The Boy That Shouldn't Be

Chapter 7

“John, what was that?” I gestured to the door. He came towards me, wrapping his arms around my waist.

“What, love?” he looked at me with the doggy eyes and I knew I couldn’t stay mad at him forever. I wrapped my arms around his neck.

“You shouldn’t be so hard on him.” I frowned.

“What do you care?” and again came that spiteful tone. I looked at him, almost appalled he could be this mean.

“He is going to be important to you in the future. Believe me. More important to you than your band; than me. So go easy on him to start.” John looked upset.

“He could never be more important then you.” And he kissed me. I kissed him back but stopped it off.

“John…” I pleaded. He looked in my eyes.

“Okay, love.” I smiled widely and kissed him again.

“Oh! Do you want to blow off some steam?” I bit my lip. He nodded and we slammed back against the wall facing the band. I smiled against his lips and wrapped a leg around his waist.

I knew that the band could hear me, but I didn’t care.

“John!” I cried. He moved faster at my behest and just made the noise problem worse.

When we go back to the group, the guys would snicker, the little wankers. John’s arm was around my waist. Paul was talking to Ivan, obviously over me and I was quite happy about it.

“Your in.” John said simply and we made our way out the building; me on one arm, his guitar on another. The Querrymen followed behind and we all went out to The Cavern to celebrate. I have a feeling they only let us in because I looked older. I was in skinny jeans and a kind of loose hanging shirt and they obviously weren’t use to that on a girl, but anyways, we got in, got drunk, and John and I headed back to Mimi’s.

“Your beautiful, girl.” He smiled sloppily, pissed off ‘is ‘ead. I giggled and looked down at my flip flops.

“You are full of shite, Lennon.” I dropped my hand from my jeans pocket and John immediately grabbed it.

“Yes I am, but not that. You are.” He smiled and used my hand to pull me closer. I giggled again. “I love you, Bethy, girl.” I looked into his brown eyes. Once they were so playfully now they were deadly serious. I stood on my tip toes and pressed my lips to his.

“I love you, too.” And we walked hand in hand down the street. Of course, it being the 50’s and Liverpool, we were stopped by some teddy boys. Real teddy boys, not the rocker like John is.

“What do we have here? A right fit little girl you are.” The ‘ring leader’ I guess you could say walked towards us, me in particular. “And a fag? You deserve someone better.” I saw John’s jaw tighten as he started to step forward, but I squeezed his hand to stop him and it worked.

“What? Like you? Eat gravel, you small dicked prick.” I spat at him. Rage immediately shot through his eyes as his friends laughed.

“You bitch!” he slapped me then grabbed my hair, yanking me away from John. He threw me face first into a nearby alley wall I pushed away from the wall, but he held me down. “I’m gonna teach you to respect your superiors.” And I heard him unzip his pants. I was crying now, begging for help. John meanwhile was trying to fight off this freak of nature’s goons to get to me. The pedophile tried to pull down my jeans with some difficulty. Thankfully, he was at an angle I could take advantage of. I kicked him where the sun don’t shine then again as he fell to the ground. I made a run for John. He grabbed my hand and we bolted. We ran all the way back to Mendips. I didn’t have time to think while I was running. I wanted to concentrate on how good John’s presence felt to me or how the cool air on my face rushed down the stinging. I had at least guessed that the wall had cut up my face. When we got in the gate, we stopped running. John and I panted a bit as we caught our breath.

“Beth,” he turned my face to him. He looked cautious at first then pissed when he saw the damage done. “Those bastards! They will pay for this.” He started to turn back to the gate, but I threw my arms around him. He held me and I cried into his shoulder. We sunk to the ground where I sat in his lap. He smoothed my hair and made calming noises, but that only made things worse. Then he started making weird noises. I pulled back and he was making weird faces as well, his eyes slightly red as well. That definitely stopped the crying. But John still hugged me and was doing so when Mimi came out again.

“I told you, not on my lawn.” We both looked up at her, the porch light flooding over us. I could see the glint of the light on the blood on my face. Her face turned a bit white before she stomped out, and grabbed my hand, pulling me inside the house. John trotted after us as Mimi sat me down at the kitchen table. She got a towel, wet it with warm water, and started to roughly dap at my cuts. “What happened? And don’t lie to me, I can smell the alcohol on you.” I sighed as John started.

“We—“ Mimi stopped him.

“I asked her, not you.” She looked back at me so I started.

“We left the Cavern and got attacked by a group of teddy boys.” Mimi stood back, disapproval clear in her eyes.

“How did you get the cut, dear.” I took a deep breath.

“Ummm…..well, the main twa—guy there called John a fag and told me ‘you deserve someone better’.” I did a cheap imitation of his voice to break the tension, but Mimi was unfazed. “So…I called him a small dicked prick and spit I his face.” I rushed the rest out. She didn’t seem surprised in the least.

“Did he hit you?” I nodded.

“But that’s not how you got the cut, is it?” I shook my head and felt the water works start up again. John moved closer to me on instinct.

“He—he tried to rape me.” I let one tear fall down my cheeks. I was okay with other people crying, but I did not allow myself to cry, unless I was alone or with someone I really loved. I saw Mimi turn white again. I wiped away the tear and composed myself what little I could.

“You two should probably get some sleep.” I notice that she didn’t protest to me staying in the same room as John; she probably already had a lodger. John took my hand and we headed for the stairs. I stopped thought and dropped his hand quickly, running back to the kitchen.

“Thank you, Mimi.” I displayed the utmost gratitude and a small smile before I ran back over to John and we went to his room. Everything was just as I remembered it. He put his guitar on the desk and then sat down on the bed. I walked over to the window and sat on the edge of the sill. As I looked at the stars, I started humming ‘Penny Lane’. I needed to stop thinking and that was the perfect way.