As I lay in the comfortable bed at the hotel, staring out into the darkness lit dimly by a night-light (Paul insisted he had to have one), I thought. I could hear Paul and George's steady breathing - they were fast asleep. I was a little tired, but I couldn't sleep. I mean, here I was, back in 1964, with the Beatles. I don't think you would be able to sleep, either!
I sighed and rolled over. I wondered where we'd (or rather, the Beatles and me) be going next. I tried to remember what I had read about the Beatles in August of 1964. . .
Tours. The Beatles' first American tour was during August and September of 1964. I think the tour went across the U.S., and up into Canada some.
I sighed and rolled over again. 'Might as well try and get some sleep,' I thought, closing my eyes.
When I opened them again, it was still dark outside. 'I wonder how long I slept?' I thought, sitting up and rubbing my eyes. My stomach growled. I wasn't very tired now, and I was getting the midnight munchies. Well, it might not have been midnight, but you know.
I pushed the covers aside and got up. I started walking slowly towards the closed door to our room, and glanced at George and Paul's sleeping figures. I opened our door and went down the hallway in the dark.
As I reached the big room that adjoined the kitchen (I guess you could call it the living room), I paused. I thought I'd heard whispers. Shaking my head, I just decided my mind was just foggy from sleep.
Light from the full moon outside shown through a window. I headed toward the kitchen, picking my way past the couch and chairs I saw in the dim light.
Then I noticed the figure on the couch, and more shadows in the chairs. 'Oh my gosh,' I thought, opening my mouth to yell, 'Who are they?' I began to slowly back away. I was scared.
Suddenly, I felt an arm wrap around my waist and a hand clamp over my mouth. My body went rigid. "Mmph!" I tried to yell out.
"Ssh, Lee," the person who held me said, "Be quiet."
My body relaxed, and the person let go. It was Paul. And the other figures were the other Beatles. I started breathing normally.
Someone turned on a little lamp. It was John, and he was on the couch.
"Geez, you guys," I whispered, sitting down on the couch next to John. Paul sat on the other side of me. "You sure had me freaked out!" I laughed softly. The others did, too. "What are you doing out here anyway?" I asked.
The four glanced at each other. "First tell us why you are out here, Miss Lee," John said to me.
"Spying on us, eh?" Ringo asked, smiling.
I shook my head. "Actually, I woke up and got the munchies and couldn't fall back asleep, so I came out here to get something to eat," I explained. "Don't tell me that you all are hungry too. I think I know why you're out here." I looked at all four of them and smiled. "You even bunched up sheets in your bed to make figures so Neil wouldn't notice you're gone."
Paul sighed. "Well, you caught us at it," he said, shaking his head.
"Aye," George added. "But I mean, we're in Los Angeles. There has to be some gear night clubs and dancing spots."
"Just as I thought," I said, folding my arms. "You're sneaking out."
John folded his hands and turned to me. "Don't cane me sir, I was led astray!" he cried in a pleading tone. I knew where that line was from. he said it in the Beatles' movie 'A Hard Day's Night'.
I also knew what line came next. "Oh, shut up, John. They're waiting for you in the studio!" I replied. We laughed.
"Very good," John told me, smiling.
Paul glanced at the hallway. "We'd better be quiet before we wake Nell," he warned.
"Yes, mother," John replied. Paul made a face at him.
Ringo turned to me. "Eh, Lee, do ya wanna go out with us?" he asked.
"Me? Oh, no, I wouldn't want to-" I started to protest.
"Naw, Lee," Paul interrupted, "We won't get caught."
"Come 'ed, future girl. You can see what night life was like back in the '60's," John told me, standing and offering me hand to pull me up.
I took it and stood. "I just don't want to get caught and make Neil or Brian mad," I said, "I don't have anywhere else to go if they decide I shouldn't go with you guys, and I don't even know when I'm going home..." Home. It felt really far away now.
George looked at me. "We haven't gotten caught yet, luv," he reassured me, "Now go and put on some clothes so we can get going."
