The Appeal
Page 17
Femi
We’re back to the alpha family again. Vulnerability to social pressure. Anyway, the Haywards are lynchpins of the community. They employ a lot of these people. It makes sense to support them.
Charlotte
Sam, Kel and Arnie have all spent years living and working in troubled regions of Africa. Witness to goodness-knows-what. The first letter in our pack: ‘eye removal’, FFS! Might their experiences influence how they interpret perfectly ordinary events?
Femi
That and Sam’s ‘trouble’, which seems to have preceded their return home. Whatever happened over there between her and Dan, it was Sam who had to return, not him. She lost.
FROM: Isabel Beck
SUBJECT: Hiya!
DATE: 1 July 2018 at 14:22
TO: Samantha Greenwood
Are you ok in the green room? I’m backstage behind the trellis. They’re taking ages on this scene. Helen is the only one hitting her cues. Martin is being curt with everyone. Kevin, SJ and John are all over the place. I noticed you and Kel haven’t spoken a word to each other. All I can say is: don’t worry. Big Sunday is always like this. Everyone’s tired and worried. We’ve been rehearsing for weeks and just want to get out there and do it. No audience, no atmosphere and everyone is tired. Not only that, but I think Barry is hungover . . . has anyone mentioned last night to you? Luckily, to anyone who was out of immediate earshot, Barry was the aggressor. I overheard Marianne and Denise talking and they said Barry should’ve been arrested and that ‘the nurses took him to hospital themselves’, in a tone that suggested we were the heroes of the evening! Phew! Let’s hope whoever casts the next play thinks the same. Apparently the yoga only made £500. That seems like a lot to me, but SJ sounded disappointed. She’s barely spoken to Kevin since he arrived (late). See, everyone is feeling the pressure of play week. Hope you’re ok. See you onstage! Love Issy xxxx
FROM: Sarah-Jane MacDonald
SUBJECT: Update
DATE: 1 July 2018 at 14:28
TO: Emma Crooks
Emma, how are you this afternoon? I hope you slept better than I did and that you didn’t have to drive out to Lockley Bois at dawn to watch under-elevens cricket. Anyway, first the good news. The man who felt the full force of Barry’s right hook is fine. Apparently he’s a friend of the nurses, forgot his Valium and one thing led to another. Been given a clean bill of health and will be discharged later. Barry is here at Big Sunday rehearsal as if nothing happened. To him, it probably didn’t, as I suspect he’d been drinking before the Yogathon. Not that Joyce will accept that. Now the bad news: Kevin has charmed a £50k donation out of a Lodge friend. Great, I know, but he’s a tech bod and has discovered the identity of our appeal hoaxer. I know I can trust you not to let on, Emma, but it’s someone in the play, and I can’t say anything to anyone until it’s all over and done with. We want it to go well, so it raises as much cash as possible. It’s appalling, but I’m not rocking the boat till it’s safely in the harbour.
Sarah-Jane MacDonald
FROM: Emma Crooks
SUBJECT: Re: Update
DATE: 1 July 2018 at 14:35
TO: Sarah-Jane MacDonald
Oh SJ, you poor thing! Who is it? Do I know them? Go on, I won’t tell. I slept like a baby, thank you, which is more than I’ll be doing for a while because Woof is back tomorrow. Martin’s picking him up from Paws first thing and bringing him straight round. He’s up and about, but I’m not confident I can look after a poorly pup. I really want to say he should go to Paige’s, but how can I when Poppy is at the hospital on Monday? James is with Olivia, Martin and Helen are running The Grange . . . I thought it was Big Sunday today? Emma x
FROM: Sarah-Jane MacDonald
SUBJECT: Re: Update
DATE: 1 July 2018 at 14:41
TO: Emma Crooks
It is. We’re simulating the interval, to see if everyone can get changed in time. If Woof is under the weather, you’re excused the committee meeting tomorrow night. I’ll take minutes and send them through. Yes, you know the hoaxer. We all do. I don’t understand why they did such a thing, but I should let them explain themselves first – after the play.
