparring my punches have to be at least 10 times stronger than when I moved to Yellow Peak and now give Danny a run for his money.

We spend around an hour in the gym together before heading out to the car where Danny sits for a minute and looks at me “Are you going home?” with a stern look on his face as asks me that question. “Of course, I am going home, I’ve got to shower and get ready for work” my answer clearly not satisfying his wanted answer. “Don’t play games, Keppel, are you going back to Grantham once this is done or not?” he says rather fiercely which makes me feel a bit uncomfortable.

“I don’t know what is going to happen in the rest of the day and what underhanded tactics Brendan is actually going to do so I can’t give you an answer because I don’t know what is going to happen with them,” I say as Danny nods, still not entirely convinced about the answer I gave but honestly, I don’t know what is going to happen.

Heading home, Danny is silent in the car as we pull up “You ok, you haven’t said anything on the way home” I ask as it’s unusual for him not to be talking. “Yeah, I’m fine, just been thinking about things that’s all, nothing major,” he says as I can tell something is really up with him.

“Something is bothering you because you’re not talking and I’ve learnt that when you don’t talk that’s when you’re upset by something,” I say looking to Danny who still is reluctant to talk. I get out of his truck and lean in “If you need to talk, I’ll listen all the way, catch you at work” I say heading back inside to go have a shower and get changed.

Obviously, I get the sense that Danny is suspicious about something but until he wants to talk about it there is nothing I can do unless Adam and/or Mitch think that it is a good idea. I shower and get ready for work and grab my lunch out of the fridge and head to work.

A few people at work give me a wide berth and Danny is barely around during the day which seals the idea in my head that something is clearly upsetting him but he won’t talk about it. Getting through the work of the day helps things as I turn my phone off, trying to ignore all the distractions. Danny comes into the office “Hey, Mitch is trying to call you” and then leaves as quickly as he comes back in before I can even get a word out.

I turn my phone on and see the number of calls and texts that I’ve missed when I’ve had my phone turned off, picking it up, I ring Mitch back “Hey man, what’s the matter?”. “I’ve sent you an email with a leaked story in the Grantham Press about your family and I need you to look at it urgently, it’s pretty serious”.

Bringing up my personal emails and I look at the link that Mitch sent me and then I read the story “Where the hell has this all come from?” I say now all panicked about everything.

“Is there more than meets the eye to the notable absence of Isaac Keppel from the National Democratic Campaign with his father?” I read the headline, “Mitch where the hell has this come from?” my voice is really worried before I go through the rest of the story.

Mitch talks to me calmly “Whatever happens from this, then I will help you defend this because you’ve been upfront with everybody and I genuinely get the sense that you are making amends for your mistakes”. Slouching over my desk I swear down the phone not meaning anything at Mitch “Fucking bastard” I say loudly as he gets my point.

Looking at the rest of the story, there is very little actual information that could get me into any trouble it’s just speculation about everything that I have done without any details. I feel a bit relieved by the fact that no actual evidence is proven in the article but I know that it could be out sooner rather than later.

I hang up from Mitch and sit there and take a walk for a while before my phone rings again and I see a number I don’t recognise but realise by the code it’s calling from here in Yellow Peak. I answer it “Hello?” and I hear Tash’s voice at the end of the line “Isaac, you need to leave town now before all shit hits the fan, do you understand me? I’ll cover it with Danny but you need to leave town and go back to your family because Brendan is going to fix everything for you”.

Standing by the wall my face is one of dismay and shock that Tash thinks that she telling me to leave town is actually going to work then she has another thing coming. “Firstly, Natasha I think that Danny would be quite interested in the fact that pretty much everything that he knows about you is a lie considering that you’re cheating on him and the fact that you are still a very big part of your father’s business dealings back in Grantham, don’t you?” I say turning it back on her but she’s calm and content about things.

“You have no idea about things at all do you Isaac?” she says almost with an evil chuckle in her voice “I’m from Yellow Peak that’s what everyone knows and instead of being here you should be back in Grantham where you belong”. I stand there as Danny spots me and wanders over because he needs me to send some forms off urgently. I tell him to be quiet and put it on speakerphone so that he can hear.

“I like it here in Yellow Peak and with my new family between Danny, Adam, Mitch & people like Linda then I actually feel like I’m home especially without people like Brendan being an arsehole son of a bitch, though you think otherwise, don’t you?” I say with confidence that Tash is about to out herself as the manipulative bitch that she is.

“Brendan is a proper man, something that you could learn Isaac because he has actually tried to help your family when you’ve caused them nothing but trouble especially considering your escapades with that little hooker boy you’d go out and fuck” Danny realises the voice instantly and I see his face turning red but I make sure that he doesn’t say anything at the moment.

“You’re not going to win Isaac, because you of all people can’t get out of this positively especially now that you are ruining the potential career of an honourable man who just wants the best for his family and the families of every person here” Tash still unaware that Danny is standing there listening into the conversation.

“What do you get out of all of this Natasha?” I ask her as she continues to think that she has the upper hand in the conversation. “I get you out of town and Brendan manages to keep his job and eventually succeed your father and I’ll be standing there with him along the way” Danny now getting visibly angry and I sit there “Why don’t you tell me what your connection with Brendan actually is now, go from the beginning?”

