Chapter 17

On Saturday night, it was a big family party, and there were a lot of people to say hello to when they turned up, all hot from cycling over. Like usual, James, Sophie, Steph and Xander were there, though Jaiden and Asha weren’t – they were still off on holiday with Asha’s family, due back the next night. In addition, Sophie and Larissa had invited Thomas and Jane, and her mum and Bob, Mary. Also, Layna and Joseph were there. She’d also wanted to invite Ruby and Pete, but they were away for the weekend with family.

This was just one a series of get togethers that Larissa had organised; it was possible that she’d gone overboard, but things had just cascaded through the day on Friday. She started with Friday night, and invited as many of Julian’s mates as she could get hold of for a party to celebrate Julian’s Youtube performance. Dinner, if they could, and a party at their place; not on the beach, since the change was due that evening. In the end, she could rustle up six mates, mostly with partners, including Scott and Phil, and Hamza. Which meant that Brianna and Ana were also there. Julian had come home from work focused on washing and so forth; Larissa had grinned at his expression when she met him naked at the door, taken him to the shower, and made it very clear how she felt about him before they were done. Alan and Fiona wished they could stay and said they’d be back in time to be part of it.

Julian had a great night with his mates; they all watched his Youtube video together, and admired the way he took the two guys down, and then they just moved on – ahh, guys, Larissa said to herself. So much simpler ... Later, she had a good talk with Brianna and Ana, who were laughing at the way some of the guys evidently didn’t know how to have a good time without a drink in their hands. They all knew about Julian’s deal with Larissa, but it hadn’t stopped them drinking before. No, here, the house rules did. Ana got a big grin on her face when the subject came up, and went and stood by the fridge and showed them all the sign about doing it wrong if you needed alcohol, and pulled her dress off leaving her in a bikini, ready for dancing, and Brianna and Larissa joined her, along with a few of the other girls who were up for it. That made the point, and then the three of them talked about how Ana and Brianna were going; very besties, all living together and really enjoying it. And having lots of sex with their guys. At the end of the night, they were the last left, and Larissa dared them – let Fiona and her tie them to the balcony and their guys could do them from behind. They got a grin on their face and both did it, and enjoyed it a lot, and watching that got Larissa hot, so her and Julian did it over the top of them. And when she finally took Julian to bed, he held her tight and said that he felt better.

The next morning, they went for a run along the beach, and then at the end they met Johnny-Boy and his wife Sara for breakfast at a café near their home, along with another instructor from the Taekwondo club and they talked about what happened. Johnny-boy agreed that Julian was looking for trouble, but agreed that it was totally legal, and said that he totally agreed with what Julian did, but he understood why the cops out there didn’t. On the other hand, the way they treated him the next day: something to refer to police command as part of their investigation about being on the payroll. But very unlikely that ‘the payroll’ was literal truth, and more likely that they were just really good friends to the business. That was pretty much how the country towns that depended totally on a single employer worked, and what Julian had done could easily flip a factory or mine from profitable to not profitable, a disaster for its local community. But as far as the actual violence ... efficiently executed by Julian, a textbook approach.

Then, through the day, a big bunch of friends came to the beach in front of their place, and hung out, swimming and chatting. The weather still wasn’t great after the change came through, so no bikinis on show except briefly while the crazy ones swum, but plenty of good talking and hugging and cricket on the beach. Liam was there, and gave Julian a very hearty high five for what he’d done: “awesome, and I’ll talk with the guys at my club about it.”

Dinner was lovely, and the conversation flowed freely. Steph was super proud of Rachel, who was starting to get her head up and look around, and had – Steph claimed – successfully rolled once during the week.

After dinner, Larissa didn’t help in the kitchen, like she usually did. Instead, she went over and hugged her mum, and said, “I’d like to talk to just the three of you in the lounge, please, along with Thomas and Jane.”

They all looked at her with interest, particularly when she arranged them so that her mum was in the middle of Bob and Mary, with Larissa on her lap, and Thomas and Jane on the ends of the couch.

“So this is obviously our family business,” she said, “and mum, this may be a little challenging for you, but you know that we all love you, and nothing’s going to change that.” Bob and Mary automatically moved closer to her mum, and she smiled at them in thanks. “But it’s not scary, honestly, it’s not.” Her mum nodded, but she was still unsure, Larissa could tell.