Sarah-Jane MacDonald
FROM: Martin Hayward
SUBJECT:
DATE: 1 July 2018 at 14:43
TO: Glen Reswick
Tuesday. After their committee meeting and before the play. Don’t email. Come round if you need to speak. Regards.
FROM: Isabel Beck
SUBJECT: Don’t worry!
DATE: 1 July 2018 at 23:31
TO: Sarah-Jane MacDonald
Hiya SJ! Sorry to bother you so late at night – and after Big Sunday, too – but I just want to say: don’t worry. Everyone knows how good you are and the fact you’ve had another off-day only means you’ll be motivated to up your game for the technical and dress rehearsals Tuesday and Wednesday. You can be sure no one thinks badly of you. I’m just emailing to remind you that Sam is still interested in being on Poppy’s fundraising committee. It would be rather late notice for the meeting tomorrow, but I can always relay any information back to her. I’ve got my notebook and pen all ready by the door. See you tomorrow! Love Issy xxx
FROM: Sarah-Jane MacDonald
SUBJECT: Re: Don’t worry!
DATE: 1 July 2018 at 23:32
TO: Isabel Beck
Don’t come tomorrow. I’ll take the minutes.
Sarah-Jane MacDonald
FROM: Isabel Beck
SUBJECT: Re: Don’t worry!
DATE: 1 July 2018 at 23:33
TO: Sarah-Jane MacDonald
Hi SJ, it’s no bother. I’m all ready for it, and James has said he’d prefer me to take notes for him. I’ll see you at seven. Love Issy xxx
FROM: Sarah-Jane MacDonald
SUBJECT: Re: Don’t worry!
DATE: 1 July 2018 at 23:34
TO: Isabel Beck
I SAID DON’T COME. We don’t want or need you there.
Sarah-Jane MacDonald
FROM: Claudia D’Souza
SUBJECT:
DATE: 1 July 2018 at 23:45
TO: Samantha Greenwood
Kel’s told me what Arnie said, and that you know now. Oh, Sam, I’m so sorry you had to find out this way. I don’t want to give you a reel of excuses. I didn’t want it to happen. Nor did Kel. I haven’t told Michael. He’s had to dash to Edinburgh with work and is very stressed. I need to find the right time. He doesn’t suspect a thing and I genuinely don’t know how he’ll react. I’ve got the kids to think about. Please, please, Sam, don’t say anything yet. I am so, so sorry. C x
FROM: Ciara Savage
SUBJECT: Arnold Ballancore
DATE: 1 July 2018 at 23:49
TO: Kel Greenwood
Dear Mr Greenwood,
I understand you are taking responsibility for Arnold Ballancore. He will be discharged tomorrow morning, but the department will not release his prescription without an appropriate adult to monitor his medication. I will also issue a letter for his GP. In it we recommend the Community Mental Healthcare Team assesses his needs, alongside Addiction Support. You should be able to arrange an initial consultation within the next six to eight weeks. You will find all the details you need in his discharge letter. If you have any further questions please do not hesitate to call me.
Yours sincerely,
Ciara Savage
Emergency Mental Health Care Nurse, St Ann’s Hospital
FROM: Isabel Beck
SUBJECT: Why?
DATE: 1 July 2018 at 23:52
TO: James Hayward
Oh James, I’m so upset. Sarah-Jane sent me a nasty email telling me I’m barred from the committee meeting tomorrow. I told her you’d asked me to take the minutes for you. But she still said I can’t come. I was with you and Olivia when I received the email, so you know I was invited. I don’t understand why she’d say something like that. I only want to help. I haven’t stopped crying since, and I need to
get up at six for work. Issy x
Message exchange between James Hayward and Sarah-Jane MacDonald on 1–2 July 2018:
23:54 James wrote:
What’s this about Isabel being barred from the committee meeting?
23:57 Sarah-Jane wrote:
For crying out loud, will I get any sleep tonight? She was sent the invitation email by accident. I’ll take the minutes. Last time she was next to useless anyway. I don’t know why she’s upset – I’d kill for a night to myself at the moment.
23:59 James wrote:
I understand what you’re saying, SJ, but Issy is very sweet. She’s helped out with the appeal, she always asks after Olivia and has even visited us in hospital. Go on, it can’t hurt, can it?
