Chapter 12
Frank
Title: I made sure he dodged a bullet
Kayden was always a ratbag. Troublemaker. Bullshitter.
Especially after his mother pissed off. That boy went right off the fuckin rails. Had to whip his ass more times than I can count. Some of them times I reckoned he liked the whippin, like it was the only way he'd get my attention or some bullshit psycho crap.
And it was bullshit. I was busy runnin the land. Didn't have time to raise no fuckin kids.
Thank Christ, Rose was still there. Without her managin the ranch and keepin you lot fed, I don't reckon any of you kids woulda made it to be men.
But Kayden wasn't the weakest—that was Declan. And Kayden sure as hell wasn't dumb. That kid was sharp as a tack.
And that was half the fuckin problem.
Smart fellas ask questions, and questions lead to trouble. That's what fucked Mitch up. Too many fuckin questions. Even when I told him he didn't need to know shit, and that I wasn't tellin him for his own fuckin good, he still pushed. Mitch tested me.
Kayden nearly did, too.
He was seventeen when he told me he was gonna join the army.
I nearly laughed him off the verandah.
I mean, what the hell would anyone wanna join the military for? Gettin your ass shot at by people who didn't know ya long enough to hate ya yet.
Kayden was built for the army, though. Damn kid grew like a weed. Rose was forever beggin me for money to buy more food.
But I tried to set him straight. The army! Fuck me.
But he was as stubborn as a drought, with the same hot temper I had at that age. Problem was, the army meant leavin the Bransons. And Koolaroo.
And nobody leaves Koolaroo unless I say they can.
Or they're dead.
For months, he carried on about it, watching army movies on the telly like Rambo and other shit. He even started runnin laps around the homestead before sunrise like some kinda soldier drill. Thought it made him look impressive.
Just irritated the hell outta me. Especially when he did nothin but bitch and whine when I made him do a proper day’s work.
One night, he bragged at the dinner table that he'd already spoken to a recruiter in Townsville. Apparently, they were interested in talkin to him.
Declan stared at his plate like usual. Mitch kept quiet. And Kayden sat there with that stubborn look in his eye that told me this wasn't a boy askin permission.
This was a boy plannin his escape.
No way was that happenin.
You don't manage a place like Koolaroo by lettin your own blood wander off to play soldier. This land needed Branson men workin it, not soldiers marchin off to fight some bullshit war.
So I sorted it.
I called Bob.
Wish I'd done the same when Mitch fucked off outta here. Then again, I thought he'd come back quick smart and face me like a man. Nope. He didn't have the balls Kayden did.
Anyways, Bob knew what to do. All it took was two small reports being slipped into the right system.
One said Kayden was involved in a violent incident outside a pub in Longreach. Somethin about a broken jaw and an assault charge that never quite stuck.
The other mentioned he'd been questioned in connection with stolen firearms from a rural property.
Nothin serious enough to land him in real trouble, but enough smoke to make the army think twice.
Military recruiters don't like complications. They want clean records and quiet boys who follow orders.
Kayden's application was rejected before he even made it to the medical exam.
I remember the day the letter arrived. He stood in the kitchen reading it, his jaw clenched so tight I thought he might crack a tooth, his hands shakin like he was tryin not to smash somethin.
Then he walked outside and kicked the livin shit out of the old fuel drum behind the machinery shed. Nearly flattened the fuckin thing.
He never said a word to me about the army again. But he didn't dwell on it either. Just got on with ranchin like he was born to do.
That's the thing about smart boys. They work things out and get on with it.
You boys might read this and think what I did was cruel.
Maybe it was.
But a man's job is protectin what belongs to him, and Kayden Branson belongs on this land whether he likes it or not.
Besides, if the army had taken him, he might've come back thinkin he knew how to run things. And I bet my ass that's exactly what Mitch'll do when he finally has the guts to return to Koolaroo. He'll wanna take charge.
Well, don't let him. He don't deserve nothin. Not after he ran from Koolaroo like a runt.
You know, now that I think of it, I got that will wrong. I left Koolaroo to the oldest boy, just like my daddy did for me.
What I shoulda done was left it to none of you.
Actually, that's got me thinkin. I'm gonna write a new will. Give that place to someone who really deserves the land.
Maybe Rose deserves it more than the lot of you. She's been cleanin up shit for over twenty years. Literally.
Speaking of shit, I gotta take one.
That's it for now.
Frank Branson.