22

Kaydon sighed heavily as he helped his mother stack the hire chairs. The band had finished for the night and the die-hard party-goers were kicking on over at the house. The ground was littered with plastic cups and burst balloons. He kicked his way through the debris as he carried chairs to the doorway.

‘What on earth got into Dan tonight?’ asked his mother, as she gathered empty paper plates into a garbage bag.

Good question. What the hell had got into Dan? Nobody seemed to know what had started the fight. ‘No idea,’ said Kaydon.

‘One minute the two of them were talking and laughing,’ said Bron. ‘The next, Dan was going crazy.’

‘He gets so wound up about the smallest things.’

‘He has a lot on his plate,’ said his mum. ‘Has his dad’s life insurance come through yet?’

‘No.’

‘Still, there’s no excuse for that sort of behaviour. Mr Parker was furious.’

‘He sacked the builder,’ said Kaydon, incredulous. ‘Don’t you think that’s a bit extreme?’

Mum gave a slow, thoughtful sigh. ‘There’s a lot riding on this deal.’

‘It’s still a pretty low thing to do to a family that has nowhere to go. And over such a small thing. I can’t believe Dad’s letting it happen.’

Kaydon slammed the stack of chairs onto the ground and they creaked and clunked in protest. Something wasn’t right about this whole Glenvale deal and the way his father was so keen to please the Parker family. There was something Kaydon was missing. Something he wasn’t being told. And now Holly and her family were being kicked off Glenvale. He dragged another two chairs across the ground and threw one into the other.

Holly: why was he even thinking about her? She was a blow-in and soon she would be blowing out. He would be going back to boarding school in a matter of days and she would be back on the road, eating tofu and lentils and probably watching stupid YouTube videos about animal cruelty.

He dragged the stack of chairs out into the darkness and saw Dan driving his mother’s red Corolla out of the carpark and towards the front gate. He watched as his friend turned towards town, towards the grain stores.

Kaydon sighed heavily. He couldn’t let Dan do it. He would get busted for sure. He sprinted across the paddock, madly waving for Dan to stop. The car slowed and pulled over into the gravel. Kaydon yanked the door open. ‘You’re not honestly going to do this?’

He was shocked at Dan’s face. He was crying.

‘What is wrong with you tonight, Dan?’

‘Nothing!’ Dan pressed the base of his thumbs into his eye sockets. Kaydon stepped into the car.

‘Dan, what?’

Dan dropped his fists and looked out the window, averting his eyes. ‘I didn’t want to fight him.’

‘Jake? Then why the hell did you?’

Dan inhaled sharply with what sounded like a sob. What was going on?

‘How much have you had to drink, Dan?’

‘The fight was my fault, Kaydo. I picked it.’

Kaydon got in the car and closed the door. ‘Why, what did he do?’

‘He said something I didn’t like.’

‘Must have been bad.’ Kaydon tried to imagine what someone like Jake could have said. Holly’s brother seemed like a happy-go-lucky kind of guy.

Dan pressed his forehead against the steering wheel. ‘I’m so messed up.’

Kaydon stared at him. He was making no sense, and he was clearly in no state to be driving. Kaydon got out of the passenger side, made his way around to the driver’s side door, and pulled the keys from the ignition.

‘What are you doing?’ Dan demanded.

Kaydon pushed his friend’s shoulder. ‘Move over. I’m driving.’

‘The hell you are,’ said Dan angrily.

‘Don’t go rob the grain store, Dan. You’re not thinking straight. You’ll get busted. You’ll blow everything. You’ll stuff your life.’

‘The guy is already meeting me there.’ Dan sniffed, as if refocusing.

‘I’ll give you some cash,’ said Kaydon. ‘You know I will. How much do you need?’

‘I don’t want your cash. Don’t you get it, Kaydon?’

‘No. I don’t get it,’ he said, frustrated.

Dan clenched his teeth. ‘Give me the keys back.’

‘No.’

Dan’s voice rose. ‘Give me them back or I’ll get out of this car and smack you about properly!’ He launched himself out of the car and charged at Kaydon.

His friend bulldogged him right in the middle of the road, slamming his shoulder into Kaydon and rumbling him onto the bitumen. Kaydon’s breath exploded from his lungs as he hit the hard surface with Dan on top of him. The force of the charge knocked the keys from his hands and they clattered onto the road.

Dan snatched them, scrambled to his feet and retreated to the car. He shoved them into the ignition. Kaydon hauled himself off the road, raced around to the passenger-side door and threw himself in before Dan squealed the tyres and took off up the highway.

Dan brought the Corolla up through the gears, revving the guts out of the car. His face was set in a hard determined stare.

‘You’re smart, Dan. You have so many choices in life if you want them. I’m stuck on Rockleigh forever. I’ll never lead my own life. You can. You can do anything. Don’t go stuffing your life up just to get some quick cash.’

‘Easy for you to say. You’ve got no idea what it’s like to scrape five-cent pieces together to try and buy some two-minute noodles for your kid sister.’ Dan put his foot harder to the floor and the car screamed in protest.

‘Slow down, Dan.’

‘I said I’d meet the guy at the warehouse at twelve-thirty. I’ve only got an hour to pick up as much as I can.’

Damn it, how did he get himself roped into stuff like this? Kaydon glared at his friend. Why did Dan like to live on the edge so much? Because he was povo? No one cared. He was smart, funny. The chicks loved him. But he kept them all at arm’s length. He kept everyone at arm’s length, except Kaydon. ‘You need to chill out about this povo thing, Dan.’

Dan hit the brakes of the car and it skidded to a stop. ‘Dad left all his problems in my lap! I’m seventeen years old. I can’t get a job that pays enough to look after a family.’

‘But you will one day. If you finish your scholarship.’

‘That’s half a lifetime away. In the meantime I’m going to get enough grain to feed the stock for a few weeks and get them strong enough to send to market. When I sell them, I’ll get a real job, okay.’ Dan slammed his head on the steering wheel.

Kaydon looked at his friend and wished he could take some of Dan’s burden away.

‘I hate living here,’ said Dan, without looking up.

Kaydon looked at the miserable slouch of a human being slumped over the wheel and cursed himself for what he was about to say.

‘Okay, come on. Let’s go heist. Just don’t let us get caught.’

It was like flicking a switch. Dan straightened and took a deep breath. ‘Thanks, buddy.’ He shot Kaydon a grin, shoved the Corolla back into gear and planted his foot on the accelerator. Kaydon clung to the handle on the door and prayed none of the tyres blew.

Within minutes, there was a high-pitched wooop, and suddenly blue lights were flashing.

Dan looked in the rear-vision mirror and swore. ‘Marg Kennerley? I thought she was still at the party!’

He pulled the car over and put his head back where it belonged – on the steering wheel.

Marg Kennerley stuck her head in the window. ‘Your mum know you’re driving her car without a licence, Daniel?’

Kaydon put his head against the back of the car seat and shut his eyes. ‘Nice one, Dan.’