“So you know that day that we went down to meet with Thomas and Jane, and Sharon, the dress maker?” Her mum nodded. “Oh, by the way, have you taken Mary to see her yet?”

Her mum gave her a tight smile. “We’re going to see her this week.”

“Great. Have fun! Well, I told you I had another appointment after I dropped you back home, right?” Mary nodded. “Well, I went to talk to grandma and grandpa. That is, your parents, mum.” Her mum took a deep breath. “Yes. I know that’s a heartache for you, mum. I asked them what it would take for them to have a relationship with you.” Her mum was going to say something, so Larissa kissed her. “Mum, hear me out before you say anything, please.” She nodded, and Larissa glanced at Mary who also nodded. “They said no way, so I talked a little about what happened, told them that you were raped, like me, and I talked about the need for secrecy that you had, how strong it was. Then we talked about what you’re doing now, and how it’s healing you.” Larissa took a deep breath. “But no, nothing doing, mum. Grandpa said that they wouldn’t talk to you, couldn’t. But then ... when I left, grandma hugged me and secretly gave me a note that said to email her. So I did, and we’ve been talking by email, and then she called me. They’ve been talking a lot about what I said, and maybe they’re being too hard. So, mum, grandma would like for us to meet, just the three of us, first up, you, her, and me. And if that goes well, then maybe she’d like to meet with Mary too, to understand that better. And grandpa knows – I said he had to know, but he’s not ready to talk yet. So, Mum, the question for you is, do you want to do that? Grandma understands that they cut you off without talking about it, and so you can say no. Or you might take a long time think about it. But she’d like to know you again, Mum, you’re a very big hole in her heart.”

There was a long silence. And then her mum whispered very quietly, “I’d really like to see my mum,” and she started crying.

Mary and Larissa wrapped her up in a deep hug, and Mary said, “Love, should you think about this? We’ve talked about her a lot, and you’d have to forgive such a lot to even talk to her again.”

“Yes. I do. You’re right, and I understand why you’re saying that. But I know I can, because I know how much my daughter forgave me. Mary, I was very, very far from being a good mum, much worse than my mum, and here I am, redeemed by your love, you and Bob, and by my daughter’s forgiveness. And I’m surrounded by my loving family, and you’re all making me strong, and I can do this. Please let me?”

Mary took a deep breath, and said, “Larissa, Rachelle’s parents ... they won’t support our relationship, will they?”

“Well, they won’t like it. Ever. But I’ve made it clear to grandma: no matter how much you don’t like it, any hint that you’re trying to interfere with Mum’s relationships will mean nothing, ever, from any of us. And she understands, I think. In her words, “we lost the right,” though I think they lost it in practice back when Mum was a teen. Whether they’ll ‘support you,’ whatever you want that mean, only time will tell. But you have nothing to fear from them.”

Mary pulled Larissa back from her mum, and then leaned forward and gave her a gentle kiss. “Thank you, daughter. I can see that living with you will never be easy, but if we can meet the challenge, our lives will be much better. Thanks for trying, I really appreciate it, and you can see what it means for your mum. Is it OK if the three of us have a little time to talk about it? Now?”

Larissa smiled, and hopped up and grabbed Jane’s hand and pulled her up. Thomas was getting up too, and she pulled them out of the lounge, almost feeling like skipping, because she knew how this was going to go: they were going to say that her mum should do it, they just had to go through the process. Once in the dining room, Jane pulled her to a stop, and hugged her tight. “Do you think she will?” Jane asked her. “I hope they do; you’re amazing for setting that up.”

“Yes,” Larissa said, “I’m sure they will. But they have to talk about this, like they are now.” She pointed Jane to look at her mum, wrapped up by Bob and Mary. “Threesomes are super hard work, but they do have their benefits, I think. They have to talk, and they decide for her, but of course, they’ll decide the way she wants on this one.”

Jane looked at her, thinking. “I thought that was just in bed? It’s for everything?”

“It’s for everything, yes. My mum needs someone to hold her hand, after everything that’s happened.”

Jane nodded slowly. “I understand, I think, but it is sad. So could Thomas go and see them?”

“Sure, they’d like that, but I think it would be good if you can wait until things are sorted out with Mum.” Larissa looked up, and saw Sophie looking at her phone with a very concerned look on her face. “What’s up, Mum?”

