Power Games

Meeting Mitch in the park, he’s clearly enjoying being around the big city as instead of finding a spot to work he’s been clothes shopping and done plenty of it. “I thought you were going to find a place to do some work instead of shopping” he laughs and lifts up the Calvin Klein bag showing me off everything he bought like a kid at the toy shop. “So how was the meeting?” he asks as he puts the clothes back into the bag “Yeah like I said was good and bad” sighing reflecting on what happened as we get up and walk towards a Café as we start talking.

“It was going all really well, he was genuinely happy to see me and we talked for a while really casually for a bit and then I told him everything about what happened with Brendan and the house” I start explaining as we sit down and order lunch.

“So, what was his reaction and did he sign the paperwork?” he asks taking a drink of his freshly squeezed Orange Juice. “He was furious that Brendan was doing that and signed the paperwork to block him from doing it,” I say smiling still thinking about how I won that part of the argument. “So we kept talking and I told him how much I love Yellow Peak and he accepted that which was good”.

We sit there for a few more minutes as our lunch comes ‘Well that sounds promising, doesn’t it?” he says as I nod in agreeance. “Yeah, absolutely and it was, Dad wants me to finish College too which is actually something that I wanted to do as well so that was good”.

Mitch looks at me “This sounds too good to be true Isaac” he says as we keep eating lunch as my face turns. “What happened?” he says with an annoyed tone knowing that something happened there otherwise I wouldn’t have put the bad part in the meeting. “I told my father all about Tash and her connection to Brendan which left him angry but I don’t know what is going to happen with that but it’s out in the open”.

We sit there and I try to change the topic suddenly “How was your work this morning?” Mitch looks across at me. “Uh uh uh, you’re not trying to change topics on me man, I want to know what else happened and if you tell me, I might show you the special treat that I bought you tonight” winking at me and flashing a cheeky smile at me.

“It better not be a trick to just get me to tell the rest of the story” laughing as I take a mouthful of the wrap I ordered and then keep going “It was going fine, Dad and I finished things up because he had to take a briefing when guess who showed up uninvited”. Mitch pulls a pained face as he knows what I am about to say next.

“Jeez, there’s probably only one option on who that could be” I nod my head “Yep it was Brendan and boy wasn’t he just cheering to see me there” as I let out an exasperated sigh. “He came in wanting to know what I was doing there and then Dad told him that he invited me there to talk especially after he tried to sell my house”. Mitch’s pulls a pained look as he stops me from telling the next part of the story.

“In the long and the short of it my father had actually taken my side of things” Mitch’s looks absolutely shocked “What the fuck? Are you sure? Like really, he defended you?”. I just sit there and nod yep because actually being able to talk to him Father to son without any distractions or anybody else around me and just actually getting there  talking was good”

Mitch finishes his lunch “I sense there is a but” he says laughing as the drama continues big time. “Yep, pretty much, I ended up letting out that I was the one who leaked the information about Brendan and naturally Dad was quite pissed and left the meeting to go take a briefing but Brendan, the narcissistic arsehole he was, couldn’t take ownership of what he’s been doing and put it back on me”.

“So any news on what else is happening?” he asks as I shake my head “He kept trying to bait me into a reaction which I wasn’t going to give him the satisfaction of that because he gets what he wants,” I say as Mitch pats me on the arm proud of me.

We walk back to the car park as my phone rings and I see my father’s name on the caller ID “Hello Dad?” standing there I hold Mitch back for a moment “If you haven’t already left Grantham, could you please return to the house, I would like to speak to you again in person”. I don’t know how to react as I stand there “What is this about?” I ask wanting to know before making a decision.

“I just need to talk to you again about a few things and would like for you to come by the house again, if that’s no issue” I stand there and look at Mitch who nods for me to go “Ok, but can I ask for one thing, I came here with a friend who knows the situation, I would like for him to sit in on our chat”.

The line goes silent for a moment “Dad are you there?” I say not hearing anything until he answers “Yes that’s fine, he can join us I actually think it would be good to have somebody else here” I look worried about what my father wants to talk about when we go back to the house.

My father tells me to meet him back at the house at about 2:30 and I hang up as I look at Mitch, “Sorry for forcing you into this, but if I’m going into an ambush I want to bring my lawyer” he laughs as I say that. “Oh, so just as your lawyer and not as your friend?” he says hitting me as we walk towards the car park and get in our respective cars. I put Mitch on speakerphone “So just follow me out and I’ll drive you out to the Estate”.

We drive to the estate and go in and park the car in my old spot and then Mitch parks behind me, before we go inside he grabs me and we sit in the front seat of his car “Look, whatever happens, you’ll get through this and you’ve got another family now, between Adam, Danny, Linda, Me and so many more people in Yellow Peak have seen what lies under that shell you’ve had up for so long”.

