Hater

'They keep saying that all of this is down to just a few people, you know,' he continues, repeating what I've already heard. 'When it gets them, whatever it is, it drives them mad. They had some doctor on talking about it earlier. It's the first few minutes you have to watch out for.'

'What?' I mumble, only half-listening.

'When it gets them they lose control, like that chap you saw tonight I expect. They just lash out at whoever or whatever's around them. Then they say they start to calm down. They're still capable of doing these things, but they're not quite so volatile.'

What is he talking about?

'What do you mean, not quite so volatile?' I ask him. 'Are you saying they'll only do enough to hospitalise you and not kill you?'

'I'm only telling you what I've heard,' he sighs. 'I won't bother if you're going to be like that.'

I shake my head and look back at the TV. The screen is filled with images of convoys of troops driving into a city centre somewhere. Not sure where it is but it's nowhere I recognise. The reporters are talking about the police and armed forces being used to full capacity and I think back to the TV debate we watched last night. Have we reached the saturation point they were talking about yet? The voices on the TV are taking great pains to stress that, although stretched, the authorities are still coping. Just. Christ, imagine what will happen if this thing gets any bigger and they can't cope. Bloody hell, it doesn't bare thinking about.

The screen shows a stream of government statistics and I lose interest. I don't believe statistics. They're all made up. They can make statistics say whatever they want.

'Problem is,' Harry says, 'they've let it get out of control. This is too little, too late.'

'It?' I say. 'What's 'it' supposed to be?'

He points at the screen.

'The trouble,' he answers, 'the violence… the people.'

The statistics have gone and we're left watching footage of a row of burning houses. Desperate, screaming people are being held back by a police blockade. All they can do is watch as their lives go up in flames.

'What's happening,' he whispers secretively, 'is people are panicking and overreacting to the slightest thing because of what they're seeing and what they're being told. The whole situation has been allowed to get out of proportion. People are seeing the death and the destruction on the television and it's making them want to become a part of it too. It's like those bloody awful horror films that you and Lizzie watch. They make you want to do things. They put ideas in your head and they make you think it's all right to do things. They're even giving these people a label now. Calling them 'Haters' for God's sake. They're glamorising it. Almost makes it sound like a club you'd want to join, doesn't it?'

He's saying the same kind of things I was saying just yesterday. But I've already begun to accept that I was wrong, and when I look at the TV screen tonight I'm even more sure that I'd misjudged the situation badly when I was rambling last night. The sheer scale of what's happening is really beginning to scare me now. They keep talking about small minorities but thousands, possibly even tens of thousands of people are involved in this violence. Hundreds of lives are affected by every incident in some way. Young, old, male, female… people from every section of society are involved. This is far more than just paranoia. This is more than the media stirring things up.

'I don't want to join any club,' I tell him, 'and no-one's put any ideas in my head. I haven't started any fights. I'm no more going to go out and attack anyone than you or Lizzie are.'

'I know that. We've got maturity and common-sense on our side though, haven't we? We know the difference between right and wrong. We know what's acceptable and what isn't.'

'Are you trying to say that everyone who's been affected by this is just immature? Come on, Harry, do you really think…'

'There are plenty of people out there who couldn't give a damn about right or wrong,' he continues, ignoring me. 'There are people who get a kick out of causing trouble, and putting it on the television like this has just made things worse. By showing it they're saying it's all right, that it's acceptable.'

'Bullshit! They're not saying that at all…'

'They're implying that because so many people are involved now, anyone left might as well join in.'

'Bullshit!' I say again.

'There's no need to swear at me,' he snaps.

'You're so wrong,' I try to explain. 'It's got nothing to do with…'

'And that's just the kind of thing I'm talking about,' he continues, raising his voice and still not listening to any of what I'm trying to say. 'Thirty years ago you'd never have used that kind of language in everyday conversation. Now every other word you hear is a curse. Standards have slipped and that is what's happening out there on the streets.'

For a moment I can't answer. The old man has suddenly become very agitated. His face is flushed red with anger and a terrifying thought flashes into my mind. Is he a Hater? Is he about to change? Is he going to become like those people we've seen on TV? Is he about to attack me? Should I attack him first before he has chance to get me? Is this how it begins…?

'No-one has any respect for anything or anyone else anymore,' he continues. 'It's a bloody disgrace. It's been coming for years. Before you know it we'll have total anarchy and you'll see…'

'I know what you're trying to say, Dad,' Lizzie interrupts, returning to the room, 'but I don't agree. Danny and I had this conversation last night, didn't we? I've never seen anything like the things I've seen over the last few days. I've seen plenty of trouble before, but never anything like this.'

I relax. Liz's sudden arrival seems to have calmed the situation. The anger in Harry's face has gone.

'What do you mean? What's different?' he asks. Liz stands in the doorway and thinks for a few seconds.

'Out there tonight, after they'd beaten that man, you could almost taste it in the air.'

'Taste what?' I wonder.

'The fear,' she replies. 'People are scared. People are already starting to expect trouble and they're tensing up ready for it. And when it happens they react, most of the time completely out of character from what I've seen. I don't know what's causing any of this, Dad, but I do know there has to be a definite, physical reason for it. People are bloody frightened and the situation's getting worse by the day.'

'Things will start to calm down…' Harry starts to say instinctively. Lizzie's shaking her head.

'No they won't,' she says, her voice trembling and unsteady. 'We watched a group of men lynch a Hater tonight. I don't know what he'd done, but it couldn't have been any worse than the way they retaliated. There was as much hate and anger coming from them as anyone else.'