The Hate Collective by James Powell (rom com books to read txt) 📕

those people who had been given every opportunity in life, yet was too stupid to recognise this good fortune, preferring instead to live as though he was starring in a Hollywood movie and his friends and family were merely the supporting cast. His father had made millions out of the property boom, selling his company when the market was at its peak and who at the age of fifty, was effectively retired. He now spent his days at the golf club, playing with people who showed him a great deal of respect because he had a lot of money and drove a ridiculously expensive Bentley. But his prized possession was a glorious trophy wife who was foolish enough the think that she was loved for her personality rather than her relative youth, blissfully unaware that she was merely a replacement model for Justin’s mother, who had been discarded once she turned forty five. The thing is, Justin’s father hadn’t always been like this. He just had a weak personality, and was therefore desperate to be accepted into the higher social circles, full of other wealthy people who judged each other by their bank balances and who were all engaged in continuous competition and one-upmanship, as well as constant gossiping and backstabbing. But now he was on the fringes of the social elite, he would do whatever it took to progress, and if that meant playing the cunt, then so be it.
As for Justin, he had essentially been raised by the nanny while his father was out empire building. His newly installed stepmother, the vacuous airhead, wanted no parental responsibility whatsoever, preferring to spend her days at the spa, or out shopping, spending huge chunks of her husband’s fortune on clothes. She couldn’t resist those designer labels.
He still saw his real mother occasionally, but they didn’t get on particularly well, as she saw the arrogant streak possessed by the father ominously start to appear in the son. About thirty years too soon. She warned Justin about this, saying that one day, the cocky attitude he was cultivating would get him in trouble, but he ignored her, dismissing these concerns as the inconsequential nagging of an old woman rather than the sound advice of a mother who could see history beginning to repeat itself.
Thanks to his father’s amazing wealth, Justin was educated at one of the finest schools money could buy where he mixed with other similarly arrogant and moneyed kids in an environment designed to produce the next generation of Oxbridge students. However, like most of the pupils there, Justin never really made the most of this opportunity, as consciously or otherwise, he knew that he would never be poor, so there was no need to study hard and make any real effort because daddy’s money would always be there just in case. So he treated his education as joke and his teachers as subordinates, knowing that he was untouchable as his father had made several large donations to the school, and was likely to make more in future, meaning that expulsion just wasn’t an option, no matter how badly Justin behaved. However, a place at Oxford could not be bought, so as a consequence of this academic mediocrity, Justin had to settle for less and opt for a politics degree at Newcastle, but before that inconvenience, he decided to take a gap year, hoping to teach English to schoolchildren in Africa, knowing that this would look very good on his C.V. It would also look very good in the aftermath of the car accident.
Now that school was over, Justin was enjoying his summer holidays, while slowly making arrangements for his self indulgent trip to educate Africa’s poor and needy. It was a lot of effort though and probably not worth the hassle, so he had decided to do something else instead and was just waiting for the right moment to tell his father. But in the meantime, preparations continued for the journey he wasn’t going to make.
Most of his time was spent hanging out with friends, one of whom was celebrating her eighteenth birthday. They all got together at a fancy restaurant, about ten in total, where they proceeded to make a lot of noise, treat the staff like second class citizens and just generally embarrass themselves. The other diners were clearly uncomfortable, but as Justin and the group were drinking a lot of expensive champagne, they were not kicked out, or even told to be quiet. The group were all aware of this, and became even more objectionable as it was obvious they were untouchable. The manager wouldn’t dare get rid of them. They were spending too much money but eventually, after a couple of hours, they got tired of making a scene and decided to call it a night, much to the relief of the poor restaurant staff who had been made to suffer all night without even being compensated with a decent tip. Such was the selfish nature of these people.
So they said their goodbyes and Justin got into his Audi, given to him as a seventeenth birthday present, and started the journey home.
The next thing he knew, he was waking up in hospital, feeling like death, wondering where he was and what had just happened. He couldn’t remember anything about the incident, even when the police questioned him and explained the situation. However, when it was revealed that Justin had been over the drink drive limit, he knew that it meant trouble. Serious trouble. His immediately focused on the problem at hand and wondered what the best course of action was if he wanted to remain a free man. The police mentioned what had happened to Daisy, but it just wasn’t a priority for Justin at that point. He had bigger things to think about, and was justifiably relieved when he heard that daddy would be taking care of everything. The best lawyer money could buy was soon on board, effectively deciding the outcome of the case before it had even begun.