Sophie looked at her and said, “It’s Willow. She’s home alone – her Dad and Lillian have gone away for a few days, so it’s just her. And Lucas has gone away camping with mates this weekend too, and she’s not feeling well. And Asha and Chantal are also away. She told me earlier, and then said she was having a sleep, and now she’s woken up not feeling better.” Larissa frowned, and asked what her symptoms were. “Oh, fever, vomiting, headaches, and she’s got the runs pretty bad.”

Larissa sighed – all non specific symptoms. But fluid management was definitely a problem. “Should one of us go check on her? She can go downhill real quick if she runs low on water. Is she able to drink and keep fluids down? And it’s not covid?” Not quite the right symptoms, sure, but she’d heard of someone else for whom covid played out like this.

Sophie grimaced, and said, “I’ve asked her. But she says she did a test this afternoon, just in case it was covid, and it was negative. She’s got one more test if she needs it.”

When they were all settled in the lounge, and Rachel was asleep, Sophie said to Larissa, “Willow says she’s drinking Hydralyte, and she’ll let us know if she can’t keep it down.” She grimaced. “I’m concerned about her, but she doesn’t want us to worry about her. So we’re going to worry about her, and I’m going to check on her hourly. Anyway, Bob, Mary, and Rachelle, and Thomas and Jane, welcome to our Saturday night. Layna and Joe have shared this with us before. We’re going to talk about our weeks, whatever adventures we’ve had, and our close friends, and then later we’ll do something else. And given who our daughters are, the adventures are very often pretty intimate.”

Steph laughed. “It’s not our fault we have a great life,” Steph said. “But anyway, look who’s talking. How long is it since you had a Larissa swim, Mum?”

Her mum grinned. “Might have been this week.”

“What’s a Larissa swim?” Jane asked.

Steph grinned, and explained what it was, without explaining the wider context, which was good, from Larissa’s point of view.

“Well, everyone,” James said, “we should obviously start with Julian this week. Julian, tell us about your week.”

“Well, we got back from our holiday. I’ll let Thomas and Jane tell you all about that, but we had a great time at a pretty special location, thanks both of you.” Thomas and Jane smiled. “Then we got home, unpacked and stuff, and the next day, it was just wonderful.” He told them all about their wonderful evening. “Then the next day, we got this email tip about this company dumping a toxic waste chemical in the local river later that afternoon, which Steph forwarded to me, and when I looked at it, I realised I had about ten minutes to decide whether I was going to try and make it so I could film it. I just stood up and said, ‘Should I go?” and bingo, I was. I was out the door ten minutes later, most of which was the techie boys sorting out my kit. Really, they should have gone but Layna was interviewing someone the next day, and they needed to do that. We borrowed Joseph’s sister’s combi – thanks mate!” Joseph gave him a thumbs up. “Hopefully we’ll have our own van in the future. So I disappeared on my babe with just a message – sorry, babe, and it’s amazing you were so good about it.”

“I nearly wasn’t,” Larissa admitted. “I was going to send you a nasty message, but then I realised, it must be important for you to do what you did, and so I sucked it up.”

Julian kissed her. “I’m so lucky to have you, babe. Anyway, I only stopped once on the road, and that was to buy protein bars and water at a servo and fill up with fuel, and I arrived at the site, which took a long drive on logging roads, with about fifteen minutes to spare. Fortunately, the truck was late, and I got good footage of the driver looking around to see if he was being observed, and then setting up the pumping. It looked pretty toxic to me, comparing up and down river, so I decided to stay and investigate, but he sat and had a cigarette and a beer once he finished pumping, and the light wasn’t good enough when he finished and left. So I had to stay overnight and do that once the sun was up the next morning. I still don’t know how they figured out I was there, but the tip we got said that we should be ‘really very careful,’ and so during the night I was thinking about that and messaging Chez on our sat-phone, and she was freaking out, and so I was getting paranoid, and even though I said she shouldn’t worry, I decided to set up the camera to record anything that happened.”

He took a deep breath. Bob said, “It’s really hard to believe that a listed company would get involved in stuff like this. There’s so much corporate oversight – surely they knew they were going to get busted? And turning to local bully boys? That’s just insane.”