We laughed quietly. I was still wearing Paul's blue and white polka-dot pajamas.
"Nice jammies," Ringo commented.
"Thanks. They're Paul's," I replied. Then I turned to go to our room and change into the clothes I had worn earlier that day, since I didn't have any others. I made a mental note to ask Neil about going shopping soon.
A cool breeze blew through my hair as I stepped off the steps of the hotel and onto the sidewalk. Ringo and Paul led the way.
It was dark outside, but the many street lights and flourescent signs of different shops and clubs lit up the night. I had a hunch that it was about one o' clock in the morning.
There were more people out and about than I'd expected. I saw lots of groups of people, mostly about my age, milling around in the shops and just hanging out on the street corners (why they did that, I have no idea. I would much rather sleep - unless I was with the Beatles, like now!).
I fell in step between John and George. "So fellas," I said, "Where are we going?"
They all shrugged. "Wherever seems like a good dancing spot," Ringo replied.
"Do you like to dance, Lee?" Paul asked me.
I nodded. "Yeah, I love to. I go out a lot with my friends and dance all night sometimes," I replied. "We usually go to this good place that plays really great music, like the Beatles and Rolling Stones, and a couple of other good bands that haven't been formed yet."
We laughed, and George asked me, "Do ya have a lot of friends, then?"
"Yeah," I told him, "There's four of us who like to go dancing: me, Miranda, Jenny, and Audrey. Sometimes Jen and Audrey's boyfriends go with us."
"Do you have a boyfriend, Lee?" Paul asked. I shook my head.
"Nope. I had one my sophomore year of high school, but we realized that we really just liked each other as friends, you know," I said. The others nodded.
"Seems to me you've been deprived, Leeanne!" John exclaimed. We all laughed.
Soon we reached a street corner. I looked across the street and saw a sign that said: 'BEANS - the only place for dancing!' I pointed to the sign and said, "Why don't we check that place out?"
The others read the sign. "What does it say?" John asked, squinting at it.
'Oh, that's right,' I thought, 'John wears glasses.' Since he was near-sighted, he couldn't read the sign.
"Where're your glasses, Johnny Boy?" Ringo asked.
"In me other suit pocket," John replied.
George read the sign to him, and John remarked, "What a strange name for a dance club. Hope they don't actually serve beans there; who knows what the place'd smell like?"
We laughed, and Ringo said, "Not much different than your house, then." I smiled.
"Aye, well, look who's talking, Ring," John retorted, having to get the last word in. Ringo made a face at John.
"So, shall we check out this 'BEANS' place?" Paul asked, changing the subject back. Everyone agreed, and we waited for a car to pass before crossing the street.
John stepped closer to me. "Here. Why don't ya hold me hand when we cross so ya don't get run over, luv," he whispered. I looked at him. I wasn't sure if he was serious or not.
He held out his hand to me. The song "I Want To Hold Your Hand" started playing in my head. I didn't do anything but stand there. I didn't want to look dumb if John was just joking around, you know.
"Aw, s'alright, Lee," John said, reaching for my hand and lacing his fingers through mine. My hand tingled.
This was kinda wierd to me. I mean, in real life, this music group is disbanded and this guy is dead, you know. And besides, I didn't want to "mess up" the future by getting attached to a Beatle or doing something that might mess the future up, you know. Who knows what I've messed up so far anyway.
We started across the street to check out the dance place, John and me hand-in-hand. Before we entered the place, I asked, "What if someone recognizes you?"
"Aw, we have sunglasses we can wear if worse comes to worse," George said.
"I have me hat with me, too," John added, pulling out a cloth hat from his suit pocket, then placing it on his head. It was the hat (or like it anyway) he wore on 'A Hard Day's Night'. I really like that hat. I've looked everywhere in stores for one because I've really been wanting one, but I haven't be able to find one yet. It has to be just right, you know. Maybe I should look around here in 1964 for one - someone's bound to have one.
