in the care of Sheena. Sheena then leaves Annie alone while she goes out with a client. Mary's neighbour, Sue Osman (Sandy Ratcliff), finds Annie before any harm can come to her, but Mary subsequently cuts all ties with Sheena. In February 1986, nurse Andy O'Brien (Ross Davidson) tries to help Mary by teaching her to read. However, Mary falls in love with him so she stops stripping and drops her punk image to impress him. Andy is forced to reject her advances, and an angst-ridden Mary spitefully informs him that she will not be attending any more of his reading lessons. The following day her punk image is back. However, without her stripping job, she is now penniless again. Nick Cotton (John Altman), seeing her in a desperate state, tries to coax her into becoming a prostitute. Mary declines, but her desperation for money makes her question whether it would be such a bad idea after all. Luckily, Andy manages to put a stop to this by getting her a job working in a hospital canteen. Mary later has a relationship with the married Mehmet Osman (Haluk Bilginer), but he is only using her to win a bet with his brother Ali Osman (Nejdet Salih). After months of chasing, Mehmet finally manages to have sex with Mary, and he triumphantly claims his winnings from his brother. However, Mary witnesses his gloating and she furiously vows to get revenge. After sabotaging his car, she proceeds to make regular crank calls to his cab firm. Things then get worse for Mary when she quits her job at the canteen after she is promoted but afraid to admit that she cannot read. Once again she finds herself desperate for money. By December 1986, Mary is persuaded to turn to prostitution by Pat Wicks (Pam St Clement), who is being pimped by Mehmet. By early 1987, Mary has flung herself wholeheartedly into prostitution, much to the concern of everyone on the Square. Pat has a change of heart and starts refusing to give Mary any more contacts, so Mary decides that she will find her contacts on her own. She starts making regular trips to Central London and comes home late one night covered in bruises and blood. Initially, Mary claims that she had been beaten by the Walford attacker — a man who had assaulted several other women in the area —