Miss Americana // The Beatles

Chapter 12

January 18, 1960

John and Stu burst through my front door without knocking. I was glad my dad was at work. Mike was at school, and Paul had run to the shop for a few things. I was just writing a song on the piano when John and Stu popped into the living room.

Stu was carrying a shiny electric bass guitar.

"What's that for, Stu?" I asked him whilst hugging John.

John kissed my forehead, "Well, tell her Stu."

"I'm joining the band. I'm the bass player."

I hugged Stu, "Stu! This is great. You can go to Hamburg with us."

"Yep, he'll be the perfect addition," John said sitting on the couch, "Stu sold one of his fabulous paintings yesterday, and I convinced him to buy a bass guitar with the money from it."

Stu sat down in the chair opposite John.

I sat down next to John and let him put his arm around me and pull me close, "So, all you guys need now is a drummer, and we're all set!"

John kissed me again, "Paul thinks he may know someone, but we shall see about the drummer."

We sat there in my living room for a while. Stu was practicing some things that Paul had taught him on the bass guitar, and John and I were cuddling. I was kissing his neck, and he would lean down and steal kisses from my lips as well. I had missed him while he'd been away at class all day.

"Sasha?"

I looked up at him, "Yes, John?"

He hesitated, "The band's got a new name."

"And what's that?"

His face lit up, "The Beatles."

February 15, 1960

"This is Pete Best, our new drummer," Paul introduced me to the quiff-haired man standing in front of me.

He took my hand and kissed it softly, looking into my eyes, "A pleasure to meet you."

I smiled at him as Paul laughed, "Better not let John see you flirting with me sister like that. He'll have your head," he warned the new drummer.

Pete turned a bright shade of red and dropped my hand. He mumbled an awkward sorry as he walked away to talk to George.

"Where'd you find him?" I asked Paul, who had momentarily stared into space.

"Oh," he said, turning back to me, "We auditioned him yesterday. He's pretty good and fits in well."

I smiled at him, "He seems like a nice guy."

Paul and I stood in silence for a few moments. The breeze from the Mersey was chilly, and the seagulls chirped in the distance, filling the silence. We were leaving this morning for Hamburg. Nervousness consumed my body. I hadn't really talked to Paul about all of this. In fact, Paul and I didn't really have long conversations like we used to. He was so focused on songwriting and reaching his dreams of becoming famous, and I was usually at John and Stu's place. When we would all get together, it's for rehearsal. I noticed that over the last year John has become closer to Stu than Paul. I wondered if it bothered my brother, but I really didn't want to bring it up. We were standing on Albert Dock. I looked up at the ship that would be taking us most of the journey to Hamburg. The dock workers were just now loading Allan Williams' van onto the boat, so we could drive to Hamburg when we arrived in Holland. I looked over at Paul again, who had just lit a cigarette. We had all said goodbye to our loved ones this morning.