fact that I’m gay and I live with my partner Neil and the Caribbean community isn’t always accepting of same sex relationships. I feel lucky, which is why I was sad to hear about your situation with your parents, sir. That’s if I’m not speaking out of turn?”
“You know me well enough by now, Ollie,” said Jeff. “You can say what you like to me. As for my parents … well it may mend itself one day. Who knows? I certainly didn’t cause the rift. They did because they objected to me marrying a Chinese girl and they now take that out on my son. It’s so fundamental and I’ve been so angry and hurt by it that I don’t know if it ever could be mended to be honest.”
They were both shaken out of their conversation by a sharp tapping at the window on Ollie’s side. He wound the window down. A woman who they both put in her sixties wearing a light blue raincoat over a white blouse and dark blue trousers leaned her head down to speak to them.
“Are you the police officers looking after our Sheridan’s case?”
“Yes,” said Ollie, who then introduced himself and Jeff.
“Forgive me. I was walking down the road and I saw you coming out of my daughter’s house. With the way you’re dressed, I put two and two together. I’m Sheridan’s grandmother. My name is Joan Sanders. Ellie Taylor is my daughter and, though it grieves me to tell you, there’s something you should know that I know she won’t have told you. Can I come down to the station? I’d rather talk there than round here.”
“Are you ready now, Mrs Saunders?” said Jeff.
“Yes,” she replied. “I am. I was on my way to my daughter’s but I haven’t knocked on the door yet.”
“Then jump in the back and let’s go,” said Jeff. “There’s a burger-type takeaway place just down the road with parking. We’ll talk there over a coffee and then I’ll run you back here.”
The three of them sat round a half circle table on red plastic-covered seating with their piping hot coffee in polystyrene cups. Ollie clearly didn’t come into places like this and his slightly uncomfortable pose made Jeff smile. He, on the other hand, had been in this sort of family-orientated eating place many times with Toby and Toby’s mates. Kids love this kind of food although he rationed Toby’s indulgence of it. He didn’t want him ever to make fast food his first choice. Joan looked at peace with her surroundings. No doubt she came in here with her grandchildren.
“So what is it you think your daughter hasn’t told us, Mrs Sanders?” asked Jeff whilst sipping his coffee. The caffeine would be useful to shake off the lethargy that was beginning to creep through his body.
“This is hard for me,” said Joan. “I don’t like going behind my daughter’s back but there’s so much at stake here that I have to try and put those feelings to one side and do the right thing.”
“Which is?” asked Jeff.
“When Arif came into my daughter’s life I was immediately impressed by him,” Joan began. “He seemed to really love my daughter and she’d been so badly let down and scarred by what her ex-husband had done to her. If I was driving a car and that bugger stepped into the road in front of me, I’d be so tempted to put my foot on the accelerator although perhaps I shouldn’t tell you gentlemen that? But he left her almost destitute. I had to clean out my own savings to get her and the girls back on their feet.”
“So what happened with Arif, Mrs Sanders?” Ollie asked.
“Nothing that was bad,” Joan insisted. “He moved in and, a few weeks later, my daughter was pregnant. I didn’t see any wrong in any of it. My granddaughter Paige was thrilled at the prospect of a new half brother or sister. She liked Arif just like we all did.”
“But what are you trying to tell us, Mrs Sanders?” Jeff wanted to know.
“Well, nothing went wrong with Arif,” Joan emphasised. “He’s not the problem here. No,
“You know me well enough by now, Ollie,” said Jeff. “You can say what you like to me. As for my parents … well it may mend itself one day. Who knows? I certainly didn’t cause the rift. They did because they objected to me marrying a Chinese girl and they now take that out on my son. It’s so fundamental and I’ve been so angry and hurt by it that I don’t know if it ever could be mended to be honest.”
They were both shaken out of their conversation by a sharp tapping at the window on Ollie’s side. He wound the window down. A woman who they both put in her sixties wearing a light blue raincoat over a white blouse and dark blue trousers leaned her head down to speak to them.
“Are you the police officers looking after our Sheridan’s case?”
“Yes,” said Ollie, who then introduced himself and Jeff.
“Forgive me. I was walking down the road and I saw you coming out of my daughter’s house. With the way you’re dressed, I put two and two together. I’m Sheridan’s grandmother. My name is Joan Sanders. Ellie Taylor is my daughter and, though it grieves me to tell you, there’s something you should know that I know she won’t have told you. Can I come down to the station? I’d rather talk there than round here.”
“Are you ready now, Mrs Saunders?” said Jeff.
“Yes,” she replied. “I am. I was on my way to my daughter’s but I haven’t knocked on the door yet.”
“Then jump in the back and let’s go,” said Jeff. “There’s a burger-type takeaway place just down the road with parking. We’ll talk there over a coffee and then I’ll run you back here.”
The three of them sat round a half circle table on red plastic-covered seating with their piping hot coffee in polystyrene cups. Ollie clearly didn’t come into places like this and his slightly uncomfortable pose made Jeff smile. He, on the other hand, had been in this sort of family-orientated eating place many times with Toby and Toby’s mates. Kids love this kind of food although he rationed Toby’s indulgence of it. He didn’t want him ever to make fast food his first choice. Joan looked at peace with her surroundings. No doubt she came in here with her grandchildren.
“So what is it you think your daughter hasn’t told us, Mrs Sanders?” asked Jeff whilst sipping his coffee. The caffeine would be useful to shake off the lethargy that was beginning to creep through his body.
“This is hard for me,” said Joan. “I don’t like going behind my daughter’s back but there’s so much at stake here that I have to try and put those feelings to one side and do the right thing.”
“Which is?” asked Jeff.
“When Arif came into my daughter’s life I was immediately impressed by him,” Joan began. “He seemed to really love my daughter and she’d been so badly let down and scarred by what her ex-husband had done to her. If I was driving a car and that bugger stepped into the road in front of me, I’d be so tempted to put my foot on the accelerator although perhaps I shouldn’t tell you gentlemen that? But he left her almost destitute. I had to clean out my own savings to get her and the girls back on their feet.”
“So what happened with Arif, Mrs Sanders?” Ollie asked.
“Nothing that was bad,” Joan insisted. “He moved in and, a few weeks later, my daughter was pregnant. I didn’t see any wrong in any of it. My granddaughter Paige was thrilled at the prospect of a new half brother or sister. She liked Arif just like we all did.”
“But what are you trying to tell us, Mrs Sanders?” Jeff wanted to know.
“Well, nothing went wrong with Arif,” Joan emphasised. “He’s not the problem here. No,
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