P R E S E N T

II

"Mistakes lead me to seemingly effortless perfection."

- Matthew Welch

May 1954

"Theo! Theo!" I heard fans screaming my name as I prepared for our next song. "Andy! Drew! Theo! Daniel!" I hold my mic on my left hand as I grasp a bottle of beer in my right hand. 

"We're going to play one last song." I drank my beer and head banged. They screamed as my band mates played their instruments. 

"Hey jukebox, play our favorite song,

Big eyed girl says I'm wrong

Sally please take me with you!" The crowds went wild, while I took another sip of beer.

"Until I finish my beer. A German bear.

Sue! Give me my Cadillac you square!

She is a square and I am a greaser!"

I was born in England on April 9, 1931. My mother was an opera singer. She was incandescently smiling when she found out she was pregnant the first time. That's according to dad. When she was four months pregnant with me, she received a letter. She was informed that she got the role of Madama Butterfly, but she turned down the role. My father was a painter and his art movement was expressionism. Eight years later Timothy Welch, my brother was born. My parents are religious and that explains our name. 

"After back seat bingo

I wrote her a ballad"

The lights dimmed. The spotlight was on me as I sang the bridge of the song. 

"Baby, you know I'm a bad news,

Give me my due backs, come here Sue!." 

I stopped typing on the keyboard when I reached my destination. I was looking for a certain diary. It was the diary of Matthew Welch's wife. Her name was China and was born in China. She was considered to be the most beautiful lady in the town she was living in. She charmed everyone with her helping heart and her intellectual wits. According to Matthew, China had a porcelain skin and a heart of gold. I was in her homeland, China. I'm here to talk to her brother, Ching. 

Ching had a clean cut hair and tanned skin. He looked quite old. I diverted my attention to the family picture hanging on the wall. I looked at everyone, but the woman on the left really stand out. She was just like how Matthew described her. Which really stand out was her distinctive brown eyes, and her smile. There was sincerity in her smile. 

"Oh. You're looking at our family picture. China is here." He pointed at China and smiled. "I guess you talked to Matthew before you came here." His smile faded. 

"Yes, I talked to Matthew about his former band and he seemed so ecstatic when he talked about your sister." He sat on the couch and crossed his arms. I took a sip of tea. 

"He did?" He seemed surprised about the information I delivered to him. 

I nodded and said "His shaking wrinkly old hands made an effort to get the stacks of some picture albums. He looked youthful when he smiled and talked about your sister. He really loves her." 

He looked at me with his eyebrows drawn together. It was an awkward moment so I did what I had to do. Sip the remaining tea I had as fast as I can. 

"Can you do me a favor?" I heard Ching's voice and looked at him. I nodded and he stood up. 

"Call Matthew Welch and tell him to come to China. I personally want to see him. Now, I must attend 明明's party." 

Dear readers,

Forgive me if I failed to update in a while. I also would like to apologize because the content of the chapter is only short. I cannot guarantee you or promise you that I will make the content of the next chapter longer, but I can assure you that it'll be an interesting chapter. Thank you for reading. And pardon me for my grammar. I know. I'm sorry.

Sincerely,

Joshua