"Jack" Series, Part 1: Jack Arrives

4. Aftermath II: Debrief

The plan was for the boys to meet at Pat and Dell’s place that night around 10, depending on when the men went out for the night. Pat, who had the evening shift, would be released once Tiran left, so they gathered gradually in the big family room to wait. They didn’t speak much as they poured drinks and settled in, lost in their own thoughts. But there was a quiet frisson of excitement in the room, and the small smiles they gave each other half-acknowledged the pleasure they didn’t express out loud.

Rocky arrived just before Pat. By then all the rest were there, Blackie on the floor at Dusty’s feet, Tom leaning against a wall with his knees drawn up, the rest on couches and chairs around the room. Rocky glanced around and moved toward the sofa where Gabe was sitting, while Rusty went to get him a beer from the bar.

"Hey Rocky," Dell said, "You see him?"

"Tiry?" Rocky nodded, and indicated Dusty. "Yeah, me and Dusty did."

"So how’s he doing? What’s his mood?"

"OK," Rocky looked at Dusty for confirmation. "Good." He smiled to himself, then added thoughtfully, "A little testy. Dying of curiosity to know how it went."

The others laughed. "Doesn’t he have a camera in that room?" Dell asked.

"Sure, but he’s hardly going to check up on Mr. Obernikoch. Can you imagine how that would go over?"

"Did you tell Tiran what a favourite you were with Mr. Obernikoch?" Rusty asked impishly.
Rocky cocked an eyebrow. "Yeah. And Dusty called Gabe a big suck."

Gabe looked horrified. "Dusty, you didn’t!"

Dusty jumped in guiltily. "No, no Solly … I just said he seemed to have a little less trouble with you than with some of the rest of us."

"Seriously," Rocky said, "We’re going to have to be careful with the flip comments. It was one thing with Tiry where he didn’t care, but now all it's gonna takes is the whisper of a hint to Mr. Obernikoch and one of us could be in traction for a week. We don’t want to do that to each other unless there’s good reason."

The others nodded their understanding as Pat came in. He had the same air of nervous, contained excitement. "They’re off," he confirmed in response to the questioning looks. "And I’m released. Who’s on overnight?"

"Me," Gabe answered. "Who’s got the morning shift?"

"Me," Rocky answered, "I’m going to be at Tiran’s anyway so we’re good. But after that we don’t know. We’ll need Mr. Obernikoch’s new schedule."

Pat glanced around as he pulled up a chair beside Dell. "Did you guys start already?"

"No, but we better now," Rocky said. "I don’t want to take too long -- it looks like plotting."

The others nodded, and there was a general shifting of positions as they all grew attentive.

"So, what do we want to talk about?" Rocky asked. "I know we need to follow up with Gabe on the housekeeping arrangements."

Gabe nodded, and Blackie said, "I’ll need to start working up a schedule for that too."

"OK," Rocky went on. "And we really need to come up with a plan around the cell phones. The absence of cell phones. Tiry made it very clear that he didn’t want to be inconvenienced."

The nods around the room were a little sheepish this time.

Pat said, "And can we talk about that thing Gabe raised, about getting permission from Tiran to apologize and then not being able to … ?"

The others all murmured agreement. Rocky went on, "Other than that, you know, things seemed pretty clear. He was pretty explicit. I’m not sure if there’s anything more for us to do. Anyone … ?"

"Solly – " Dusty said, "You were taking notes, right? Maybe you could read them out for us and we can see if anything jumps out."

"Yeah, good idea," Rocky agreed. "But let’s start with the housekeeping. I don’t think we all got all the details. Gabe, how’d the meeting with Mr. Obernikoch actually go, anyway?"

"Well, I wouldn’t so much call it a meeting," Gabe said gently. "I told you guys what he said – two hours on weekdays, no meals, basic housekeeping. We’d better decide what that means and finalize the schedule. But listen, just because he’s letting us do this, don’t kid yourself that he’s happy about it." Gabe filled them in on the conversation, and Mr. Obernikoch's resistance to their request. "I really don’t think we should push our luck on this. One screw-up and we’re out of there."

There was some discussion on how to provide the best possible service with the least intrusiveness. In the end they agreed that shifts would start at the same time every day so that Mr. Obernikoch could anticipate them and choose whether to be in or out while they worked. When the topic shifted to the actual work schedule, Gabe confirmed that he had done the shifts to date.

"I don’t mind managing a schedule, since I’m not doing the duty schedule anymore," Blackie offered. "But we need to think about how we split up the shifts."

"I don’t see how it needs to be complicated," Rusty said. "The schedule doesn’t have to change each week, we just all take turns."

There was a pause, as everyone’s gaze turned slowly to Rocky.

"Well, maybe not everyone," Dusty said wryly. "I wouldn’t suggest sending Rocky in there right now."

The others couldn’t help smiling at the thought and Rusty even chortled a little. "Can you imagine, Van? The only cleaning you’d get done would be the bottom of his boot with your butt."