I ring the doorbell as Mitch stands next to me as the housekeeper opens the door “Isaac, you’re back with a friend, I will let your father know that you’re here again” heading in Mitch gawks at the house “This entrance is bigger than my apartment and your house combined” he laughs as we come in and sit down on the couch waiting for my father.

My mother walks through “Isaac?” she comes over and gives me a big hug “I didn’t expect to see you this afternoon, I know you were meeting with your father this morning when I was organising the Ladies Lunch for next week” she says as she looks at me and then gives a strange look at Mitch.

“Who’s your friend here?” she adds as she sits down across from me; “This is my mate Mitch, he came down from Yellow Peak with me for moral support because he knows everything that is going on behind the scenes; Plus we’re here because Dad rang and asked me back so that we could continue to talk”.

Mum sits there nodding “Do you work out in the mine with Isaac?” she asks Mitch as we sit there with nervous tension in the air. Mitch shakes his head “No, I’m actually a lawyer in Yellow Peak, we met through a mutual friend, Isaac’s neighbour Adam”.

“Oh that’s good, I’m glad that Isaac has been able to make some good friends back there, honestly I was never a fan of the plan to move him away from the family but I am glad that you are doing well for yourself; It’s good to meet you Mitch, but excuse me I have to head out to Grantham for a meeting with Mrs Alberton”.

Seeing my mother felt good and hearing that she never wanted me to leave was a relief for me, now knowing that it wasn’t a full family thing. Sitting there for what seems like an eternity before my father comes downstairs “Sorry to keep you waiting son, my meeting with the Department of Agriculture ran late he says” Dad leads us out the back of the house and we sit down in the more casual setting of the garden.

“Dad, this is my good friend Mitch from Yellow Peak, Mitch this is my Dad Mr Keppel” I introduce them to each other as we sit. “Is everything ok Dad, I mean after the way our get together ended this morning, I didn’t think you would want to speak to me” I say as Mitch sits there kind of awkwardly.

“The thing is Isaac after you left I spoke to Brendan about a wide range of things and he has confirmed to me that the information that you leaked was, in fact, true, I had no knowledge of that fact and then we spoke in depth about his actions both with you in Yellow Peak and then here today and I was very disappointed with his actions and conduct,” he says as he looks across at me and Mitch who is sitting there.

“I won’t lie that I still am disappointed and somewhat angered by your behaviour Isaac both in the past and then thinking that you needed to take the action that you did by leaking the information about your brother to the press and trying to derail my campaign,” he says as I go to speak but he stops me for a moment. “Honestly, if you had come to me and told me what was going on then I could have taken action to stop it from escalating,” he says as I look across at him.

“With all due respect Dad, I spoke to you at the mine about what Brendan was doing and then you wouldn’t listen to me, you deflected the conversation onto other issues and I took the action that I wish didn’t have to take, but it wasn’t a reflection on you personally because I want our family legacy to continue leading this amazing country,” I say as I look across at Mitch trying to garner the courage to talk about how I feel.

“Mr Keppel, if I could speak for a moment?” Mitch says as he looks across at me and then my father who nods to give him the approval to speak. “Look, I understand that Isaac has been a very troubled person before and he’s been absolutely honest about that to anyone in Yellow Peak. He came to town and made no show about himself and was quiet about who he was and never looked to make any show and dance about who he was, if anything he tried to hide it”. I look across smiling at him as he is talking from the heart about me.

“I was one of those people who resented him being in town and I didn’t like him when we first met because I knew of his track history but two people that are my closest friends and the best judges of character that I know and they took Isaac in and looked after him and I saw this person that is sitting here,” he says as my father nods.

I sit there, trying to not get emotional about the way that Mitch is talking about me as my father listens to him talk. Mitch continues to talk “I don’t want you to think that Isaac put me up to talking about him like this but I just wanted to tell you about the Isaac that I’ve gotten to know over the time and I hope that you can see that”.

My father sits there “I know Isaac didn’t put you up to this and I know how good of a person that Isaac is… He doesn’t like to say much but I know that he is probably the most charitable of my children, I know that on a Friday night Isaac used to volunteer his time coaching Basketball out in Upwood and then donated $20,000 to help build them a new centre”.

I sit there and look at him “How do you know about that?” I ask, thinking that nobody knew about that and that it was my secret because I didn’t want anyone making a big deal about that. Sitting there I hear Dad talk more about my good qualities as Mitch looks at me and my city bad boy image is washing away with every word that Dad says about what I’ve done and what he learnt that I did.

