Read Online No Place of Safety by Robert Barnard - Free Book Online Page B

I’ll give them your number and get them to call you. I’ll tell them you’ve got a pretty urgent problem – they’re run off their feet as a rule, but they are eager to help anyone in that situation, and I’m sure they’ll get back to you as soon as they can.’
    So they had to be content with that.
    It meant that Ben had to potter around number twenty-four all day, doing a succession of non-urgent jobs. Alan and Katy recognized that he was the one who would have to handle the matter, though they hoped they would be allowed to have an input in any decision. It was clear that Mehjabean intended to have an input too. She stayed around on the ground floor for that purpose, but making herself very useful. It was remarkable, but fortunate too, that the girl faced with this sort of threat should be such a formidable individual. She and Ben talked a lot during the day, on neutral topics mostly, and really got to know each other. She promised to teach Katy and Alan to make an elementary and non-time-consuming sort of curry. They wondered whether the Centre’s inmates would like curry, but Midge said that everyone liked curry these days, and they’d certainly like hers. On reflection Alan and Katy realized that curry and rice would save some of the time spent on peeling vegetables.
    The call came from the refuge for Asian women towards five o’clock. It was Ben who took it.
    â€˜Good of you to ring,’ he said. Then, courtesies over, he began to summarize the case.
    â€˜The situation is this. We run a short-term hostel for kids on the streets. Unofficial. Last night we had someone come who’s outside our normal categories. She’s an Asian girl who’s being strongly pressurized by her family to marry a much older man whom she loathes. It’s not a problem,frankly, that we know how to handle.’ It was good that Ben could not see Mehjabean’s face at this point. She did not like being discussed as a problem. ‘We wonder’, he went on, ‘whether you could take her on, and her case.’
    The reply went on for some time. His face fell as he listened.
    â€˜Could you put her on the waiting list then? . . . Weeks, I see . . . No, as far as I can tell there’s no family member that she could go to. They’re part of the pressure, in fact . . . It’s not just a question of giving her somewhere to stay – not primarily that, in fact. It’s getting her good advice. She hasn’t much idea about her rights, and the truth is, we haven’t much either . . . Stay put, simply refuse to go with him. Yes, that makes sense. What about the legal aspect?’
    It was at that point in the conversation that Ben’s face began to brighten up. He took a ball pen from his pocket and reached for a pad from the shelf under the telephone.
    â€˜So we can have her name and number, can we? She’s just a normal solicitor, right . . . Yes, I’ve got that. And her telephone number? Well, that is a help. A big help. And, just in case the thing hasn’t worked itself through to a solution, if you could add her name to the waiting list. Mehjabean Haldalwa . . . I really am very grateful to you.’
    He put the phone down.
    â€˜I am not a problem,’ said Mehjabean.
    â€˜OK, OK,’ said Ben calmly. ‘You’re not a problem, you’re a person. Don’t get on your high horse. Actually you’re a problem and a person. A lot of people are. Let’s not quarrel, and let’s try to solve the problem that you have – right?’
    Midge nodded. It had really been no more than a formal protest.
    â€˜You probably got the gist of that. Places at the refuge are at a premium – there’s a long waiting list. What the poor women do while they’re waiting I can’t imagine. Anyway, she’s given me the name of a solicitor who has special expertise in