Parenting Paul

Chapter 29: Ignorance is His

Paul remained silent as he sluggishly shut the door behind him as he tried to escape from Rose's questions. "Alan Swine threw his coffee at me...." Paul muttered as Rose looked at him in dumbfounded disbelief, "He what?! Why the hell would he do such a thing?!" Rose questioned as Paul glared at her with annoyed ambivalence. Rose soon began to pace around as she tried to think of her plan to comfort him, and show that he had been treated poorly. "Paulie....I think it would be an appropriate time for you to go visit your father.....maybe he'd be able to help you get out of this pathetic state of mind, plus little Heather could meet Ruth.....besides it was quite the ordeal trying to clean up in here, I'd like you to keep it clean for at least 24 hours...." Rose suggested as Heather hopped back to her feet and looked at Paul eagerly.

"Rose, no....I can't show up to my father's house like....like this!" Paul soon replied with anxiousness as Heather's smile melted away. "Paul...I don't like this, what's gotten into you.....you've got like...no care in the world, and yet you've got this constant fear, it's concerning and honestly quite frankly unhealthy...." Rose reprimanded as Paul rolled his eyes and groaned. "You look like you've been living within the gutters of the London Underground Subway, and haven't slept in days......and....hell, when was the last time you wrote any music? This....this just isn't right....this isn't the James Paul McCartney that I know....." Rose continued as Heather looked at him with care, and then to Rose with nervousness. "Miss Rose....I know why Mr. Paul is sad...." Heather soon said softly, making Paul roll his eyes at her with frustration. "What the hell do you know? You're just a kid.....a random kid who's only been here for like 3 days..."

Despite Paul's insistence, Rose bent down to Heather's level, and turned her towards her. "What's making him sad, dear?" Rose asked as Paul walked away, making Heather swiftly turn towards him. "His friends....told him that they didn't want to see him anymore." Heather soon answered as she watched Paul who was standing in the kitchen preparing to drink some whisky. "Paul....is what she said true?" Rose soon asked with her voice more caring than angry as Paul quickly turned to them, and looked at them with discontent. Heather and Rose watched Paul with concern as they watched as he slammed down his liquor in silence. He then marched towards Heather and grabbed her hand, as he opened the apartment door, making Rose gasp. "Come on, let's introduce you to my sister Ruth....." he grumped as Rose gasped, and followed them from behind. "JAMES PAUL, WAIT!!" Rose cried as the door slammed in front of her.

About fifteen minutes later, Paul's car pulled up in front of his father's house, and Heather was looking into her lap with guilt as she felt the car had been parked. "Alright, we're here...now can you do me a favor Princess Tiger?" Paul asked as he looked at her, but she did not look up at him. "Yes sir..." she whispered, still refusing to give him eye contact. as he pulled the keys out of the ignition, and sighed deeply. "Next time someone asks me what's the matter......play dumb, act like you don't know, because you don't..." he continued as she slightly raised her eyes, without moving her head up. "But why? I saw what happened between your band mates and your other lady friend..." Heather mumbled as Paul rolled his eyes, and then looked at her again, as she looked down. "You see....you're in this very unique position in your life.....you're young, you've got the ability to make things not your problem....through the use of cartoons, dolls, tinkertoys...and guess what no one thinks twice...because you've got the gift of ignorant innocence....enjoy it while you've got it, because once you turn into an adult....you have no choice but to be bitter...constantly busy and forced to be uptight and clean.....to impress everyone you come into contact with..." Paul explained as Heather looked up at him subtly again, as he looked out the car window and saw an exceptionally young girl, who was seemingly around Heather's age, standing in front of the house watching him.

"Ever heard the saying? "Ignorance is bliss"... .take advantage of it..." he finished as he opened the door as the young girl ran closer to the vehicle, however Heather did not respond to any of the commotion, as she was still trying to process what she had been told. "Paulie!! Wow! I haven't seen you in months!!" The young child cheered as she looked over the car window that had been rolled down, and Paul smiled at her trying to keep her oblivious to the conversation he had just had with Heather. "Hey there, Ruthie...enjoying primary school this year so far?" Paul asked as the girl nodded excitedly. "Yes! We're learning about verbs, nouns, adjectives and other terms about English! Also, we finally are learning about that one button on the calculator....the one with two dots and the line in between..." Ruth answered with hyperactivity as Paul nodded, "Ah....division....that's some tricky arithmetic..." he answered as she nodded back, and suddenly noticed Heather slouched behind him, which piqued her curiosity.

"Hey who's that, Paulie? I wanna see!" Ruth interrogated as Paul turned towards Heather, who was still looking down towards her lap. "Princess Tiger....wanna meet Ruth? She's my step sister....and she's about 7 years old....close to your age.." Paul introduced the two girls as Ruth tried to lift herself onto the car window ledge. "Paulie...I'm 8 years old now, you silly goose, also what kind of name is Princess Tiger?" Ruth asked as Heather looked up at her hesitantly. "My new name....Mr. Paul let me have..." Heather answered as Ruth studied her. "Whatever... whatever, just get out of the car, and let's play!" Ruth demanded as Paul helped Ruth open the driver side door.

As Ruth pulled Heather out of the car, Paul's father came out of the house and approached the three of them from behind her. "My goodness Ruth....what's got you so frantic?" He asked as Ruth led Heather out onto the sidewalk. "Daddy daddy...look who came to visit! It's Paulie! Also, he brought someone over to play with me!" Ruth answered with enthusiasm as Heather waved at him shyly. "I can see that....nice to meet you little lady." Jimmy soon introduced himself as he shook hands with Heather and Paul made his way out of the car. "Hey dad..." Paul answered as he watched his father shake hands with Heather. "Hello Paul....I've been wondering if you'd be willing to pay us a little visit....we missed you....we haven't seen you since New Years, that isn't like yourself.....you alright son?" Jimmy asked, his voice comforting and welcoming.

"We even missed your birthday and everything...quite unusual" Jimmy continued as Paul shrugged and shut the car door. "Well, y'know...being a Beatle....it keeps me on my toes...not much free time." He answered as Jimmy nodded with understanding yet continued curiosity. "But we missed your birthday? We've never done that..." Jimmy replied as Paul shrugged again, "You know how I feel about those, I don't much like big flashy birthday parties...I'm fine really.." Paul answered as Ruth looked up at him, her eyes glowing with excitement. "Paulie, can we go play?" Ruth soon interrupted as he pointed at Heather, who was still silent. "Yes, you may." Paul answered as the girls ran off towards the street, and Jimmy turned towards them, "Be back before evening time Ruth!"