Imagine

Chapter 83

(You can see the love they had for each other.)

John walked in and he looked at Paul, who was drinking a bottle of beer. "Does yer muther know I'm here?" John asked.

"She knows yer supposed to be coming today. Don't worry. She's gone to pick up a few things."

"Good. Gives me some time to hide."

"I'm afraid that's not possible." Julian's step dad came in to view.

"Why? And who are you?"

"John."

"Yes?"

"No. My name is John."

"No its not! That's my name!"

"And mine."

"Yers?? I had it first!"

"Dad, can't more than one person have yer name?" Julian asked.

"No! I'm the only John Lennon!"

"He's not saying his last name is Lennon, dad!" Julian started laughing. "This is John Twist."

"Oh........Nice to meet you John."

"You too Mr. Lennon."

"None of that mister business. Mister was my estranged father. Call me John."

"That's confusing." Paul said. "John.............."

"Yes?" Both John's said at the same time.

"Lennon."

"Oh. Well, maybe I'll wait for Cynthia outside while you two talk."

He left and John shook his head. "Wow. John? How did he get that name?" John asked.

"How did you get yer name?" 

"I guess from my muther. But he can't have the same name as me!!"

"Sure he can. Yer name is a very, very common name. One of the most common for boys."

"I guess yer right."

"So, since you met her current husband, what do you think of him?" Julian asked.

"He's friendly. Not what I really expected."

"Yeh. He's alright. He's good to mum and that's all that matters, really."

"Yer a good kid." 

John and Julian both sat on the couch next to Paul. 

"Ye know, I talked to the wife about you. She shouldn't be getting into any more problems."

"That's good to hear, but you didn't have to go through so much trouble."

"It wasn't trouble. I love my kid and I'll do anything to make sure she doesn't hurt you."

"So, what happened?" Paul asked.

"Oh, uh............I almost kicked her out."

"Almost?"

"Yeh. I gave her one last chance. If she blows it, she leaves permanently. I told her so."

"Wow. Good for you dad."

John nodded and Sean came in. "Ey kid."

"Hi."

"Are you enjoying yerself?"

"Yeah."

"Jules, when you told me you just wanted a quiet day, what did you mean by that?"

"Well, I didn't want a party if Sean wasn't going to be here. It felt wrong to not have my only brother with me."

"That's very sweet of ye. You always were. Ye know that?"

Sean jumped on the couch and went into Julian's lap.

"So I'm told." He smiled.

"Jules..............Paul convinced me to take a long holiday by meself. If you move out of this house by then and move into yer own place, would you watch Sean?"

"Course I will. You don't need to ask."

"I know."

"Is it like, another 'lost weekend' or something?"

"I'm not going to call it that because during that time, I was just trying to find myself."

"Oh. Well, what would you call it?"

"I might just call it a very long holiday. I don't want Yoko to know where I am because I don't want to be bothered by her and having her persuade me to come home. I need to come home on my own time. I think we just need a break."

"So, yer not going to take Sean with you?"

"No. And I'm not abandoning him either if you already thought that."

"That's a relief."

"I just need some time to meself. Understand?"

"Yeh. We all need that every once in a while."

"So, for me, I won't write music, I won't do anything that has to deal with music."

"What about playing yer guitar?"

"Of course I'll do that. But after the tour, I'm going away for a while and since yer and adult now, you can watch yer brother."

"You can count on me. Take as long as ye need."

"Thanks kid. As I told Paul, I don't know how long I'll be gone, but I'll call every night. Be sure that Sean goes to bed early too because he has school in about four months."

"I know. Dad, you don't have to tell me."

"Of course I don't. I've left you with him before haven't I?"

"Nope. This is the first time. But believe me, I'm a responsible person."

"I know you are. You proved it. So, would you do me one more favor once I go on this trip?"

Julian nodded. 

"Check up with Yoko every once in a while. Make sure she's okay."

"Yeh. You can count on me."

"I know I could."

"Dad, can I come with you on your trip?" Sean asked.

"No. Not this time."

"But will you be coming back?" 

"Of course I will. What makes you think I won't?"

Sean shrugged. "Because you did it to Julian."

"Oh. When it happened to Jules, I was very young and didn't know how to take care of a kid. Not to mention, I met yer muther."

"But I want to come with you."

"Sean, I need this time alone. I promise I won't leave you. Jules will be watching you and yer muther won't say no this time. Now, I have a very important question to ask you.

"Okay."

"Do you want to go home tonight or stay here until the morning tomorrow?"

"Stay."

"Okay. I told yer muther that. I'll bring you home tomorrow."