Power Games

“Do you think this is going to be a good idea?” Danny says to me as we walk towards my place “Can’t see why not man, there isn’t that much that good go wrong especially given the fact that we’re organising it and control who’s going to be there” I explain to Danny who still isn’t as convinced as I am.

“All we need to do is invite a couple of people, bring Mitch over, Linda has a thing for Isaac so she’d be good, Tash and the boys can come over, and then we could work out a couple of more people who might be alright,” I say coming up with a list of potential guests to come around for the Barbeque.

“Linda has a thing for anything with a pulse and a bit of muscle,” Danny says as I backhand him across the chest. “That’s not the point though, it’s the fact that someone actually cares about Isaac and is probably willing to come along,” I say as Danny nods and still doesn’t seem as so convinced about my plan but goes along with it anyway.

“When are we going to plan it for?” Danny says to me resigned to the fact that he has to help me plan it. “Maybe for the weekend or weekend after,” I say going through my head realising that the only plans that I have, are to do more work that I can’t get done at school.

“Yeah, this weekend will be good because Tash and the boys can come over so she can meet Isaac properly,” Danny says as he sighs loudly. “Alright what is wrong with this plan, we’re only inviting people over that we know will give Isaac a chance and actually have an open mind to him being here and what he’s doing”.

“I just thought that the plan was to help everyone see him quietly be a part of the community and that is working hard to show that he doesn’t want to be the centre of attention and well this seems way too forced, just because we’re happy to give him a chance,” Danny says with a tone that is seemingly becoming more unimpressed by the idea as the time goes on.

“That’s why we’re just inviting our group of friends plus Linda and maybe a couple of others because it’s the right thing to do because I get the sense that he’s copping plenty of shit down at the mines” I watch Danny’s face as I explain my reasoning for going with the idea.

“Alright, alright I’ll let Tash know about it this afternoon and organise and get the outdoor furniture ready for everyone to enjoy it on Saturday night,” Danny says pretty frustratedly as I get the sense that something is bothering me.

“Is there something wrong man? You just seem really frustrated about something and I’m getting the sense that it’s not anything to do with the party on Saturday afternoon” the sense of frustration in Danny is clear to see as we sit down. “Look, it’s probably nothing but I just felt like Tash knew Isaac because when I introduced him to her the other day it wasn’t any sort of shock or surprise at who he was”.

“Yeah, probably because you told her that you’d met him and he was living next door to me,” I say as I see Danny’s face screw up “That’s the thing really though, I never actually told her that we were going to the gym together or that we were at that acquaintance stage yet”.

“Acquaintance? That’s a big word for you Daniel” I tease Danny before adding “Yeah well, it’s probably nothing man, Tash is being open-minded”. Danny gets up and a bottle of water out of my fridge before heading to the door “Yeah your right really man, it’s probably just her city instinct being ok with it more than everyone else here” Danny and I hug on his way out and I go back to my “office” which doubles as a table in the corner of the living room.

Sitting there I suddenly remember Isaac asking me about Tash and the difference of opinion given that Isaac felt that she wasn’t impressed with him whilst Danny thought she was quite ok with Isaac being around. It sits strangely with me but I don’t think that I should bother Danny about it because it might just upset him and I don’t want anything to come up between him and Isaac to ruin things for Isaac.

Over the next couple of days, I decide on the people I want to invite to the party on Saturday, I invite Mitch, Patty, Linda & Rob, Sam the PE teacher from School who lives alone in town, and think that’s enough with Danny, Tash, and the Boys being there.

Everyone responds in their own way, Linda almost instantly sends back she would be there to help welcome the “Cute thing” as she calls Isaac, Patty & Sam reply back throughout the day both say they’ll to get here, Patty has to head out of town for some work and Sam might need to visit family that weekend but he’ll try.

After work on Thursday, I head into town to see Mitch because it’s been pretty quiet from which worries everyone because “No news is good news” definitely doesn’t apply when it comes to Mitch and his life. I head upstairs and finding him working over the computer, the filing now non-existent with paperwork strewn all around his office. I knock on the door “Mitch? You here man” I say as he appears from under the paper mountain.