“You’re a smart cookie Isaac, you know my connection with Brendan and our dating through High School and College and that we still see each other because I’ve never stopped loving him,” she says as I see Danny stop. “When are you and Brendan seeing each other next? Or wait, let me guess he’s probably been there already today or let me guess he’s there in the background, right?”

A massive sigh comes from behind Tash and I know that sound “Brendan is still there isn’t he Tash?” her voice changes now knowing that I’m not going to capitulate to the pressure that she and Brendan want to put on me. “There are only two options and they aren’t for me are they now Natasha?”. I stand there and wait for an answer as she sighs “Why are you causing trouble for everyone here in town Isaac?”

“You’re starting to repeat yourself now I’ve got work to do so don’t call me again alright,” I say hanging up the phone as Danny is absolutely furious and upset after hearing everything Tash said to me and threatening me to leave town. I grab hold of Danny as he heads towards the car “Hey hey hey, calm down there Danny you don’t want to do anything stupid”.

He turns around and instinctively swings at me hitting me across the jaw as I fall to the ground “Danny fucking wait” my face starting to bruise and swell as he gets in his car and speeds off as I realise that I should have handled this a hell of a lot better.

I grab my phone and ring Mitch “Hey” my mouth swelling affecting my way to talk “I need you to come to help me urgently” I go out to my car and sit in my car, hiding from everyone while I talk to Danny. “What happened man, you sound bad?” Mitch says to me as I struggle to talk “Danny found out” I say as he says oh shit. “I’m in my car, you come to pick me up and tell Adam to watch out for Danny heading home”.

Sitting in my car, Mitch takes about an hour to get there and he parks in the visitor carpark and then wanders over to me and gets in my car “Adam is around at Danny and Tash’s but he hasn’t seen Danny at all” he looks at my mouth. “You alright, why did he turn on you?” Mitch asks me as we get out of my car and he goes in grabs my work bag and then drives me out to the hospital to get my jaw looked at.

Mitch continues to get on his phone so that he can try and keep track of Danny but nothing is going on. I’m sitting in the waiting room with ice on my jaw as I watch the NWBC news channel that is on the TV and my attention is turned by the fact that there is a hastily arranged press conference from the National Democratic Party HQ. I sit there and watch my father step up to the lectern, there’s no sound on but the subtitles are there which help me.

“Thank you for coming at such short notice, Last night allegations were made against members of my family and campaign staff. As a result, I asked for an independent investigation into the allegations and whether they were accurate or not.

As a result of the investigation, I announced a suspension to our election campaign which will last for the remainder of the week.

This afternoon, my son and campaign manager Brendan Keppel has informed me of his resignation from my campaign staff and membership of the National Democratic Party.

The investigation will continue despite Brendan’s resignation from the team as I want to ensure every allegation is investigated fully and that there are no distractions from the campaign. Unfortunately, I have no further comment on the allegations made against my daughter Sarah.

I want to assure the people of New Wellington that I will continue to fight for you every day during this time and once the investigation is concluded, I will return to the campaign as soon as possible.

Thank You”

I sit there as I watch my father walk off without taking any questions which isn’t necessarily transparent but the fact that Brendan has resigned from the campaign I am taking it as a massive win. A part of me though fears that Brendan could still come after me for what happened but right now, I think the best thing for him to do is to sit in the background.

Sitting for a couple of hours in the emergency ward, I finally get checked out by the lone doctor who clears me of any major damage to my face other than a black eye and swollen jaw. Mitch comes back and picks me up “Any word on Danny?” I ask as he nods.

“Yeah he’s at Adam’s in a pretty bad way, to be honest,” he says as we head back to the car and I get in it “He wants to talk to you but I told him that it probably wasn’t the greatest idea after what happened” Mitch continues as we drive. I sit there for a minute “I want to talk to him, it was my fault and I need to make sure that he is ok”.

Mitch doesn’t seem like this is a great idea but decides to drop me off at Adam’s, waiting outside is Adam who walks up to the car “You alright Isaac?” he says rushing over to me fussing over me, “Yeah I’m ok, it was all my fault so I probably deserved it”.

Going inside the house, Danny is sitting on the couch and he looks up at me before walking over to me and hugs me tightly “I’m sorry Isaac, I didn’t mean to swing at you I was just pissed off and shouldn’t have reacted the way that I did”.

I see that he is genuinely sorry and I hug him back, “It’s all my fault, I should have told you what was going on as soon as I knew but I didn’t want to hurt you with what I knew and was trying to do it in a way that you wouldn’t be hurt” I stand there as he nods not sure what to say.

“If you hate me now then I totally understand,” I say as Danny shakes his head, “Nope never, you could have been a total arsehole towards me but you never were, you did it in a way that was trying to protect me from the worst of it and it’s not your fault for what your arsehole of a brother did and what that lying bitch has done”.

Adam sits there “What are we going to do about it, because we can’t just let Tash get away with lying to our best friend for so long and essentially playing the town for fools for so long,” he asks as we look at each other as Mitch and I explain what our plan is.