Chapter 17 #2
‘I’ve thought about it deeply, and I feel that I have a duty to the other parents and their children who attend the school. They have the right to know that the reason I wrote that petition was because twice, in the last few months, Sebastian Kent paid a woman for sex.’
There’s a pause before Lydia says, ‘Do we know if the woman was working legally and of her own volition?’
Rosie wonders if Lydia’s thinking about how many times her little radio show will be listened to, how many shares it’ll get online. If she is, Lydia does well to keep the excitement out of her voice.
‘Yes. That is what he’s been saying. But we can’t be sure that he only saw one woman.’
‘As far as you’re aware, this woman consented, so this isn’t a matter for the police?’
‘As far as I’m able to gather at this stage, it was legal, but just because she consented doesn’t mean that people in power should be able to do whatever they like to people with less power!’
‘I see your point. And how did you find out this information?’ Lydia keeps her tone neutral.
‘Seb told my husband and then, well, there were other clues. Look, the point is that he’s not fit to be headmaster.
What I really want to encourage people to think about– especially parents with kids at the school– is what kind of a man treats women– and here I include both the prostitute and Sebastian Kent’s poor wife’– Rosie bristles, swears again at the radio– ‘as playthings, either paying them for his own gratification or lying to them time and time again. As a feminist, I don’t want this kind of person anywhere near our sons and our daughters. ’
‘You think he’s unsafe?’
‘Possibly. He’s a man who used a school computer to search for prostitutes. Most likely he searched for them during school hours in his office. I don’t trust him and that means I don’t think he should be anywhere near kids.’
‘Ahh.’ Lydia’s voice drops a note. ‘Do you have evidence to support these claims?’
There’s a beat; it lasts too long, making any conviction sound hollow.
‘I do.’
‘I can see how that might change things for—’
‘Of course it changes things! He was using school property to look at sex sites on time that is being paid for by us, the tax-paying public.’ Anna starts galloping away again, relieved to be on firmer footing.
‘Hmm,’ Lydia replies, careful not to add to Anna’s speculations but probably thinking about those all-important listener numbers as Anna keeps going.
‘I actually grew up in Ruston, so I’ve already experienced first-hand how prostitutes and drug users invite crime and tear a community apart. I’ve seen young lives destroyed by this so-called “work” and I will do everything in my power to stop that from happening here in Waverly.’
‘Interesting,’ Lydia says, a little vague, trying to steer Anna back to the issue.
‘It seems Sebastian Kent’s not without his supporters, though.
He has a strong level of support, especially from the students themselves at Waverly Community.
They’ve taken to social media, with some calling him “the best head teacher” and “a really cool example”, and there are a few mentions of them organizing some kind of response.
It seems they’re making up their own minds and some parents are behind them, too.
I’m interested, as you have a son at the school– I wonder what he thinks about it all? ’
Anna replies immediately, ‘He’s really upset, quite frankly, horrified that this has happened, and those other supportive students you mention are a tiny minority.
The vast majority agree with me and my son that a head has a responsibility to uphold basic moral standards and not pay some poor woman so he can abuse her. ’
‘Thank you, Anna, that was really illuminating. As you can imagine, our phone lines have been going crazy, so I’d like to ask if you could stay with us a little while longer so we can hear what a few of our listeners have to say.’
‘Of course,’ Anna replies, full of generosity, ‘I’d be delighted.’
‘Our first caller is Carol from Withington, near Waverly. Hello, Carol.’
‘Hello, Lydia. Hello, Anna. I just wanted to say how horrified I am hearing this news. My own kids went to Waverly Community and they loved it. In fact, just the other day I was talking about my son’s plans to move back to Waverly so his daughter, my granddaughter, can go when she’s old enough, but let me tell you, there’s no way he’ll be doing that now.
No way. After all, like you said, if he can treat women like things, then what other perversions could he be hiding?
Don’t forget Jack the Ripper! All I can say is thank God there are still people out there, like you, Anna, putting our children and our community first. God bless you. ’
‘Gosh, thank you so much, Carol,’ Anna gets in immediately, her voice throbbing with feeling.
‘Yes, thank you, Carol,’ Lydia adds, a little taut. ‘Now we’ve got Lucy on the line from an undisclosed location. Hello, Lucy.’
‘Good afternoon.’ Lucy’s voice is strong, like she’d shout if she wasn’t on live radio. ‘I’m a sex worker and have been working in and around Waverly for– wow– almost twenty years now, and although I’ve never called in to any radio show, today I felt I had to after listening to Anna.’
‘Hello, Lucy,’ Anna says, warmly, but Rosie recognizes a little wariness in her tone.
‘Hi, Anna. I’m wondering how many sex workers you actually know. How many have you spoken with?’
Anna doesn’t say anything; Rosie can practically hear her frown through the radio.
‘Just as I thought…’ Lucy continues.
‘Well, obviously, I know one!’ Anna blurts, desperate to claw back some authority.
‘For fuck’s sake, Anna!’ Rosie shouts at the radio, missing whether it’s Lydia or Lucy who asks, ‘Who?’
‘The woman– Seb Kent’s prostitute– has moved to Waverly.’
Suddenly Rosie feels like a mosquito is trapped, whining inside her head.
‘Poor woman!’ Lucy mutters.
‘Is that confirmed information?’ Lydia asks, in an uncertain tone.
‘It is,’ Anna replies, and Rosie knows from her clipped tone that Anna will be jutting out her chin, trying her best to ignore the doubts that will already be poking her conscience.