The defence used Justin’s so-called good character as an argument against a custodial sentence, pointing out the absence of a criminal record, as well as the fact that he had worked hard to get a university place at Newcastle and that he was even about to take a year out to help the children. Surely one mistake shouldn’t ruin his life and after all, he was only marginally over the limit, something which was easily done.
They were also keen to highlight the fact that Daisy had her seatbelt in an incorrect position at the time of the crash, placing her arm over the strap rather than underneath, something which, if avoided, could have minimised the damage done on impact, potentially saving her sight. The driver of the vehicle should have made sure the belt was correctly positioned and the child securely fastened, before setting off, something which also helped Justin’s cause.
The Judge took all these points into account and concluded that prison wouldn’t do this young man much good, so decided that community service was a better option, therefore proving that a good lawyer could get you a few hours picking up rubbish, rather than a few years in prison.
The months following the accident were very difficult for Steve and the family. He had hoped that things would get better within a matter of weeks, but it didn’t work out like that. He wasn’t exactly coping very well and Jenny was still suffering from depression, housebound most of the time, unable to get out of bed and face the world. Steve wanted to help, but just couldn’t find the words, so left her alone hoping that she would recover in time.
Daisy was also struggling. Her teachers reported how quiet she had now become, rarely socialising with her classmates, despite the teacher’s best efforts to bring her out of her shell. There was no obvious solution to this problem, so Steve had to stand by and watch, slowly breaking up inside. He had to talk to someone. Someone who knew what he was going through. He had to let the anger out.


CHAPTER 3
The removal men had just left. The sight of the van disappearing round the corner came as a welcome relief and was already a distant memory. Tony closed the door, glad it was all over and looking forward to a fresh start. There was still a lot of work to do, but he felt strangely positive, excited by the prospect of a new beginning, the only regret being the delay in moving. Why did he let it go on for so long, especially when it was upsetting Emily and placing her under a huge amount of stress, the last thing she needed at that time. This justifiable frustration quickly subsided when Tony realised that they had finally made it and could now put the past behind them and move on. It was the least they deserved. Yes it had taken too long, but as the saying goes, better late than never.
The ten minute chat he had with the next door neighbour that afternoon confirmed what he had already suspected; that this was a pretty nice place to live. Quiet, safe, welcoming and with a sense of community that reminded Tony of his old neighbourhood and how things used to be before everything changed. He never imagined that life could be so good again, but now there was a chance. There was hope. This seemed like the perfect place to raise a child and even though the money issue still hurt, the future happiness he envisaged put aside any negative feelings, if only for a minute.
Tony was too intimidated by the numerous boxes to even think about unpacking anything, and even if he wanted to, the stresses of moving house had taken their toll, and he was now too exhausted to do anything. Cold sandwiches and a can of coke seemed like fine cuisine after such a long day, and soon the two of them started to relax a little and take in their new environment. She had lots of ideas about how to decorate. Tony listened but didn’t care. Her optimism and enthusiasm made him feel better, but also served as a reminder of how much she had suffered and how he should have been more decisive and brought her here sooner.
She could read Tony like a book though, and tried to distract him from these thoughts by asking him to put Jessica to bed as she was much too tired to do it herself. He was more than happy to do this, grateful for a few quiet moments alone with his daughter, before settling down for what would hopefully be the first of many blissful nights of sleep.
He woke up the next day feeling refreshed and elated, having forgotten what silence sounded like. It was a novelty which he hoped would last for a very long time, having spent the last few months in a state of nervous tension, driven mad by the noise and disruption on his doorstep almost every night, despite the occasional police intervention. Every evening was spent wondering how bad it was going to be later on. Shouting, swearing, drinking, speeding cars. Which one would it be? Sometimes it was all of them. Tony and Emily would sit at home hoping for a quiet night, but fully aware that misery was almost inevitable.
That was all in the past though, as they woke up together feeling reborn and ready to live again. It was like getting up after a six month hibernation, knowing that the darkness of winter had been and gone, and the future was full of possibilities. They looked at each other, both thinking the same thing, both knowing that life would be good again.
Tony was a very intelligent man who liked to tell people