Saving Amy (16 page)

But Blake is also on the run from the police and his arrival at Amy’s hospital room is yet another problem that Mitch now has to deal with. While Mitch is trying to call
Amy, he asks me to call Bitu, who also happens to be a top lawyer. He has advised Mitch on several occasions since I introduced them, and he is very aware of what has been happening in the Winehouses’ lives. Bitu says he will meet us outside his house.

By the time the cab pulls up outside Bitu’s house, Mitch has called the security guard back: ‘Where is he? How did it happen? Let me talk to Amy! Oh, they’re in a closed room? OK, get Amy on the phone and call me back.’

Within two minutes he is speaking to his daughter. ‘Amy,’ Mitch says, ‘put Blake on the phone. No! I will not yell at him. Just put him on the phone.’

I tell him: ‘Mitch, collect yourself. Be calm.’ And he follows my advice.

I am impressed that Mitch is handling the situation. He seems almost calm. Mitch tells his son-in-law, ‘Listen Blake, you have to go and turn yourself into the authorities. We will take care of you. [But] you cannot stay with Amy right now. It is not good for Amy. [And], it is not good for you.’

Bitu is waiting for us, smoking a cigarette, as he watches us descend from the taxi. We discuss whether we should go to the hospital but we decide collectively that Mitch, while composed at the moment, might not be able to hold it together when he sees Blake and might make the situation worse. He also has Bitu to advise him and Bitu’s two other guests are also top American lawyers.

Finally we find ourselves inside Bitu’s home, with Bitu’s wife, Karen and their two beaming kids all present – and they are all being very supportive of Mitch’s predicament, even though it is interfering with our dinner plans. This is meant to be a relaxing evening and is our first family meal
at the Bhalla home. It is also obvious that Karen has been cooking all afternoon, if not all day, for this meal.

Bitu and Mitch leave us to try to sort out the situation and are later joined by John Grimmer and Dan Paige, the two other lawyers, when they turn up.

Eventually Blake agrees to turn himself in, and it’s only when Mitch is told this news that he starts to relax and the rest of us can really enjoy the evening. He even reaches the point where he can recount the evening’s events with his unique brand of humour, making all of us, including John and Dan, who we give a lift to at the end of the night, scream with laughter at his stories.

When we get back to the hotel that night, Mitch says, ‘I am exhausted.’ I reply that I am exhausted, too, just from watching him. Mitch asks to stay over at my hotel. He seems so needy, so lonely that I say, ‘Sure!’

But, in reality, this is his life. This is what saving Amy is all about – and this is part of the toll that it takes on everyone within her orbit.

Just a few days later, however, Amy’s behaviour seems to be deteriorating again and Mitch is very upset.

He tells us that the hospital and the doctors want to kick her out. She has been ordering champagne and not only drinking it herself but offering it to other patients in the hospital as well. It is completely ridiculous. He says that since Blake went there, it has all gone downhill.

While he is sitting with me, Mitch receives text messages from Blake and Blake’s mother, Georgette, which make
him fume when he reads them. I ask him why he’s looking at the texts if they’re upsetting him so much. It seems rather co-dependent behaviour: Blake is sitting in jail and he knows that with one phone call, with one text message he can ignite the whole situation, making Mitch upset and then Amy upset because Mitch is upset. Blake’s mother is also reacting to him and all he really has had to do is send one text message.

Blake knows exactly which buttons to push. Mitch is very transparent, so it is quite easy for both Blake and Georgette to upset him.

There is clearly a war of words going on between Mitch and Blake. Mitch shows me a text that his son-in-law has sent, in which Blake has written:

I am not going to leave your daughter like you left her and her mother.

Mitch admits what is obvious – that Blake knows how to hit a nerve. He says ‘He knows exactly how upsetting it is to me and how hurtful it is to Amy.’

‘Well, if he knows how to push the right buttons and you know that he knows that … just ignore the messages.’ I try to reason with him.

At this point Mitch shows me more messages from Blake, including one in which his son-in-law seems to suggest that he will be willing to go away if Mitch will just pay him a few months’ rent on which to live. Mitch is prepared to do this just to get Blake out of his daughter’s life.

The whole negotiation is taking place through text messages.

I ask him what will happen if Amy and Blake do divorce and they still have the co-dependency issues that they appear to have. ‘If they are drawn to each other [even] after their divorce,’ I say to him, ‘they can still see each other and still have the same horrible effect on each other.’

The ‘divorce’ only amounts to a piece of paper, after all.

Mitch is quiet as he hasn’t thought about that question. His main concern at the moment is the drug dealers, who seem to be finding ever more inventive ways to get drugs to his daughter in hospital.