Rosie remembers Lily and Margot sitting around the table she sits at now.
She thinks about the repercussions for them of this, Anna’s fifteen minutes of fame, and kicks the table leg.
‘Have you talked to her much about her life and experiences?’ Lucy asks Anna.
This time the silence stretches on longer, turning into a clear ‘no’.
‘Because you seem to think you know an awful lot but there are a few major things, in my humble opinion, that you’re missing.’
Lucy quickly clears her throat, not giving either Lydia or Anna the chance to interrupt. Rosie sits up to listen better as Lucy starts talking again.
‘Firstly, I do this work even though I have other options. I don’t love it. I do this work because it pays the bills better than anything else I’ve found.’
Lucy talks like a woman who has been unplugged, who has been forced to hide her real thoughts and feelings for too long.
Rosie feels something chime within her, clean and clear: Lucy isn’t a victim.
‘Secondly, it’s not sex workers or drug takers themselves that destroy communities.
It’s poverty. It’s critical services like nurseries and mental health support groups closing.
It’s benefits decreasing as everything gets more expensive.
Most sex workers are just women, many are mothers– and some men, I might add– trying to survive in these completely untenable circumstances– like most of the population.
And lastly, I must admit I swore pretty loudly when you called yourself a feminist. You’re not a feminist, Anna, you’re a middle-class woman on a completely stupid, hare-brained crusade.
My guess is you’re bored as anything, possibly angry about something as well.
Because how else could you delude yourself into thinking you’re helping anyone by further stigmatizing an already vulnerable group– us sex workers– and perpetuating centuries-old lies and propaganda about us to the non-sex-working community?
It just makes no sense. No sense at all.
You are more dangerous to me, Anna, than the men I let through my door. ’
For the first time, Lucy pauses, and Lydia jumps in with, ‘Thank you for your views, Lucy,’ before adding, ‘I’d love to know what you think about Sebastian Kent, the head teacher who has been engaging sex workers.’
‘Listen, I’ve got regulars who are teachers, GPs and, yes, I’ve seen more than one politician in my time.
Even police officers. An urge to have sex is very, very human and cannot and should not be legislated against. Furthermore, I think this public shaming thing is awful.
Who hasn’t done something in their private lives they don’t want everyone knowing about? ’
‘You don’t think he’s done anything wrong?’
‘Well, I think he’s been stupid using his work computer and doing it on work time. But we don’t know if that is even true, given all the other misinformation Anna’s spouting out today, and I don’t want to give her any more oxygen until her claims have been proven.’
‘One final question, Lucy,’ Lydia asks. ‘What about those women who aren’t like you, working out of choice– what of those people forced or coerced into it?’
Lucy sounds weary as she replies, ‘Look, I’m not claiming to have all the answers, but I will say we should start with decriminalizing sex work so sex workers can enjoy the same rights as everyone else, like the right to work free from discrimination and violence.
That would be a good start. Then I’d look at the root causes of why some people end up in terrible circumstances– poverty and lack of opportunity, to name a couple.
But really, please, just start listening to us and not to people like Anna. ’
‘Some strong feelings there from Lucy– thank you, Lucy. Anna, in the final few seconds, have you got anything you’d like to say in response?’
‘Umm.’ Rosie can hear Anna squirm; she clearly has no idea what to say, but not saying anything isn’t an option.
‘I just want to thank Lucy for her opinions and I want to remind listeners that Sebastian Kent is still in a position of huge trust and influence and has behaved completely inappropriately, given his unique position. We know he hired a vulnerable woman for sex. It is absolutely in the public interest to know these things.’
‘OK. Thank you, Lucy, for calling in, and thank you, Anna, so much, for joining me today.’ Lydia’s voice is all smiles.
‘Thank you, Lydia.’ Anna sounds a bit lost, distracted, like she’s forgotten the final few points she really wanted to hammer home, but Lydia’s already moved on.
‘Well, I think, listeners, we can all agree this is a very fiery start to our programme today. As ever, comments welcome, so please do text or leave us a message on our socials at I Heart …’
Rosie clicks the radio off and settles back into her chair. Almost immediately her phone starts ringing. It’s Anna. She must have just got out of the recording room, Rosie her first thought. Rosie rejects her call. She can’t listen to her apologies, her justifications.
Seb’s laptop bag is still on the kitchen floor where he’d forgotten it earlier.
She’s made her decision before she’s even stood up from her chair and pulled the computer out of the bag.
Suddenly, where she once felt anger and repulsion at what Seb has done, she feels a great aching loneliness.
She still has no idea what the future holds for them, whether she’ll be able to look at him without seeing Abi twisted around him, without seeing the empty eyes of all those naked women, but she does know, in the same way she knows she loves her children, that Seb is not a danger to anyone.
She opens up the laptop and follows the steps to delete the search history.
Her finger hovers for just a moment above the return key and as she presses the button she feels a great rush of warmth.
It’s unusual and she’s not exactly sure where it comes from, but as she closes the laptop, she realizes that the feeling isn’t for Seb or even for the kids; the warmth is from Rosie to Rosie.
A small gift of appreciation for listening at last to what she knows to be true.
Her phone buzzes on the table. Anna is calling her again.
This time, too, she rejects her call; she doesn’t want to talk to Anna.
She picks up her keys, feeling strangely energized as she ignores the third call from Anna, and walks out of her home to find the other person she should have been listening to all along.