Outrageous Fortune chronicles the lives of the West family, who have always done things the less-than-legal way. However, when Dad Wolfgang West gets sent to jail for four years, his family receives a very sharp wake-up call.
Mum Cheryl decides that it is time for her family to get out of the crime game once and for all. No more robbing, ripping people off or lying. However, for this family, breaking the habits of a lifetime is much easier said than done.
“Jethro and Danielle have been keeping their relationship secret, but a chance meeting with Gary means they’re now out. Jethro and Danielle both fear Gary’s wrath, as Jethro realises that Cheryl is in a hole over her debt to Gary.
At the same time opportunity presents, in the form of Vern. He’s a supposedly greenie councillor with aspirations to mayoralty, who wants Jethro to injunct a book, written by his ex-wife, Sonya, about wild times on Isengard, a former hippy commune. Jethro soon comes to realise that Sonya has West connections – she’s Rochelle’s mother. Rochelle is on the case for her mother. But Sonya is not the only wife of Vern – it seems he had five, at the same time.
Gary appears to be cool about Jethro’s relationship with Danielle. But given Vern’s history, and the fact that Vern’s former commune is now valuable land, Jethro sees an advantage. Vern has said that he will never sell this land, but given the claims of the wives and the scandalous material that might be released, Jethro makes it clear to Vern that some kind of settlement might be in order – a gift of the land, if Vern won’t sell it.
Cheryl meanwhile, needs to attend the wake of an old friend of Ted’s. Lefty Munroe is an old associate of the Wests, and his wife, Ngaire, doesn’t think much of trashy Cheryl. But a photo at the wake unlocks family secrets when Grandpa gets upset at the sight of two china dogs: which are all to do with the Smith and Caughey’s cock-up of 1970. (A heist where Grandpa was supposed to profit from the theft of South African Krugerrands – and various Christmas shopping from Smith & Caughey, including the dogs.) But the proceeds of the heist went missing in an uplifted truck, the police arrived soon after – and Grandpa went to jail. The reason is now revealed by Ngaire. The narc wasn’t Lefty – it was the saintly Rita, who was looking for a crime-wife retirement fund. This news rocks Loretta, but Cheryl (who is desperate for cash) decides to seek the missing kruger rands. All evidence points to the former residence of Ted and Rita: a house on Aztec Road.
Cheryl is secretive about this, and Loretta queries her motives in hiding this from Judd, but Cheryl is mighty determined. So she digs under trees at Aztec Road to seek the treasure. But her efforts only turn up one kruger rand. And she finds from Ngaire that Rita might have had reasons to cash them in, and go away for a while, but these are mysterious.
At the same time, Jethro has done the cunning deal: persuaded Vern to gift his land to the wives. Not all of them want to take it – but he is happy to take it off their hands, buy it indeed. Then onsell it to Gary – but part of the deal is wiping his mother’s debt. Cheryl is at first suspicious to hear of this – how did Jethro manage it? Then the covers her misgivings, happy to be relieved of this burden.
But now Gary is keen to celebrate this windfall with Jethro. And since Danielle’s son is sick, he decides to go out on the town with Gary . . .. But, when Jethro wakes up, everything has changed. He finds himself in his bedroom, with an angry Treena, who seems to be making accusations about rape. What the hell happened here?“ www.outrageousfortune.co.nz