Break Me One More Time [McLennon]

in which they visit mimi

     A couple weeks later, in the middle of September, the Beatles arrived back in England. But that time, George's hand was still just as bruised and had swollen up quite a bit.

    "Alright, Georgie," Ringo said the morning after they got home. "I'm driving you to an emergency room to get that hand checked out before you can never play again and we'll be out a guitar player."

     George sighed, but he stood up. "Okay, let's go."

     "See you later," John waved as they headed out the door, then, once they were gone, he turned to Paul. "So, we're back in our country, we didn't get tatted out and arrested in America. We're fine. See? I told you everything would be okay." He grinned.

    "Yeah, you're right," Paul nodded and shot him a smile, but he still couldn't shake the feeling that something was very wrong. If someone had really seen them dancing and kissing, then why wouldn't they have gone to the police? Or a news reporter? It just didn't make any sense and it was scaring him out of his wits.

~~~

     It turned out that George's hand was severely fractured and he wouldn't be able to play the guitar again until sometime in the middle of January. Brian freaked out at first, saying that this was the worst possible thing that could happen, but the boys quickly calmed him down and reminded him that With the Beatles was already recorded in full and they didn't have any concert dates set up until February when they were going back to America.

     Paul wasn't even fazed by the fact that this hadn't happened the first time he loved his life. Things like this could barely make him flinch anymore, he'd seen so much shit since arriving back in the sixties.

     George's hand injury, however, meant that the Beatles wouldn't be able to play any concerts until January, even tiny ones that Brian could arrange a couple days in advance. They had a few months off!

     "So what are we going to do with all this vacation time?" Ringo said a couple days after George got his cast on, toward the end of September.

     "We could take a vacation?" John suggested. "We could go to Germany and visit Stuart and Astrid."

     Paul nodded. "Yeah, that could be fun."

     "Yeah," George agreed. "Ooh, we should have a party for your birthday, John! It's only a couple weeks away!"

     "I don't want anything too big," John said. "Maybe I should call Mimi and see if she's busy on my birthday? Maybe we can all have dinner with her? I haven't seen her in ages.."

     "Sorry..who?" Ringo furrowed his brows.

     John and George turned to Ringo, eyes wide.

     Well, that couldn't be right...could it? Paul thought to himself. Then again, as far as this time around in the sixties went, Paul didn't remember Ringo ever meeting Mimi...

     "You know, my auntie Mimi?" John said. "The woman who raised me?"

    "Oh, well, I knew you were raised by your aunt but I don't think I've ever met her," Ringo said.

     "Well, I'm going to call her, then," John said, rising to his feet. "Because of the rest of us have had to suffer through years and years of knowing Mimi Smith, then you should have to do the same." He laughed and hurried off to the phone.

     Ringo looked to George and Paul nervously. "Is she really that bad?"

     Paul laughed. "Don't listen to John. She gets on his nerves, for sure, but he loves her. She and his uncle were all he really had growing up, you know. And anyway, in Mimi's defense, just stop and take a second to think about what it must have been like to raise John Winston Lennon."