The Luckycharm -A Brian May fanfiction- English

The Empress Walk

"Hey guys" Miami greets us and slightly bends down to us to prevent that other customers can listen what he is about to tell us.

Roger and John and I approach him and we stop discussing for a moment.

"I know you three were discussing and... and I'm sorry to interrupt you, but..." he mumbles embarrassed, he realized he had just arrived in an inappropriate moment "...there's a guy, a young singer who takes part in the Festival, he told me he is big fan of you four. He came to see your concert in Zurich in 1975 and..."
"Cut to the chase, Jim" Roger interrupts him, pulling another Marlboro out of the package and stuffing it in his mouth "What does he want from us?"
"Nothing, he wants just ... just to meet you for a moment. His name is Enrico, Enrico Ruggeri"

"Can't he talk with Freddie?" John asks him.
"Freddie...Freddie has already said no, he's too nervous to meet people tonight"
"Oh, the drama-queen is nervous tonight" Roger comments sarcastically "And we three are nervous too. Tell him...I don't know, tell him what the hell you want to tell, but we're not even in the mood to see people tonight"
"Oh... ok, as you want" Jim sighs, he's disheartened, he knows very well that an artist doesn't show a good image of himself when he refuses to meet his fans "Enjoy your dinner, guys" he wishes us and leaves our table.

"What a night" Roger snorts "What a bad night"

He lights his cigarette and start to smoke nervously. John spills some beer in his glass and mutters to himself something that I can't understand. I too drink some beer and I turn in the direction where Jim has gone: I see him stand in front of the door, he's talking with a guy, he certainly is less than thirty years, he has dark short hair and he wears a jacket of black leather over a pair of dark jeans. I can see bitterness on his face when Miami tell him that Queen tonight are not in the right mood to see people. I'm sorry, I'm really sorry because I think that ten years ago I too was like him, I was young, I was full of hope for my future as a musician and I would have paid all the gold in the world for having had the chance to shake hands with one of my idols. I see him leaving the restaurant head down while Jim comes back to his place, next to Freddie.

"Anyway..." Roger says, exhaling a little nicotine from his nose "What do we do with Freddie when we get back to London?"
"We'll get back in London, but I think he'll get back in Munich. That's his house now" I answer, placing the glass on the table "Paul is waiting for him in Munich"
"Oh yes, I think Paul is the problem of everything" John intervenes again "With him..."

"With him Freddie is not the same" Rog continues " He's the reason of everything"
"No Rog, it's not just Paul. I think...if Freddie didn't want to, he wouldn't let himself get dragged into... in those night-clubs and..." I interrupt, I too go to the Sugar Shack.

I sigh, I'm very disappointed in me in this moment, I'm about to take my glass again but I realize it's empty. I grab the bottle and I pour myself some more beer, the white foam is no longer as fluffy as five minutes ago, the contact with the air is producting its effects.
"Freddie is not a stupid guy" this time it is John to start the conversation again "But Paul knows how to have him very well, he knows his weak points and he plays on this"
"Yes Deaky, that's right" I agree, I know that John is a very intelligent and insightful guy though he speaks very little "And we can't do anything about this"
"Can we do anything about this?!" Roger exclaims, opening his arms "We are his closest friends, we are his bandmates. Do we have to see him throw away the work of years in this way, without doing anything?"

"But don't you understand Rog that he put absurd ideas in his head? He tells him he can do everything without us, that he's the leader of the band, that he can manage a solo career without problems. We have been useless for him in this last fifteen years!" I exclaim, slamming the half empty glass on the table "There was a reason why we decided not to have Paul as our assistant anymore, but Freddie didn't want to listen to us, he has wanted to keep him with him and these are the results"
"I won't give up" Roger replies, crumpling his cigarette in the ashtray hysterically "I won't give up, absolutely. When we'll come back London we have to do something against Paul"
"And what would we can do? Throw him out of the window?" John says.
"I'd like to do it, but he's strong as a bear! Everytime I come into the Musicland I see him with that annoying, nasty smile"