00:03 Sarah-Jane wrote:
Yes, it can. I won’t address this subject until the play is over, but I do not want Isabel anywhere near the appeal. Don’t ask me any more, James, or mention this to anyone else, least of all Isabel.
00:04 Sarah-Jane wrote:
I hope Olivia is as well as can be hoped.
Transcription of a handwritten note found in Samantha and Kel Greenwood’s flat:
To the couple in Flat 5a:
The whole block is sorry to hear you’re having relationship problems, but some of us have to get up early and need our sleep. It would be great if, after 11 p.m., you could switch your arguments to text, messenger or email.
Thanks.
Your hard-working neighbours
FROM: Ravi Bhatoa
SUBJECT: Edenfield
DATE: 2 July 2018 at 09:54
TO: Tish Bhatoa
Is there a problem with payments to Edenfield? The bursar just called: this month’s Swift transfer hasn’t arrived and they need it by close of business today or extra fees apply. Mum’s been asking about Dan. I’ve said he’s fine. Rav
FROM: Tish Bhatoa
SUBJECT: Re: Edenfield
DATE: 2 July 2018 at 11:49
TO: Ravi Bhatoa
The FCO say electricity has been patchy in that region for weeks, but that if anything had happened to a Western aid worker they’d have heard about it. They tried to be reassuring, but Dan isn’t involved with the big organisations and I don’t know how quickly we’d hear if anything did happen. I’m so worried I can’t think straight. Tell Mum I’ve heard from him and he’ll write to her soon. I’ve had to do payroll this week and there’s a cash-flow issue. I’ll put the payment through again. Tish
A letter found on Samantha Greenwood’s desk. It is thought to have arrived around 2 July 2018:
Samantha Greenwood
c/o Médecins Sans Frontières
Orion Building, 3rd Floor
49 Jorissen Street
Braamfontein 2017
Johannesburg
South Africa
27 June 2018
Dear Ms Greenwood,
I was part of the WaterBorn task force in DRC when you were there with MSF. We didn’t meet, but I heard about you from other aid workers. I’m sending this letter via MSF in the hope someone there knows a current address for you. I hope you do not find my news too upsetting.
Two weeks ago we were forced east by a rebel clash with the militia. We found ourselves in Faradje, on the border with South Sudan. It was a barren rural area, so we were surprised to find an encampment that looked like a clinic. It’s on the main refugee route from South Sudan, so that would make sense. Yet it was deserted. We moved in and set up emergency water-purifying facilities and basic medicals. It’s a divided area between Lingala and Swahili, but by chance our leader, Selima, could speak both. Bit by bit she found out what had happened there. I doubt very much anyone else knows and, even if they do, they may not think to tell you. I don’t want you to hear it through the media – that’s why I’m writing to you now.
The locals said aid workers built the clinic at a time of heavy traffic between South Sudan and DRC. They tried to establish a medical centre, but there were tensions with the community. It may have been general unrest, or the surge of refugees across the border, but the clinic suffered random raids and the aid workers struggled to stay in control. The fact that they were not pulled out indicates they were working independently and didn’t have access to key information.
The man in charge was referred to as Daniel Bangui, but the custom here is to call people by their first name and where they’re from (everyone here is from somewhere else). I believe this was Daniel Bhatoa, driven east when he found himself unable to work in the CAR.
After a particularly violent clash, they fled south but were hijacked by militants and driven across the border into South Sudan. Word of mouth is as tricky here as anywhere . . . but Selima says news came back they were taken to a militant camp, where they were held for as long as their medical supplies lasted. A week at most. Once they were of no further use, and I will spare you the details, they were all killed.
I’ve wrestled with whether to write this letter or not. You may be angry he was never brought to justice. Resentful that he will likely be hailed a hero. Or you may think he deserved that fate on some level. I don’t know how it will affect you, but I feel you should know. We’ve tried to pass the news on, but there’s no one here to get a team across the border to confirm the deaths, or retrieve the bodies, so I have no idea whether even his family are aware of his fate yet. He wasn’t married. The sister who came to Bangui and paid for the trial is his next of kin.
