Power Games

I take a shower and put on my good clothes not really wanting to go out to this conversation with Dad but as they as “he who must be obeyed”. I sit there and wait for the car to turn up listening to some music and reading on my laptop as my phone rings and I see Brendan’s name on the phone.

“Don’t nag me, bro… I’m ready and just waiting for the car to pick me up” I say before Brendan can say anything. “Wow, something you are actually taking seriously for a change” he quips back sarcastically “Look, Dad is royally pissed and he told me not to talk to you about anything but I suggest that you pack a bag because things aren’t going to go well and I doubt you’ll have an apartment to come back to”.

I roll my eyes “Enough with the scare tactics I’m not one of the people that yoU are trying to brainwash with your election campaign, I’ll talk to Dad, smooth things over like usual and just head back home” I say as he groans down the phone “So you aren’t taking things fucking seriously again, god Isaac you seriously are the dumbest fucking idiot in this whole city, you’ve got everything going for you and yet you treat it like it’s your god-given right to do anything well, good luck with that bro”.

The car arrives and Brendan rings me again “The car is outside, I’m in it too so I can at least talk some sense into you” as I walk out the door and into the car with Brendan sitting there in the back seat “Sup bro” I say putting my hand out for a fist bump that leaves me hanging “Ok then bro… leave me hanging then”.

Brendan rolls his eyes before starting a lecture to me “So what you need to do is actually make some promises and make an effort this time because I don’t know whether there is anything that you can really say that will make too much of a difference after all this Isaac”.

I sigh “I don’t really give a shit bro, I don’t want to be Prime Minister or Grand Councillor like everyone else I just want to live a normal life where I can be in my 20’s without having to act like I’m a 40-year-old with 4 kids”.

I let out a massive sigh again “I get this is what you want but come on bro, how are we going to have fun in life if all we are ever doing is being Politics robots forever just to make sure that Dad looks good so that millions of people can like him rather than his own family”.

Brendan looks across at me, clearly biting his tongue “It’s not just for Dad, it’s our family name that is at risk with this all, it takes one little thing and the legacy of everything that our grandparents did, and then everybody thinks that it runs through the family and it’s not just Dad, it’s the girls that suffer as well you know that”.

I nod as we drive in awkward silence to the family house with Brendan getting out of the car at his house which is located further down in the estate before we pull up to the main house and I get out of the car and walk down the hall to my father’s office where he sits behind his desk.

“Isaac, sit down son,” he says as I close the door behind me and sit down, this chat feeling more like a meeting between associates than a father-son chat. “I have to say that your behaviour has hardly improved at all and in fact last night was atrocious and just totally infuriating” I start to speak before he shuts me down. “Isaac, I have given you chance after chance to improve your behaviour and basically you have thrown those back in my face for one reason or another which only you know about and I don’t really care what they are”.

I sit there nodding “Dad, this is nothing personal against you but I need to have a regular life outside of politics, I’m the youngest and essentially the forgotten child in this all” I sigh “Brendan is the darling of your eye and gets everything, the twins are always in the news with their college success and Medical progress and then Nick is already being talked about as potentially filling the gap of Senator Hatton when he retires at the end of his term in five years”.

Dad looks across at me “Nothing has been decided yet and nobody knows what will happen in the next election so don’t tell me what is going to happen”. I roll my eyes knowing that Nick is just as desperate to get into politics as the rest of the family “Whatever, I don’t want to get into politics alright is it that bad that I’ve grown up all my life following you around from event to event when I missed my friends birthday parties because you had a political campaign event where we all needed to be together for one photo and then the rest of the time everyone did their own thing whilst you did interviews about whatever new thing it was” I say venting my frustrations.

Dad looks at me sternly but calmly “Well if that’s how you feel then we might as well end things here and call it quits, you want some normality then fine, I’ll give you until 9 am tomorrow to be out of my apartment because remember that it is actually my apartment and that it is my money that I give you access to so from tomorrow at 8 pm, you will have no access to any money other than the opportunity to find somewhere to live and buy yourself a car that you can afford before finding work” Dad says calmly and not looking at me directly in the eye but still looking at me as I sit there stunned he has actually followed through with the threat.

“But Dad… what am I meant to do in such short,” I say before he stops me “You wanted this Isaac and I’m giving you the opportunity to prove that you can live a normal life, I’m going to leave you enough money to get a new car and a new place to live, there’s plenty of work in the country areas that you could get to and cheap places to live out there with how much money you’ll have.

I slam my fists on the desk “You cannot be serious Dad, I can’t just pick up and leave the city because won’t this have an effect on your campaign shafting me out to places unknown where I’m out of sight and out of mind.

Dad for the first time raises his voice “Isaac, you have no idea about anything do you?” he says almost now shouting “You have so many opportunities at your feet that so many people wish but time and time again you show that you hold no respect for everything that has been created right through our family and the level of disrespect is just too much” he says quite emotionally with his face switching between anguish and anger at me.

Letting out a long breath before speaking Dad continues “I was happy to give you one more chance Isaac because something you have always had is respect for the family legacy because I know how much you loved your grandparents and never wanted to hurt them, but now I’ve seen that you don’t really respect them at all but really just want the good life without working for it.

My eyes start to well up with tears because my grandparents meant everything to me and the idea of hurting them hits me hard as I think about how much I fell when I heard the news of the accident that saw them pass away. I get agitated and yell at my Dad “Of fucking course I respect Nan and Grandad because you know how much it hurt me when I hurt when I heard about what happened to them” I get up and go to leave the room before Dad yells at me “Don’t you walk out that door, Isaac… if we do then I won’t give you a chance to prove yourself again” I open the door “You know what, I don’t care anymore, if you want to cut me off then good go ahead. I’ll find somewhere to live and maybe just not have to live looking over my shoulder all the time”.

Dad stands there for a minute realising that I am serious about things as his face drops for a moment before he looks down and composes himself “Alright then Isaac, I’ll let you pack your things but at 10 am tomorrow I’m getting the locks changed on my apartment, there will be some money to find a new car and place but you need to scrimp and save to make it a home”.

I nod and walk out, realising that my life is going to change so dramatically but in the end, it doesn’t matter to me because I didn’t want to be under my family’s thumb anymore. I walk out the door and down to the car that is waiting to take me home, getting in the car I don’t say anything for the trip home and head straight in there and pack the most important things to me into a bag.

It hits me that the amount of money that I have means that I’m not going to be able to find anywhere decent to live in the city and start to quickly look for places in my budget and find that I’m really going to either look hard or move somewhere very different to home. I head to my room and lay on my bed thinking about things, needing to work out something very quickly.

I lay there and just decide to send an email to an estate agent for a place at Yellow Peak which is about 300km away from Grantham which I don’t want to do but it’s something that I need to do if I want to prove myself to my family which despite telling Dad I didn’t want to do.  I really want to show them that I can go through anything and work my way back because this isn’t just about proving myself to the family but also to myself.