Necessary as Blood

Like Sandra Gilles. I wanted to just step into the street and vanish. I wanted to find some way...‘
    Gemma felt cold. ‘Hazel, I — I should have realized. I should never have let you—‘
    ‘It‘s all right.‘ Hazel took Gemma‘s hand and squeezed it. ‘I don‘t think you could have helped me. You‘re too close to me, to everything that‘s happened.‘
    Gemma shook her head. ‘No, I should have called you — I should have checked—‘
    ‘No. Listen. It wouldn‘t have helped. What I needed was the kindness of strangers.‘
    ‘What?‘ said Gemma, not making sense of that at ll.
    Seeing Gemma‘s look of bewilderment, Hazel gave a shaky laugh. ‘My neighbour ministered to me, with vegetable rice and dhal. You remember two of the boys you met? They‘re brothers. Tariq and Jamil. They live in the council flats at the end of the road. I told you they look out for me. They saw me come home, for the second night, and sit in the dark — they can see the bungalow from their bedroom windows. They told their mother they were worried. She worried, too, and after a bit she came with the food she had made, and knocked on my gate. She‘s very shy and she doesn‘t speak much English, but she kept knocking until I answered.
    ‘When she saw me, she put her arm round me and led me inside. She turned on the lights, and fed me, and ran me a bath. Then she sat up all night in the chair in my sitting room while I slept.‘ Now tears ran down Hazel‘s cheeks, unchecked. ‘And when I woke up yesterday morning, I knew I couldn‘t betray her care. So I have been trying to put myself back together, to think things through, to begin to make amends for the person I‘ve let myself become. And I wanted to start with Charlotte... Somehow my... callousness... seemed the ultimate failure. Do you see?‘
    Gemma fumbled in her bag for a packet of tissues, remembering her own shock at Hazel‘s behaviour, trying to work out what to say. ‘I think I do understand. But, Hazel, nothing you‘ve done is irredeemable. You‘re just human, and humans make mistakes. The important thing is to remember that Tim and Holly love you — we all love you. Don‘t shut us out. Don‘t shut me out.‘ She handed Hazel a tissue and waited while she blew her nose. ‘I‘m your best friend, and if I haven‘t made a very good job of it, I‘m going to do better.
    ‘Now,‘ she said with decision as she zipped her bag, ‘you‘re going to ring Tim, and then you‘re coming back to the house with me. Wesley‘s made cake for Charlotte, but he promised to leave us a bit.‘
    ‘Oh, Gemma,‘ Hazel said, accepting the hand she held out for a boost up. ‘You should have seen Wes with Charlotte. She followed him round like a little duckling. Do you think he‘ll be allowed to visit once she goes to her grandmother?‘
    ‘What?‘ Gemma stared at her, frowning. ‘What are you talking about? What do you mean, "once she goes to her grandmother‘‘?‘
    ‘Didn‘t the social worker call you?‘
    Gemma fought a rising flood of panic. ‘There must be a mistake. I talked to her earlier this afternoon. Sandra‘s sister had petitioned for custody, but Mrs Silverman said she has a record of neglecting her own kids, so that‘s out. There was nothing about the grandmother. When they contacted her on Sunday, she said she didn‘t want Charlotte.‘
    ‘Um,‘ Hazel looked at Gemma a little warily. ‘Mrs Silverman rang Betty while I was there. It seems as though Sandra‘s mother has changed her mind.‘

Chapter Fourteen

Spitalfields had been London‘s main Huguenot district and later a Jewish neighbourhood. Close to the port, it and neighbouring Whitechapel were first stops for many aspiring immigrants. In the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries Bethnal Green was a haven and staging-post for Huguenot refugees escaping from persecution in France, who made an enormous contribution to the architectural, economic and demographic history of East London...

Geoff Dench, Kate Gavron, Michael Young,
The New East End

    ‘You can‘t possibly consider letting Sandra Gilles‘s mother have Charlotte.‘
    ‘Inspector James.‘ Janice Silverman‘s voice, usually cheerfully friendly, had taken on a frosty note. ‘I appreciate your concerns. But you, of all people, should understand that you have to let us do our job.‘ Gemma took a breath and loosened her grip on the phone. Yesterday evening, she‘d talked to Betty, confirming what Hazel had told her