I hope you are settling into life back home. It isn’t easy, especially when you had to leave the way you did. Something else you should know is that you have a great deal of respect among the aid workers in Bangui and beyond. The irony is, it’s changed. You won’t believe how many have been quietly reassigned to admin jobs in the cities. You can’t tell me those changes took place because they didn’t believe something was going on. Wherever there are vulnerable people, there are those who will exploit them, and others who will protect the abusers – because to expose them is to expose their own tacit complicity. Maybe they turned a blind eye to the suffering it caused, because the suffering it alleviated was deemed so much worse . . . whatever is ultimately behind the changes, none would have happened without you speaking up. Thank you.
Yours sincerely,
Martha Diaz
c/o WaterBorn, Pretoria, South Africa
FROM: Isabel Beck
SUBJECT: Hiya!
DATE: 2 July 2018 at 13:07
TO: Kel Greenwood
Hi Kel, aw, so sorry to hear Sam’s under the weather. I’m hoping and wishing her a swift recovery for the tech rehearsal tomorrow. Let’s hope there isn’t a bug going round the cast! Gulp! Of course I won’t disturb her while she’s trying to get some rest. But I’m surprised Arnie is allowed home today. Is that ok with you? I mentioned to Sam that he seemed agitated long before things got out of hand at the Yogathon. I’m not as experienced as you are, but he seems to need more help than you and Sam can provide. What on earth did he mean about ‘seeing Claudia’? Surely he’s not ready to go back to work yet.
I’m at work and feeling like a zombie after two sleepless nights either side of Big Sunday. In fact I’m so tired I’ve told Sarah-Jane I won’t be able to make the committee meeting tonight. It’s a shame, because James wanted me to take the minutes, but I’ve got to think of my performance in the play and have an early night. Between you and me, SJ should think about doing the same, as she was abysmal onstage yesterday – there’s no kind way of putting it. How are you enjoying play week so far? I couldn’t help but notice you and Sam were quieter than usual. Don’t worry. As play week goes on, we’ll all pull together, and by opening night The Fairway Players will be working as one slick team. Love to you both, Issy xxx
FROM: Paige Reswick
SUBJECT: Thanks
DATE: 2 July 2018 at 15:50
TO: Tish Bhatoa
Dear Tish, I just want to let you know that whatever you gave Poppy today it’s worked! She’s been sick and running a temperature since w
e arrived home and has been in bed ever since. Finally – evidence the chemo drugs are getting round her system! I’ve taken the plunge and decided to shave her head. We made it into a game and she loves wearing her wig. All in all, that was less traumatic than waiting for it to fall out naturally. Thank you so much, Paige and Poppy xxx
Message exchange between Martin Hayward and James Hayward on 2 July 2018:
18:00 Martin wrote:
So you know: Tomorrow. Glen’s agreed to come round.
18:02 James wrote:
I should think so. He’s done nothing so far. Olivia not so good today. They are talking about operating ‘soon’.
18:05 Martin wrote:
Don’t message any more. I’ll visit you at home or the hospital if there’s anything you need to know. Mum and I send our best wishes to Olivia.
FROM: Sarah-Jane MacDonald
SUBJECT: Committee meeting
DATE: 2 July 2018 at 21:59
TO: Martin Hayward
CC: James Hayward
Dear Martin and James,
We held a brief committee meeting this evening to finalise our fundraising strategy for play nights. A brief outline is attached. Regarding the raffle. We have so far raised £3,870. I expect that figure to rise above £4k by the Saturday night. Add to this the proceeds from the box office, merchandise, etc. and I’m confident the play will raise in excess of £5k. I know Colin has transferred his £50k to the fund’s account. Please can you confirm the first batch of drugs is on its way? He would also like to place a news piece about his donation in the press and has a journalist friend ready to write it. I said you’ll be busy up to and including the play nights, and he’s happy for you to do that next week. I know it’s a pain, but that type of coverage can lead to ‘me too’ donations from other high-net-worth individuals. I’ll liaise with Paige to see when Poppy will be able to take part in another photoshoot.
Sarah-Jane MacDonald