“Enough about me alright? Why did you want me here this afternoon after our meeting this morning?” I say trying to change the topic away from me but why Dad wanted to see me again. “Yes, well I was thinking after you left about how Brendan treated and spoke about you and I was looking back at some photos and I realised that you were just misguided”.

“I wanted to let you know that I am unlocking your bank accounts, your finances and a new car on the condition that you complete college because I got caught up with the campaign and realised that my family was at war with each other at my fault with this campaign,” he says as I look at him.

“You’re not going to be ending your campaign, are you? This would be the worst thing that could ever happen at this late stage” I ask worried because I still want him to be Prime Minister of New Wellington. He shakes his head “I’m still going to campaign; I’ve got to, though the result of the investigation into your brother and sister will probably ruin things”.

I sit there worried about Dad as Mitch’s phone rings and he excuses himself to take the call back over near the pool. “You will win this election Dad and I know you can help build on the families amazing legacy… well almost all of the family” he laughs and smiles as he sits there.

Mitch comes back, “Sorry to interrupt but I need to speak to Isaac for a moment, it’s urgent” I stand up and look at him “Is everything alright?” as Mitch shakes his head “Not really, Tash came to pick up the boys from school early with somebody that Adam didn’t recognise without telling Danny who came to pick them up like always on a Friday”.

“FUCK FUCK FUCK” I say out loud as my father comes over, “Is everything ok there Isaac?” he says as I shake my head. “No, it’s fucking not, Natasha and Brendan went to the School in Yellow Peak and picked up the boys without telling Danny and nobody knows where they’ve gone”. My Father looks at me “You sure Brendan was with her at the time?”.

Shrugging my shoulders, I don’t know really but in my head, it’s pretty obvious that is how it’s happening “Not really, no but just seems weird that after I gave Brendan an ultimatum to take Tash with him so that he could just leave me alone and not let Danny get caught up in this mess but now it’s gotten worse”.

My father looks at me “Don’t blame yourself, Isaac, I will help you” he says as he leads up to his office and he gets onto the phone “Gerry, it’s Brian we’ve got an emergency that I need your help dealing with; I’m going to put you onto speakerphone because you can get a better idea of what is going on”.

Mitch initiates the conversation “Hi there, I’m Mitchell Wright; A friend of the Keppel’s, a good friend of Isaac and mine has had his sons picked up by their mother early from school without his knowledge and she’s not responding to calls from anybody, not Danny her husband and not anyone else”.

Dad steps in “It’s Natasha O’Sullivan… yep Brendan’s ex and we know that Brendan is probably with her and we need to find them now because it’s urgent for everyone”. Down the phone line, Gerry says that he will get on it as we sit around trying to come up with a plan of action. Gerry says that he will get security services onto it as quick as possible

Sitting there I look at Mitch “Did Adam tell Danny who the guy was with Tash?” I ask as he shakes his head “I don’t think so but we’re going to be in a situation where we can’t hide it from him for too much longer because he’s going to find out”.

My phone rings and it’s Danny “This is all your fucking fault you piece of shit” he screams down the phone at me about the situation. “If you didn’t come to Yellow Peak then none of this would’ve happened, Tash took my boys away because of you and your family,” he says clearly angry about the situation.

“Danny… bro… listen, I have nothing to do with this, I didn’t know about this at all” I try to say as he doesn’t listen to me and just wants to vent “Don’t bother talking to me again Isaac”. Mitch steps in “Danny… wait” he says after I have it on speakerphone. “I’m here with Isaac I know that you’re pissed but come on you don’t think that Isaac had anything to do with it do you?”

“Well, it was his fucking brother that Tash was having an affair with, so you really don’t think he knew about that?” Mitch lets out a sigh. “Of course, he would have known, she put in the note that Brendan was her first boyfriend and that she never loved anyone as much as him so I guess that he knew about it” Danny is angry as Mitch tries to calm him down.

“I’ll talk to you Mitch, but I’m not talking to him ever again because he could have told me at any fucking point that he knew Tash but no he didn’t want to because he wanted to make everybody’s life a fucking misery and let his brother win” I get really upset about what Danny just said and as I go to speak he hangs up on me.

I sit there looking at both Mitch and Dad, “Honestly, I was trying to protect Danny that’s it” I say as I look across at each of them and get up to take a walk as Mitch puts his arm around me. “It’ll be fine alright, We’ve got a team to help Danny and prove to him that you’re a man of your word and everything will be alright”.

I don’t know what the end game is here but I know that Brendan isn’t going to go down without a fight to make my life hell and then this absolutely takes the cake for bringing absolute hell to both me and potentially the entire Keppel family as well as everybody in Yellow Peak.