Imagine

Chapter 52

"I need a break......" John said as he stood up. 

"At least we got the song finished. Right?"

"Yeh. I guess so. Its getting late though."

"Its not that late."

"I'm tired though. How is it not late?"

"Its just.........not late." Julian reached over and decided to finish off John's scotch.

John looked at him with wide eyes. "Yer not old enough to drink!!"

"Don't worry. I don't drink that often."

"You can wait another four months!"

"Nah..........why wait when its just four months away?"

"Because yer not old enough................now I need to refill this!"

"Dad...............you don't need a lot of alcohol."

"What makes you think I'm going to drink a lot?"

"Well, I know you. When something is bothering you, you turn to alcohol."

"I do not! Do I?"

"You do. Remember what happened in '74?"

"No."

"It was the time of yer 'lost weekend' as you call it."

"Ye know, there's some stuff I really try to forget."

"I'm bringing up a point. From what I heard, you drank every night."

"I don't really drink a lot anymore because of that experience. Now, can we not talk about that?"

"Yeh. Now that I made my point."

"What point?"

"Well, just because you don't drink on a regular basis doesn't mean you won't pick it up again."

"Okay. Okay. I get it. Trust me, I'm not drinking a lot."

"Good. I don't want to have to deal with you."

"No worries."

Sean came in, having just woke up from his nap. He walked up to John and crawled on the couch.

"Ey......look who's up!" John said, placing a hand on Sean's back.

"Looks like he's not completely awake though."

"Yeh................." Then, he spoke to Sean. "Kid, if you want to go back to sleep, go on."

"But I don't want to."

"Okay, but don't stay up just because me and yer brother are."

"Okay."

"Feel free to stay in here but I have to get back to work."

"Dad, quit for the rest of the evening." Julian said.

"I have to get things done. You know that."

"I know but you also need a break. All musicians need a break."

"I suppose yer right. But this one song that we worked on first...............are you sure it sounds good?"

"Of course it sounds good. We were at it for three hours, so it better be."

John laughed. "Lets hope."

"So, have you thought up a decision?"

"On what?"

"On you moving to Paul's for a while."

"I don't want to do that. You know that."

"Yeh but don't you fear for yer life?"

"Of course I do. One reason why I don't want to go over there is bec---"

Julian interrupted to finish his sentence. "Because you want to be closer to me."

"Yes but not what I was going to say."

"Oh. Then what's the other reason?"

"He already showed up at Paul's. I can't go there because he knows where Paul lives and if he can't find me, Paul could be in danger."

"No. I don't think he'll go after uncle Paul."

"Maybe. Maybe not. I can't take chances."

"He'll be fine. Dad, I want you to go temporarily. As I said before, its better than losing you permanently."

"Yes, I know. Listen, tomorrow, I might try again to step outside."

"Good. You need to make a decision soon."

"I already did, son. I don't want to leave. This is my home now."

"Okay. Its yer decision."

"Every time you say that, you still try to convince me."

"No I don't."

"Okay. I'm ending this discussion."