‘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.’