George opened the door of the 'BEANS' club and we entered. Music was playing on a large turntable in the corner. There were shelves of records beside that. A couple of people were looking through the records. The room was dimly lit, with a big dance floor and a sparkly disco ball hanging from the ceiling (well, I doubt they called it a disco ball yet, but you know). There was a refreshment bar in the corner with stools, and tables were nearby. A few people were over there, but most of the people in this club were dancing - there was a large crowd on the big dance floor.
"This place doesn't look half that bad," Ringo commented. We nodded in agreement.
"Aye," John added, "Considering the name, it's pretty neat." I smiled.
We then split up in our own ways. Ringo went off to dance, George headed toward the refreshment bar, and John pulled me over to the record shelves. Paul followed us.
Once there, we started leafing through records and pulling out ones we liked. I saw John immediately give the DJ an Elvis Presley record. I smiled. I knew John loved Elvis. Me, I could live without him, but I respect him because, as you might know, he inspired John to become a musician.
There were lots of records of 'popular' guys, like Chuck Berry, Jerry Lee Lewis, and of course the Beatles. There were also a lot of records by groups I'd never heard of before. The Beatles 'new' album was there, which was 'A Hard Day's Night'. I also found several copies of one of the Beatles' first albums put out here (in fact, I think it was their first album here) called 'Introducing the Beatles'. I picked it up and said, "Boy, this's hard to come across these days."
John looked up at me. "Not in these days, future girl. Just stroll down to your friendly neighborhood record store and buy a copy," he said, laughing. I laughed also. I'd forgotten somehow that I wasn't in 1985 anymore. 'Maybe I could buy Beatle records here, and see if somehow I could take them back with me,' I thought. That would be neat, to have mint-condition albums to listen to. Don't get me wrong - I wouldn't sell them for anything! I have my own turntable at home, and I want to collect all of the Beatles' albums on vinyl. I only have a couple - the early ones are hard to come across.
I picked up 'Introducing the Beatles' and held it up, asking John and Paul, "Do you mind? I mean, it's been a while since I've heard Beatles music, and I've heard you can go insane from deprivation, you know." That got a laugh out of them, and both of them shrugged.
"It's a free country," John mumbled, continuing to look through records.
Paul looked at me. "We don't mind. Go on, luv," he told me. I nodded, and handed the DJ the Beatles album. After a while, we left to mingle around.
The song "I'm Gonna Find My Baby" by Chuck Berry was playing at the moment. I'd heard it a few times and hummed along as I followed John and Paul to the refreshment bar. I waved to Ringo as I passed him - he was still dancing. He was enjoying himself already, dancing around with lots of girls surrounding him.
George was sitting by a big bowl of punch on the bar's counter, talking to a pretty blonde girl who was a waitress. We walked over to him and I sat on a stool next to George. Paul sat on the other side of George and John chose to stand. George introduced us to the girl. Her name was Sherry. She looked like a snob to me, but I nodded politely to her. When she saw me, she gave me a disgusted look and leaned closer to George. Well! Definitely a snob out after a famous rock star to hang all over just to say that she did. The three boys talked with Sherry, obviously drawn to her by her gorgeous blonde hair and, well, her rather large chest, to put it nicely. I stayed out of the conversation and watched people dance.
Ringo soon came over, all out of breath from dancing, with a girl hanging on his arm. I rolled my eyes, but giggled to myself. I personally wouldn't want someone hanging all over me, but it didn't seem to bother any of them yet - they must be used to it, I guess.
Ringo got a drink and stayed for a while to talk to the others and the Sherry-girl, his arm around the girl hanging on him - whose name was Lauren, which I found out later in the conversation. I only half-listened to the conversation, totally bored with what they were saying - yes, believe it, the Beatles can be boring sometimes. I just stared out into the crowd of dancers. I would go out on the floor and dance, but I have a thing about dancing alone. It just feels funny to me, you know. I just don't like to do it.
