The Boy That Shouldn't Be

Chapter 13

Chapter 13

Johnny and I laid her on the couch and stepped back. Mimi kneeled down and pressed her hand to Cassie’s forehead and took her pulse.

“She seems okay, just a little shocked. By what is what I would love to know. Elizabeth?” she turned to me as Johnny did. I was stuck. Completely tongue tied as to what to say. What was I supposed to  say? ‘Oh Mimi, it’s okay because I brought her back from the future where both of you are dead.’ I don’t think that would work very well.

“She has a condition. She faints a lot, actually. It’s—“ Mimi stopped me.

“No no. The truth.” I gulped.

“Okay.” I stopped breathing for a second. “I’m from the future. So is she. That’s why she passed out, because in the future, John is famous.” Mimi regarded me peculiarly then nodded.

“Okay.” She went into the kitchen and I followed her.

“You believe me?” she laughed.

“What other explanation is there for you disappearing before my very eyes? Only to reappear two minutes later, out of breath, with your friend? And I would like to believe that John will accomplish something.” It seemed harsh in words, but there was a joking glimmer in her eyes, the same in John’s, that if you missed it would change everything about her to you.

John came in about then, looking at me funny. I stepped away from him to give him space to process, but it wasn’t nessicary.

“You lied to me.” He said. “You’re from the future. And you didn’t tell me. And I’m famous too, so is that why you wanted me? Because I become famous.”

“What? N—“

“No! I’m tired of people using me!” and he ran out of the house.

I never saw him again. A few days later, after Mimi let us stay in John’s room, Cassie and I traveled back home. Everywhere I looked, it seemed as though he was there. I would think I saw him out of the corner of my eye and then he was gone. I would see his albums from the 70’s in shop windows and fight back tears. Months passed and I didn’t travel again. Then years. Before I knew it, I was 24 years old. I lived in a small flat in London working for a music label. The infamous Apple Co. You would think it would be a bit hard to avoid the Beatle legacy, but it wasn’t. I didn’t look at the merchandise, I didn’t go on their sites, and when someone mentioned them in a conversation, I left the room. For 8 years, I successfully avoided any and all thought of John Lennon or the Beatles until of course one day when it jumped and bit me in the bum. Quite literally. An old man lived across the street from my building. And every day, he walked his dog at 7:32 Am and 5:54 PM, I know because I timed him once because it bugged me. Anywho, one day I was walking to work early for a meeting and this mans dog broke free of his lead and bit me in the bum. I screamed and jumped in the air. The old man ran over.

“Are you alright?” he said. “I am so sorry about him, Stu is usually really sweet to people, especially women. I don’t know what got into him.” I instantly recognized that Liverpudlian accent. My eyes darted to his face and I jumped into a hug. I held him tight and he stood there laughing and hugging me back.

“Johnny?” I looked at him. He seemed puzzled, trying to place my face, then it went blank.

“Elizabeth..” his jaw dropped and we hugged again. At this point, I was in tears and kissing almost every single inch of his face.

“I missed you so much! I thought you were dead! I just!” I couldn’t even finish the sentence without giving him another good squeeze. We went back to his place and he described what had happened the night of December 8, 1980. As they were headed home, he and Yoko had a fight. About money of course. And instead of getting out of the car when the driver pulled up, he went to a bar and drank for the first time since 1974. The next day, police came to his house saying they had arrested a man that had been hired to kill John that night. A day later, Yoko disappeared. They found her three years later living in Paris and arrested her for the attempted and premeditated murder of John Lennon along with other minor charges against her to do with the disappearance of John’s, Apples, and other recording companies funds. She died in prison at age 76. After that, John spent loads more time with his family, his friends, and his kids. The Beatles did a short reunion tour that sold out in twenty minutes. He released several albums, featuring Paul, George, and Ringo periodically throughout the albums and the same could be said about theirs. He married again in 1989 to a woman he met in travels, but they divorced the next year after she cheated on him with his sound guy. And he hadn’t married again after that. He toured, spent time with his kids, went to Julian’s wedding, became friends with Cynthia again, was there for all his friends when they needed him and was a good guy. After his brush with death, he decided he needed to help; to see the world differently. It was difficult for him at first, but he grew and he learned and he loved. He lived. When I met him again, he was a new man. He was peaceful and malicious. Kind and constantly pulling jokes. He loved life.

We became friends and said that was all we would ever be. I was there for his last breathes. I saw the light dim in his eyes and saw the room fill with it.

In Memory Of The Ones We Love.

They Lived And They Died, But They Will Never Be Forgotten.