‘There was a flower delivery,’ he tells me, ‘and it got me suspicious. I started to open the flowers and found a drug inside the leaves of the flowers.’

He tried hiring security to intimidate the dealers but Amy didn’t warm to them, so he hired another team, but their job is to secure Amy, not to stop her from taking drugs or from drinking. Mitch has also tried to put it out that there is no cash for drugs, but his problem is his daughter. It is Amy’s money, after all.

‘She gave £7,000 in cash to somebody as a gift and she doesn’t understand what it means,’ he tells me, adding, ‘I am trying to stop it but on the other hand, of course, it
is
her money. What can I do if she sends somebody to the bank? I am trying to be involved and make sure that … the bank … calls me. [But] if she really wants something, there is really nothing I can do.’

I ask Janis, ‘If there was a bottom line and you had a wish, what would it be?’

‘For [Blake] to disappear,’ she shoots back. ‘… I speak to people [who] say, “Oh, that husband’s no good” … But Amy has married him and I’m not going to say, “Your husband’s no good Amy” because I’m actually having a go at her.’

‘Have you ever mentioned divorce to Amy?’ I ask Janis.

‘No, I haven’t.’

Mitch says, ‘Blake has. … I’ve got letters from Blake going back six months: “I wanna get a divorce, this situation is …” And every time he says it we say, “Can you confirm it, Blake. We’ll send a solicitor in and confirm it.” But he won’t confirm it. Now I’ve got letters from Blake saying he doesn’t want any money, he wants a divorce. … Although he has supposedly sent similar letters to Amy, I think she chooses to ignore them. She is living in a little bit of a fantasy world in regard to their relationship. And unless something drastic happens it won’t be her that sorts a divorce [out].’

Mitch continues, ‘[Blake] asked me what he should do in terms of – this was since I’ve seen you – in terms of their relationship. … I was worried he might be taping the conversation. [I said] “I’m not telling you to do anything; however, every time you are on the phone to Amy she has a relapse. Every time you’ve been together with Amy since you’ve been married she’s been in hospital six times and nearly died twice. She hasn’t since you’ve been together made a recording and she’s hardly performed and your plan is to come out and be with my daughter again – what do you think is going to happen Blake?”’

‘And he said, “Well, I take your point.”’

‘I said, “At some point you’re going to have to take responsibility for what happens to her in the future.” And
he said, “Will you help me to get a flat and everything …” I said, “… get your solicitor to confirm what the situation is and we will discuss how we will help or if we will help you.”

‘“First I’ve got to know if you’re planning to go back to Amy …” But I’ve told him whatever the situation [is] – and even if I break the law – I cannot allow a situation similar to that situation in the hotel where they nearly killed each other … I’ve told him that if I have to break the door down I’ll break the door down. There won’t be anything to stop me getting to my daughter and helping her. You’ve got to understand that!’

‘We have all got a very strong sense of family,’ Mitch says. ‘[Amy’s] sense of family is even stronger, which is a kind of contradiction and one of the “weapons” … it’s not a nice term, but one of the “weapons” I’ve used [to] distance myself from her. Not distance myself from her emotionally, but [I] don’t see her as often and very, very quickly she will say to Raye, her manager … “Where’s my Dad? Is my Dad OK? I haven’t spoken to my Mum.”

‘I don’t know if it does her any good. But I don’t want her to think because … I’ll sit there and we’ll have a kiss and cuddle and have a cup of tea … that by doing this I am in any way empowering her to carry on doing what’s she’s doing.

‘She knows what she is doing is not right … you know we’ve talked about how close she was with my mother [Cynthia]. All she’s worried about is … she’s very spiritual;
we all are … and we both had dreams about my Mum saying she’s not happy with us. My Mum said to me “I’m not happy with you” … and Amy has the same dream – “Amy I’m not happy with you.” So, in Amy’s mind … that’s saying it’s the drugs situation. Well, that’s great because … maybe if my Mum was here [she] wouldn’t have any influence on Amy’s drug situation but “up there”, even in the dreams, in the subconscious, she’s thinking “I’ve got to do something about it.” And she is doing something about it.’

‘… Amy talks about the future all of the time. She wants to move into her new home, she wants to put a studio in there and it’s always, “Dad, can we do this? Dad, can we do that?” and “I’m really looking forward to going on tour in March 2009. Will you and Mum come with me.” So when she’s doing that she’s talking about the future and how life is going to be in the future. … She does want to live.’

Janis interjects, ‘But I think she probably feels trapped.’

‘What do you mean?’ I ask.

‘Well, her body’s trapping her with the addiction.’