The Deadly Seven

Jim Austen [1/7]

Jim Austen.  It was such a simple name for such a complex man.  He, out of all his friends, was known for his narcissism and frequent conversations on the physique of his uncle’s young wife, Lydia Greene.  She was a gold digger, despite what she said.  She came from a lower class family and it was only her charm and wit that made her a part of the Greene family.  She met Jim at the wedding reception where there was immediate tension between them, but it was Jim who persuaded her to dance with him over and over again.  If Lydia hadn’t been being polite, she would’ve refused all his offers.  According to Mrs. Greene, Jim was not her type.  She didn’t appreciate his narcissistic tendencies and his strange way of trying to get her attentions, which was made mostly of random visits to the Greene Estate and occasional petting.  But the more she rejected him, the more aggressive Jim became.

He was nothing short of attractive, in fact, his structured face with tight cheekbones and dark eyes made him extremely desired by both men and women.  He would say he preferred the female gender over the male, though, he wouldn’t deny feeling flattered if a man complimented him.  Despite his good looks, he also had a boorish habit of always arguing with someone in a conversation, and if he felt totally inadequate, he would change the subject completely or leave with a mumbling one-liner.

Apart from his obsessive compulsive tendency to make people like him, he strove for his Master’s in law school.  Since fifth grade, he earned straight A’s and was repeatedly told how much potential he had.  When he made it to law school, he was destined to be the best lawyer in New York City.   However, Jim Austen wasn’t quite satisfied with just hearing his colleagues and professors shower him with praise, for the only praise he fought for was from his ultimate idol: his father.   Jim considered his father his compass in life; going in any direction he felt his father would boast about him, whether it meant changing majors or dating different girls, he was determined to find favor from his father.   

The constant begging for fatherly approval soon drove Jim Austen inwards the older he grew, making him slowly rely on himself for his happiness.  When his father told him, in anger, that he was a “worthless bastard” after graduating from college, Jim Austen swore he would never please anyone but himself.  And he succeeded in doing so.  He fought for first place, even if it meant harming his friend’s reputations or breaking-up with a girl he only used to gain social status, he did everything.

On one occasion, at the age twenty-five, he battled the biggest case in his life.  He was defending lawyer, protecting a young girl who was accused of luring a man into raping her.  Jim Austen had the case in his hands—there was no way he would lose it.  And then, at the end, he hid the one truth that would’ve set the girl free.  The prosecutor won, and the rapist was sent to jail for only eight months.  The girl, on the other hand, suffered from chronic depression and soon ended up in the hospital. 

Jim Austen had purposely lost the case in order to gain two million dollars from the rapist’s mother, who had asked him not to convict their son.  Of course, bribing a man of law was absolutely illegal, but Jim played his cards right and concealed the crime the best he could.   He didn’t once put down the last statement on any traceable documentation that would’ve won him the case.  The only place he kept it was in his mind.

At the age twenty-eight, he was king of the court.  He knew what he wanted and he fought brutally.  There was not one case he lost.  Jim Austen would admit he enjoyed the thrill of hearing his voice booming out at the judge, jury, and opponent, but he would confess he was finding it all boring.  And that’s when his uncle married the young and sensually beautiful, Lydia Greene.  She was at least twenty years younger than his uncle, which made Jim believe all the more reasons she should be his.  He didn’t quite understand what she liked about his uncle, except that he had money.  And perhaps, that was all she was after.  Jim didn’t mind her motives—they at least had something in common.