Julian nodded. “Right. I’ll get to all that. So then I was sitting there eating my lovely protein bar and wondering whether I should go get some real food when I heard their car coming. I closed all the inside curtains, and then as soon as I saw them, I knew what was going to happen. The biggest worry I had was that one of them would get around behind me while we were talking. I wanted them to throw the first punch, but being able to hold me from behind, and being such big strong guys ... they really should’ve done that; no amount of Taekwondo would help me then. If they had, I would’ve had to act earlier, and the video would have a lot less power, and ... well, the cops would’ve given me a much harder time. Though the outcome would’ve been the same in the end. Anyway, you all saw what happened.”

“Oh, no!” Steph said. “We’re going to watch it now, and you’re going to give us a blow by blow of what was inside your head.”

Julian sighed, but then let them show it, and talked them through it. From Larissa’s viewpoint, he didn’t say anything remarkable, but she’d already heard it several times, she supposed.

Once the video switched back to Layna, he stopped it and said, “So the video goes on; Layna, you did a great job, of course. Anyway, the bully boys recovered pretty quickly, and had lots to say to me about what happened; they weren’t really thinking. Like, details of how much they were paid, and exactly who paid them. The manager at the chemical plant, Bob. Stupid; not even any cut outs. They went to school together, have a long history. Morons all the way. Anyway, then I was thinking about what Larissa would do, and I started talking to them about their choices. Kind of hard to ignore the guy who tied you up and is now checking your pulse and breathing regularly, and looking in your eyes. We talked about their choices, and why, and maybe they’ll change their behaviour once they get out. Cause they sure knew they were going away for what they’d done. Specially being on video. Then the police turned up. They were kind of amused, but they asked me to go in for questioning, which was pretty reasonable, really. So we all watched the video together, and it was all the cops could do not to laugh at the idiots, but they did give me a hard time, given that I was playing to the video a bit. But really, I got consent, established cause, asked them not to do it, explained why they shouldn’t ... what else could I do? So they had to let me go; I think they just didn’t like hippie tree-hugging type. They were real mad about the payroll thing, though I was never convinced about that; they’d be that mad if it was true. They gave me time to make a few phone calls, and I called Chez and the police headquarters, and I called Larissa, but she was busy herself. Then they took me back out to my van.”

“The rest of the day, I was documenting what I found, getting footage of the river, comparing similar locations upstream and downstream from the dumping point; whatever they were dumping is super bad for any new growth, and it’s going to be a huge clean up. And trying to survive the heat – it was stinking hot out there, but I wasn’t going in the river, obviously. Then I ran out of light so I stayed another night, and then Larissa turned up late that night.” He turned to her. “Babe, you were a life saver; I had not much idea what was going on but I was sweating on it, and then I hear another car late at night, and I’m freaking out, and then I saw it was Suzy driving it. Anyway, I had a lovely emotional talk with my babe, and Suzy was really lovely and let us make love, which I really needed. And Larissa too, for her own reasons. Then we all slept together squeezed into the van, and Suzy took Larissa off to work at four AM. Suzy’s such a life saver for us; hiring her was one of the best things we’ve done. Then in the morning, I finished the filming I wanted to get, and the cops turned up again, really mad that we’d published that video, and that I’d spoken to the police commanders. And I don’t know; it smelt. I didn’t break the law, but they gave me the distinct impression that if I didn’t have mates in the police command, it could’ve gone bad for me somehow. Then I packed up, and drove home with the change all around me the whole way; awesome weather to drive in, specially in a combi van. I managed to not get blown off the road!”

“Right. So I spent most of the trip talking to Chez and Layna. And I’m sure you want to know what happened after we posted that video. And I can tell you, but none of you are to tell anyone until tomorrow evening, when the follow up video will go out.” They all nodded. Julian gave Bob a hard stare, since he was the one that mattered, and he explicitly said he’d keep the secret. “Layna, you should tell them this bit – you ran the show just great.”

She smiled her thanks, and said, “Well, first they told us to go to hell. Then they saw the video, and their immediate response was to send us a legal letter demanding us to take it down. Too late for that, and we never considered it, so they said they’d sue us for blackmail. Chez sent them back a one word response: ROFL. Then late in the evening, Steph got a private message on Twitter claiming to be from the son of the chair of the board of the parent company that’s listed, asking us for a direct phone number. She sent to it Chez, and Chez asked for verification, and then once she had it, she gave the guy her phone number, and ten minutes later, the chair of the board, who’s a rather well-known public figure, he called her directly.”