"Watch your mouth, Andrews," Dusty warned sharply.

Rocky frowned. "I know, it’s a bigger issue. But as far as the housekeeping goes, I don’t see how we can win. Sure there’s the risk of antagonizing him if I show up. But think how pissed he’ll be if everyone else does it except me. As long as there’s no good option, we might as well just do the right thing – and that means putting me on the schedule same as everyone else."

In the end they agreed to include Rocky at the end of the rotation, so that his first shift wouldn’t be for a week. Not that a week was likely to make much difference, Rocky reflected privately.

As the discussion moved on to cell phones, they were surprised to realize that Tom's mobile hadn't actually been confiscated – because he hadn’t brought it with him to the meeting.

"I don’t know," he said, shrugging slightly. "It just didn’t seem polite to me."

He offered to donate his device to the group and for a while they considered that – so that whoever was on duty could relay Tiran’s messages and summonses. But since no one else had anything to be reached on, that would be of limited value.

"And – and, also … " Pat added a little nervously, "Wouldn’t that kind of defeat the purpose? I mean, he confiscated our mobiles – he didn’t just expect us to go out and get new ones."

He was obviously speaking what everyone was thinking. They looked at each other for a moment, and Dusty spoke up. "I’m with you, Pat. He said he’d let us know when we can have them back and that’s good enough for me. I’m not using anyone else’s until then."

"Besides," Rocky said, "Why should Tommy have to lose his phone when he was the only one of us who showed any common sense? Tom, you did good. You shouldn’t have to bail out the rest of us."

Tom nodded, and added after a moment, "Then I guess we’re going to need a runner."

And in the end, that’s what they settled on. A second person would be added to each shift, who would wait just outside Tiran’s house and be available for delivering messages and locating people when needed. What with regular duty shifts, runner shifts, and Mr. Obernikoch’s housekeeping, they realized soberly that they were all going to have a little less free time for the foreseeable future. Except for Tom, who they were in agreement would not be added to the runner schedule.

"OK, and on the following up with Tiran thing …" Rocky moved on. "Gabe, I was thinking about it too. But we just have to make sure Tiry knows that Mr. Obernikoch is vetting his approvals. It’s not like we have to tell him every time. As long as he knows in advance that even when he says yes, we may not be allowed to approach him … "

"He can still raise things with us if he wants to," Dusty put in.

"Yes, though you can’t count on that. Look, this isn’t going to happen for at least two weeks, so we’ve got some time. I’ll try to raise it with him in the next little while."

"Thanks, Rocky," Gabe said softly. "Please make sure he knows that even though we won’t always be able to say it, we’re always sorry for fucking up."

"You don’t need me to tell him that. You’ve got time before Mr. Obernikoch bans anyone from speaking to Tiran. Tell him yourself." Rocky looked around. "In fact I suggest we all take the opportunity now to talk to Tiran about things we may not be able to in future. Only," he added thoughtfully, "Maybe give me a couple of days to let him know what’s happening. So he’ll know why everyone’s approaching him. I’ll tell you when I’ve had chance."

They others nodded, and they moved on. Gabe read out his notes while everyone listened intently but in the end they all concluded that Mr. Obernikoch hadn’t left much for them to do. Rocky agreed that if they didn’t have the new duty schedule by the time his shift ended the next day, he would stay on until they got further instructions. For their part, the others agreed to stay close by so that if a new schedule were delivered it would be easy to find whoever had the next shift.

When it was all worked out, Rocky looked around the room. "So? What do we think? How’s everyone doing?"

It was their usual check-in, but for once everyone seemed reluctant to speak up. They looked around with the same small, understanding smiles they had greeted each other with, and no one volunteered a response. Rocky must have recognized the feeling because he didn’t push it.

But Pat spoke quietly before they could wrap up the meeting. "’Testy’, Rocky? You said Tiran was testy?"

Rocky glanced thoughtfully at Dusty. "Yeah … wouldn’t you say so, Vince?"

Dusty nodded. "Yeah, a bit on edge … suspicious."

"He – he told me Mr. Obernikoch expected us to be lobbying against him by now. And he was looking for subtext." Rocky looked at the others seriously. "We all need to be very careful – I should say, very clear, with Tiry for the next little while. Don’t give him any chance to think we’re trying to tell him something implicitly."

The others understood, and nodded their agreement.

"Were you guys able to reassure him?" Blackie asked. "For now?"

Rocky lifted his shoulders with a faint smile. "I dunno. We tried."

"We tried to be very explicit," Dusty agreed.

"Ya know," Rocky said slowly, looking around the room. "He’s really happy. Really happy to have Mr. Obernikoch here."

The rest nodded in full agreement. "So are we," Pat answered.

"You wouldn’t think it would be so hard, when everyone has what they want," Rocky added, looking around the room. "But it’s not going to be that easy. We have work to do."

And the meeting broke up, anything else left unsaid.