“Adz man,” he says with too much enthusiasm which gets me worried “What the fuck is going on in here? It’s like a bomb as sent everything everywhere” I say looking around, clearing what is supposed to be confidential information. “Yeah well, I at least know where everything is,” he says to me as I see his eyes bloodshot.

“You been on the Vodka again Mitch?” I say worried about him going back down his troubled path “No Adam, I’m just tired because I’ve been here since 7 am and probably won’t go home until about 1 with everything that I need to do” he says exasperated.

“Well, what happened to Lorna to do all this?” I ask trying to get a gauge on the situation “Well the old bitch quit didn’t she because I wasn’t my father and she didn’t like the fact that I do things differently to Dad” he says rolling his eyes which is something I see he has in coincidence with Isaac.

“That’s not really the way to talk about your aunt now is it?” Mitch rolls his eyes not really caring about what I said “Well why couldn’t she get into her head that I’m not my Father and systems change and I’d rather have everything electronic than in paperwork”.

“Looking around I don’t think there’s a lot of it in the computers,” I say to him as I start helping him to organise some things in the office. With a touch of anger, Mitch grabs it out of my hands “What are you doing? I don’t need you to walk in here and organise my office alright”.

I stand up, “Look I’m just trying to help you out because you look fucking terrible and just need to ease up a bit and maybe apologise to Lorna and just talk things over instead of being a know-it-all like you tend to be sometimes or if that doesn’t work then just get somebody to help you” Mitch doesn’t look impressed but nods taking in what I said.

“Now to stop playing therapist, Saturday afternoon there’s a Barbeque that I want you to come to” Mitch looks at me “It’s to welcome that Keppel into town isn’t it”. I stand there nodding “Yeah, just trying to help him fit in a bit better, he’s had a tough time dealing with everyone and he genuinely seems nice”.

Mitch looks at me “You’re not getting yourself into another Jake situation are again are you, Adam?” he says as I shake my head “I’m not getting myself into anything serious, I’m just trying to help somebody that has come to our town deal with the narrow-minded pricks that this town is filled with” I say as Mitch laughs. “Looks like I’ve rubbed off on you a bit and told you about that in the town; What does Danny think of your friendship with this Isaac? Bet he’s against it totally”.

I look across at him “Actually, Isaac is Danny’s gym sparring partner”. Mitch cracks up laughing “Are you fucking serious? Danny is actually ok with Isaac and he got someone stupid enough to get in the ring with him?” he says as I nod.

“Yep, they go every morning together, I see Danny come pick Isaac up at about quarter past six every morning before I go to school” Mitch nods “That totally surprises me given everything that happened with the Keppel’s and the farm”.

Nodding in agreement I add “Yeah same here but I think Isaac is genuinely different and honestly, I think you two have a bit in common with the expectations of prominent parents and people wanting you to be something that you’re not” I say trying to convince Mitch into coming around on Saturday.

“I can see what you’re doing Adam and it’s not going to work but I will come around to the barbeque on Saturday it will give me a break”. I smile as Mitch agrees to come “That’s all I wanted you to know, it’ll be good for you to meet him and give him an extra buddy alright”.

Mitch looks at me as I go to walk out of his office “And if I find out that you’ve been talking to Lorna… again then we will have a problem alright?”; I nod and accept that it’s Mitch’s battle to do things his own way and even if he needs all the support he can get, it’s his turn to ask for it.

Wandering back into the main street, I go to pick up some supplies for Saturday and a few of the night shift miners are in there talking about how to get rid of Isaac once and for all because he doesn’t need to be in town. I stand there and listen in to the conversation to hear what they are trying to do to get rid of him. They talk about putting a bottle of booze inside his stuff which is banned from being anywhere near the mine and is instant sacking.

They wander off each of them saying hello to me being their kids teacher at the School and walk out heading towards their cars and laughing about their plan. I get worried and ring Danny straight away “Hey it’s me, I think there is going to be a problem at the mine tonight…. Yeah trust me I just saw Graham McGregor and a group of his team planning on taking Isaac out of action; Is there anything that you can do for me?” pleading to Danny to do something to protect Isaac.

“I’ll see what I can do but it’s not my crew so I probably can’t do anything and I’m at home with the kids so I can’t get out there any time soon,” Danny says to me trying to come up with a plan to stop Isaac from getting into trouble of not his causing.