“He said he was taking what he saw on Youtube at face value, and he’d instructed the CEO to halt all chemical related processes the company has in Victoria by Friday evening, but that some of them take days to shut down so they just couldn’t meet our deadline. And he’d instructed the CEO to call in outside investigators to find just how far the rot extended, and that at least three people had to at least lose their jobs since they couldn’t not know what was going on, and then the CEO has to clean up the mess very obviously if he wants to keep his job, and he personally guaranteed that they’ll report themselves to the EPA, but they can’t meet our deadline on that because they don’t know who they can’t trust beyond their manager who’d already been arrested and they’d already sacked, but please, please, don’t ask for them to boycotted, and what did we want?”

Larissa looked around the room; they were stunned by that, particularly Bob. Then Layna continued, “So Chez said, fine. We can negotiate around the deadlines; we understand the constraints you’re working with, and that we weren’t going to do anything until after close of business on Friday whatever, and so he should focus on his company, and we’d consider what else we thought appropriate for us to want, but really, what we wanted was for them not to pollute our waterways, and let’s meet, us and you and the CEO, late on Friday, and we’ll consider where we are.”

“So Julian got back just in time to join that zoom meeting with their CEO, the chair of the board, and several supporting people – HR and legal counsel types. And on our side, Chez, Julian, and I. They spent thirty minutes telling us all the things they’d done.”

At this point, Julian jumped in. “Bob and Dad, can Layna and I sit with you later and you can check that they didn’t miss something they should be doing?” They both gave him broad grins – hell, they’d love to do that. “As far as we can tell, they’re doing what they should, and it’s going to cost them a lot of money. Millions, as Layna said.”

Back to Layna. “Then they got to, what did we want? And we’d agreed that we couldn’t ask them for anything more than to not break the law, or we would be blackmailing them after all, so we started by telling them that. Then they asked us, what were we going to do? – they knew that we had to follow up on Youtube. And we’d talked about that the whole time Julian was driving back. So tomorrow afternoon, I’m going to meet in person with the CEO at our project office, and I’m going to interview him and we’re going to make as interesting a video as we can mixing the footage Julian got with what we did to his wedding anniversary,” and she paused for laughter at that bit, “and how he wants his teenage children to still talk to him. And he’s going to apologise to Julian in person, and generally help us make as dramatic a video as we can, so they can get the message out that they’re good law-abiding citizens of planet earth, and this was just one bad apple.” Then she grinned. “And then he’ll go back to his office and figure out if there’s some way he can screw us for what we did to his bonus.”

Bob burst into laughter and said, “You got that right! I’m glad you understand the kind of shark you’re dealing with.”

Layna nodded. “Right, which is why we refused to have more involvement in their response, though they begged us to and offered us first look at anything they’re doing, if only we’ll make a video about how great they are; nothing doing on that. Anyway, that’s where we are now.”

“Actually,” Bob said, “what company is this? What’s his name?” Layna told him and he nodded. “Yes, I’ve met him, at industry dinners. I’m surprised I haven’t heard from him already, actually, since I’m your sponsor now. I guess he’s making sure he’s got his ducks in a row before he calls me.”

“Will that be a problem for you or for us?” Layna asked him.

“No, I don’t think so. I expected some comeback for supporting you guys, but I’m just going to throw it back in their face: what have they done about this other than selfish political posturing? But if he talks to me now ... well, his goons tried to attack my son, and I’m definitely feeling that right now. That’ll be extra fun since that bit will almost certainly catch him by surprise.” He looked at the expression on their faces after he said that and grinned. “I’ll let you know how it goes if he does. Anyway, Julian, back to you.”

“Thanks,” Julian said. “Then I got home to my babe, and found that she’d organised a non-stop party time for me.” He told them about what they’d done. “And she was exactly right, my wonderful babe; I needed all that, because although I’ve empathised with Layna and Larissa around their Youtube experience, I hadn’t lived it. I have now, and you two are even stronger than I understood.” He got up and crossed the room, and kissed Layna, and then returned and kissed Larissa passionately. “But no regrets; anything for the cause. Babe, you should tell them about your week.”

