Sing Me To Sleep (formerly From Maggie May to Penny Lane)

Chapter 1 - Welcome to London

Gammy, Happy and Penny were all waiting just like she said in her letter.  Gammy wore a green and blue dress, her naturally olive skin looking rather pale and her silvery hair pulled back in a little bun.  Happy was the only one out of the three who had a smile for me.  It looked like it pained him to give it but, I understood.  We were all in the same boat, all feeling my father's loss.

Penny had gained weight, but not as much as she let on.  She was still the tall pretty, thin girl with shoulder length blonde hair and a naturally rosy pout.  She wore a simple pair of jeans and a red cashmere, v-neck jumper.

"Hello sweetie." Happy said, embracing me at once.

"Hi Happy, thanks for picking me up."

Gammy's arm went around me in a silent welcome and Penny slipped in to get a hug of her own.

"So... how goes the plans for tomorrow?"

"Oh, well, there's not much to do now." Said Happy.  "Everything's in order, all we have to do is show up."

"I've made your favourite for dinner." Gammy said, changing the subject and guiding me out towards the car park.  "Roast beef and apple crumble."

"Thanks, Gammy."

"You've been in Edinburgh too long." Penny said, lacing her fingers through mine.

"What do you mean?" I ask.

"Your voice, it's all wrong."

"Yes, you do seem to have picked up a bit of a lilt, Maggie."

"I've lived in Scotland almost half my life now.  Isn't that to be expected?"

Happy drove to their home in Bethnal Green, where Gammy had prepared an excellent dinner and Penny had made up the sofa bed in Happy's 'den'.  Penny moved into the small box room across the hall a week ago.  She packed up all her clothes and some basic essentials that she'd need for school.  She hadn't entered Dad's house since then.

Penny tried to suppress a smile during dinner, as Gammy put down second helpings of roast beef – with all the trimmings – and a second helping or apple crumble and ice cream complaining all the while, "They don't know how to feed a child in Edinburgh."

"Gammy, I fended for myself all right." I laughed.  "I even made a roast dinner from time to time."

"What do your students think of you leaving them behind?"

"I hardly think they'll notice to be honest.  There's not many there that are actually that interested in doing something professional in the music industry."

It was only a part time job, junior music teacher, whilst I worked at the Radisson in a domestic post.  Anything to get the bills paid.

"You'll have to get looking for work soon, especially if you want Penny to live with you in your Bayswater flat."

"You told her?"

"I didn't have any choice in the matter.  She read it when she was cleaning my room this morning." Penny explained.

After washing up we all sat around the small living room coffee table playing a game of Cluedo before bed.  Penny was always best at these board games, I couldn't remember, ever once, watching her lose.  It was the first time I'd seen her smile since I landed in Luton.

We all went to bed around ten so that we could get a decent sleep before attending Dad's funeral at noon the next day.  Gammy and Happy fell asleep almost at once.  Gammy often spoke in her sleep and I swear, Happy's snores shook the windows.  It was loud and annoying, but not loud enough to cover up the sound of Penny crying in the room across the hall.  It was torture.

At two in the morning I couldn't take it any longer.  I pulled out my notebook, pen and flicked on my bedside lamp and started to write.

From Maggie May To Penny Lane,

I don't know what you're talking about.  You still look as thin as you ever have and your beauty never fades.  I think you should borrow my blazer for tomorrow, it would look nice with that dress and show off your little curves.

Please don't cry, darling.  Dad wouldn't want you to, you know?

I can't sleep through Happy's snores.  Come keep me warm and we'll both drift off quicker.

All my love, Maggie May xxx

I took a torch from one of the many cardboard boxes sitting on Happy's desk, tip toed across the hall and slid the letter under Penny's door.  I flashed the torch twice, illuminating the paper on her blue carpet and heard a small gasp from within.

I tiptoed back to my room and waited for her to come through.  She was quieter than me, appearing in my doorway when I didn't expect it.

"I thought I might have cried myself to sleep by now." Penny said.  "But every time I try to stop, a new wave of tears just overcomes me."

"I know, its okay."

I patted the empty side of the mattress and Penny slid under the covers beside me.  She rested her head on my shoulder and her breath came in quick gasps across my throat as she tried to stop from sobbing.

"Will you sing for me?" Penny asks.

"What do you want me to sing?"

"You know... my song."

"Oh..." I start to sing, sounding a little choked.  This is what Dad used to sing to her.  "Penny Lane is in my ears and in my eyes.  There beneath the blue suburban skies, I sit and meanwhile back in Penny Lane there is a fireman with an hourglass and in his pocket is a portrait of the Queen..."

She's fallen asleep already but I keep singing because it keeps me from thinking what tomorrow brings and soon I'm gone to sleep too.