In the time Adaku had maintained her position, the street noises had altered from pedestrian chatter and crying babies and children shouting as they zipped by on scooters to what they were now: rumbling traffic, violin practice coming from a flat somewhere, a busker playing the accordion in front of Snappy Snaps, a few paces away from a Paddy Power betting establishment, the busker no doubt hoping that some lucky punter had a few extra pound coins to toss in his direction after a successful day at the races.
Adaku wished she’d brought a sandwich along. Even an apple and a bottle of water sounded good. But she’d not thought to stock up on provisions. Nor had she the time. A phone call leaving the message “She’s there” had taken her from West Brompton underground station to the Rio Cinema, and only another phone call would change her location till she saw someone emerge from the building across the street.
Her fourth hour was ten minutes old when her long observation was finally rewarded. The lights in the topmost flat were extinguished and in a minute the door leading to the flats above Kingsland Toys, Games, and Books opened. A woman stepped out. Unlike Adaku she dressed English in close-fitting trousers and a thin jersey, white with horizontal red stripes and a boat neck. She wore a red baseball cap at a jaunty angle, and she carried a shopping carrier bag over her shoulder.
The woman had probably changed in one of the flats above for her work that day. There, she would have worn garments that looked more professional, as a way to reassure her clients. Dressed appropriately, all will be well would be her unspoken message. Wasn’t it the truth, Adaku thought with a derisive shake of her head, that desperate people are ready to think and believe exactly what others tell them to think and to believe?
The woman headed briskly north in the direction of the railway station. This suggested that she might not live nearby. That being the case, Adaku needed to make her move in advance of her quarry’s catching a train. So she crossed the street quickly, and once on the pavement, she picked up her pace. Soon enough she drew even with the woman. Adaku slid her hand through the other’s arm, saying, “I must speak with you.”
The woman’s lips formed a perfect O. Then, her words naming the UK as the land of her birth, she said, “Who’re you? What do you want?” and she tried to pull away.
“As I said, I need to speak with you. It will not take long,” was Adaku’s reply. “I was given the name of this place. It is Women’s Health of Hackney, yes?”
“No one stops me on the street like this. What d’you want from me?”
Adaku looked round for listeners and lowered her voice. “I was told only the location. Coming upon you like this was the only way I had. I don’t have a phone number that I could ring. So it was this or nothing. Will you speak with me?”
“’Bout what? If you’re hoping for medical advice handed out on the pavement, you definitely got the wrong idea.”
“I want only five minutes of your time. There’s a Costa Coffee just along the high street. We can go there.”
“D’you need to have your hearing checked? I just said—”
“I have money.”
“For what? Is this a bribe? D’you have the slightest idea what you’re about?”
Adaku said, “I have money with me, here in my bag. I’ll give it to you.”
The woman laughed. “You’re that daft, aren’t you? Like I said, I don’t even know you, and I sure as bloody hell don’t talk ’bout medical matters on the street.”
“I’ve fifty pounds with me. I can bring more later. Whatever you say.”
“Whatever I say, eh?” The woman gazed long at Adaku before looking left and right as if trying to decide if this was some sort of trick. She finally said with a sigh, “All right. Grand. Let me see this fifty.”
Adaku reached into her shoulder bag, more a carrier for groceries than a secure container for her possessions. She brought out an envelope, half crumpled, with a coffee ring on it. She opened it and took out the money, which the other grasped quickly between her fingers. Fifty pounds did not comprise many notes. Still, the woman made much of counting it.
She looked up and said shrewdly, “Five minutes. It will be two hundred fifty more if you want anything from me other than five minutes of my time.”
Adaku wondered how she was going to come up with two hundred and fifty pounds while still keeping her plans a secret. She also wondered what it would gain her, when all she actually wanted was allowance to step into the inner sanctuary above the erstwhile Kingsland Toys, Games, and Books. She said, “What will I receive for this three hundred pounds I’ll be giving you?”