Larissa smiled. “Well, thanks. But before we move on, Julian, how are you feeling now that you’ve talked to your family and friends? And everyone, have you said everything you want to about what he did?”

There was a round of everyone telling Julian how impressed they were with his self-control and outcomes, and Larissa read out some of the messages Julian had got, and ones she’d got.

“Thanks,” Julian said. “I really appreciate it. I know that it’s not going to be as big a deal for me as it was for Larissa, but I also know that it will jump into my life when I least expect it, just like Larissa’s does. Layna, of course, you’re in a different league. I hope that you get real recognition for what you’re doing.”

Layna smiled. “You know, the only recognition that’s really meaningful for me is from my friends, my family, and my man. Which is a phrase I learnt from Larissa, by the way. But it’s lovely that you appreciate me more now,” she said with a grin.

“Thanks everyone,” Larissa said. “Like Layna said, friends, family, and my man. Or for Julian, me. He’s my man forever, and what he did this week is exactly what I’d expect, all the way through to trying to redeem those two bullies. Well done, my man. So, my week ... on Wednesday night, we had Pete and Ruby and Liam and Chelsea coming for dinner. Oh, yes, Ruby – I invited her to dinner tonight, but they’ve gone away with their family for the weekend, so she’s an apology.” She turned to Thomas and Jane, and said, “Ruby and Layna are kind of like family for us after this year, because of some things that happened, which we won’t go into; they’re always welcome in our hearts and at our family things.” She smiled at Layna, who returned it. “So they still came over, and I had a lovely night and got lots of hugs from them. Chelsea wanted to do a Larissa swim, as she called it, but the beach was super busy since it was warm, so we just did it topless, the three of us, and then we sat out on the balcony like that and talked. Ruby’s really happy; it’s going really well with Pete, and her mum and dad are fully on board now. Layna, she said that she wants to catch up with you again, which is why she really wanted to come tonight, so she can tell you about it.”

Layna smiled. “I’m so happy for her! I’ll give her a call. I owe her one.”

“Thanks. And she votes for doing the big battery opening. Oh, I meant to ask, what was the outcome of the vote?”

Layna smiled. “Roughly fifty-fifty so I had a long talk with Chez and Julian, and then a long talk with Joseph, and I’m doing it, on condition I get an opportunity to say something, not just be a pretty face, and we can make a video around the opening.”

“Great! I’m really pleased. And totally agree about the pretty face thing.” Larissa could see smiles all around. “Anyway, the next day, I did bush fire support, and it was the worst ever.” She told them about it, and then going to see Julian at the end of the day. “So then Friday, I spent as much time on the phone as I could squeeze in setting up this weekend, thanks everyone.”

“Wow, Larissa,” Jane said, “that’s a terrifying thing to face. So you found that dead grandma and her grand-child?”

Larissa frowned. “Well, I saw the car wreck first, but I wouldn’t say I found it. It’s a bit creepy, I suppose, but at least I had no time to watch TV talking about them. I just feel sorry for whoever had to clean them up. The blaze was very hot there. That’s why the CFA says to get out early.”

Then Jane said, “And I’m so sorry for you that had to kill so many animals. Do you know how many you saved?”

She shrugged. “I’m used to killing them now; I know that I only do it when they’re going to die anyway, so I’m just easing them out of their misery and pain. Poor little dogs and cats, in such terrible pain and fear. It was harder for the ones that lived, but what makes me angry is that some of those pets will still get put down because their owners will say that they don’t want them back given that they’ll require ongoing care to recover, and will always have visible scarring. Anyway, Bob – oh Bob, the guy in charge of the animal care part of my job is also called Bob – he sent me an email today saying that all the animals I chose to try to save lived to at least yesterday afternoon except two that were too seriously burnt, so he was happy with my choices. Blake’s going to lead a review meeting on Monday morning before we hit the roads, to see if there’s anything we can learn. I’m not sure what that is, really: pet stays are mostly out in the bush, and this one had a pretty thorough fire plan, but the fire was too big. Oh, but I learnt one thing. I needed to wee, and the CFA girl told me they just squat, and not to go find somewhere private – too dangerous. I don’t know if anyone saw me, but it made me think – what have we done about that for the wedding?”