I've Got A Feeling

Chapter Seven

January 1958

"It's fucking freezing out here!" "Shut it Lennon, he'll be here!" We had just finished up a gig and Paul told me he had a guy in mind to play guitar. We fought for a couple of weeks until he threatened to quit the band and cut contact with me, so I obliged. "He better be pretty damn good to make me stand out here and freeze my balls off!" "Oh like you need those!" "You wanna bet McCartney? I'll be as gentle as swan." I exploded with laughter as I saw his eyes almost pop out of his head and this loud high pitched screech could be heard. "John! You can't and shouldn't be saying that type of stuff!" "Why? Because my little Paulie gets flustered since his virginity status?" I saw the gears turning in his head of ways to torture me when a familiar figure came from behind.

"Hey Macca!" "My little George! How ya doin'?" "Eight months Paul." His glare was more frightening than Paul's. "Oh uh, sorry. John will be judging you tonight." My head was reeling. "That's the guy you were talking about?! Paul he's scrawny!" He extended a hand out to me. "Full name's George Harrison. You can call me Hazza if you want. I know I'm scrawny, by the way. Not that you could do any better I see." Paul snapped back at him. "George behave." "Oh so now you're my mum or something? Y'know, you would be a great housewife Ms. Paula." I stifled a laugh. "Just give him a chance Johnny." He whispered. "Alright, give me whatcha got kid."

We stepped onto a double decker bus to start the ride back. He cautiously grabbed his guitar, hands bloodied and calloused. "What happened?" I saw his eyebrows furrow until he realized what I was pointing to. "Oh, I practice everyday and my fingers often get cut from the strings." "How old are you Hazza?" I saw the long sigh he gave. "Fourteen, fifteen in a month." "Fourt-" "Save it Lennon!" I felt a jab in my side. It was silent until he began the beginning notes of a song. You could tell he was nervous as his hands were shaking. I couldn't help but poke a little fun. "John, I'm telling you to-" He burst out in giggles.

Anger coursed through my veins as I heard his pushbacks at me. I knew this was a mistake. Why did you think you could belong? It's no use. "John I'm telling you to stop-" Paul erupting in laughter was like has to a match. I mumbled under my breath. "Fine, if that's how it's going to be. Fuck you and your band." My fingers stabilized as they glided through the chords of the song. The only thing I heard was the melody of my guitar. The look of pure shock in John's eye was all I needed. "Y-You can play Raunchy?" "Well, if you don't mind me saying so, then yes." "Alright." "So what's it gonna be? Want me?"

The way he played Raunchy with such ease gave me a sliver of confidence in the boy. But I still wasn't convinced. "I don't know Paul, he's so young." "Look, he wants this more than anything. I even heard him say he'd be willing to drop out of school for an opportunity like this." He played Raunchy some more as we discussed the big issue on our hands. It actually was excellent from when other people tried. "Hey Harrison!" "Yeah?" ".....I'll let you in."

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Time passed as we began to converse in our interests, me sharing a lot of the same music tastes as John. We stopped at a corner where Paul only had short walking distance to his house. "See ya lads." "Bye Paul." I waved. "Bye Macca." The tone he said it held value, like he isn't just a lad. As soon as he was out of earshot, I sat by John. "You like him don't you?" "WHA-? I never said that...." "Yeah but your tone and flushed cheeks speak 64 decibels louder than your carefully crafted words." "I'm not que-" "Oh please. Your eyes practically transform into different ones when you just look at him. Look, Paul is good looking, but there's a line between fondness and outright drooling." "Shut it." "What're ya gonna do Johnny? Beat me to a pulp? I don't think you want to do that." "And why would that be?" "You ever hear the name Louise Harrison?" "Oh god I heard singing outside a house and it was just so loud, and people just shrugged it off like it was nothing. All they said was, "Oh Louise is at it again." Like nothing was screeching in my ears. The decibel of yelling I will never forget. She yelled a kid's name or something along those lines." "Did it sound like "GEORGE GET YER BUTT DOWN HERE RIGHT NOW!"?" "Yeah why?" "That's mum. Better be on her good side, or she'll beat you to shreds." "That's your mum?! How do you deal with that?" "Eh, if you've heard it your whole life then you get used to it." "Ok then, I'll see ya later then. Bye George." "You can call me Geo or Hazza if you want." "Alright, Geo."

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Soon I started playing with the group, but right now I'm trying to keep from falling asleep from Paul's ranting. He just is going on and on about school which is the last thing I want to think about. Seriously, what more can you talk about? I'm thinking about counting the hairs on my head if you can't shut up! Maybe I'll think about guitars instead, they actually have value to me instead of education and shi- "George!" "Huh?" "Were you listening to anything I said?" "Yeah." He rolled his eyes and continued to talk. "Anyway, I don't know what I'm gonna do when John goes off to university next year. He's one of my best friends and I just don't want him to leave." "Yeah." I let out a long sigh. "Not that I don't like hanging out with you it's just that he's different and I need-" "It's okay Paul, you don't need to explain. I get it." "Really?" "Yeh. What would you expect?" "I dunno."

Look at his eyes sparkle. Wait, his cheeks are turning pink. But he's talking about-.....oh. Oh my god. "Paul, do you happen to like anyone?" I saw him jump a little. "What? No, why would you ask that?" "Just thought maybe you did. So, John wears glasses? Do they look like Buddy Holly?" His cheeks transformed into the Soviet flag practically. "Uh, yeah, he does. They kind of do when he pushes them up, if that's what you're wondering. But they hang at the crook of his nose most of the time when I see him with them on. He uh, actually did a funny impression once with his suit on." His cheeks were practically magenta at this point, him obviously taking notice by tilting his head down. Yeah, he's definitely got a crush. This'll be fun to unfold.