Ringo was the first one to notice how bored I was with the conversation. He stepped over to me, dragging the girl on his arm. "Do ya wanna dance, luv? You don't seem to be gettin' in this conversation."
I nodded, relieved by his offer to get away from this snotty girl and actually do something. She had the other three Beatles totally drooling over her, which made me sick.
I followed Ringo and the leech on his arm over to the dance floor. "See You Later, Alligator" started playing, and everyone was singing "See you later alligator, after while crocodile" together. It was fun.
I didn't really know how to dance '60's style, you know. Ringo showed me a couple of dance moves, and I just watched people around me dance and copied their moves - some were really funny looking, but I guess all moves, even the ones today, are a little funny once you think about it.
That song ended, and "Please Please Me" started playing. I really liked that song. It was from the album I gave the DJ.
My gaze drifted toward the bar where the other Beatles were. John wasn't there anymore, and Paul and George had turned to face the crowd of dancers since Sherry had left to help other customers. Then, out of the corner of my eye, I saw a crowd of about seven giggling girls rush toward George and Paul. 'Oh, no,' I thought, hoping that we wouldn't have to leave already because of this. I also hoped that the crowd wouldn't do any bodily damage to Paul and George, you know.
Paul and George looked up and saw the girls just as they were only several feet away. Among the cries of the girls were: "Dance with me, Paul!", "George!", "Please please me, Paul!', and "George, I love you!"
Thinking quick, Paul and George ran in opposite directions to avoid the girls. The screaming girls ran into the counter of the bar. I smiled. Paul and George gave a cry of triumph, then quickly went into the crowd of dancers to avoid any other attempts by the girls. The girls were now sitting at the counter, looking dejected. One was even crying. I rolled my eyes. Gee whiz, if they wanted to talk to or dance with the Beatles, all they had to do was approach them halfway calm and ask them to dance. Goodness, it's not that hard. And Paul or George would probably be happy to dance, too. 'Hormones,' I thought, shaking my head. Then I thought about any other 'attacks' that might be made on the Beatles - I hoped we didn't have to leave.
"Don't look so worried, luv," a voice from behind me said. I turned. It was John. "We aren't leaving yet."
I smiled. "Does that happen often?" I asked him.
John shrugged. "Aye, sometimes. It's fun for the kids anyway." I nodded.
"Yeah, I suppose," I replied.
We danced around with Ringo and his leech for a while. Soon more girls were dancing closer to John and Ringo - a couple latched onto them. That just made me sick.
A slow (well, slower) song started playing later on. It was Phil Spector's "To Know Him Is To Love Him". I really liked this song - I don't really like Phil Spector - I don't like what he did to Paul's "The Long and Winding Road" - he and John didn't get along later in John's life - but anyway, I just don't like him, but I do like this song. I hoped someone would ask me to dance.
No one did straight away. Ringo was dancing with his leech (surprise, surprise), some pretty brunette had snagged John, and I saw George dancing with that Sherry girl - ick. I couldn't see Paul anywhere. Slightly down, I headed towards the refreshment bar to sit and hope some good-looking guy would ask me to dance.
I didn't make it all of the way to the bar. Someone called out my name. I turned around, and smiled. It was Paul. He smiled at me, and held out his hand. "Will you do me the honor of dancing with me, fair miss?" he said, bowing. I took his hand and curtsied, playing along.
"I would be a pleasure, kind sir," I replied. We both laughed. Paul led me over to the dance floor and slipped his hands around my waist. My hands went on his shoulders. I couldn't believe it. I was dancing with Paul McCartney!
"We did this song for the BBC," Paul sid to me. I nodded in acknowledgement. "Oh, did ya already know that, Lee?" he asked, sounding slightly annoyed.
I shook my head. "No, actually, I didn't know."
Paul looked surprised. "Really? Well, we did it sometime in July of 1963. Only when we sang it, we changed the words from 'him' to 'her'."
"Who sang the lead?" I asked, "John?"
Paul nodded. "Aye. I really liked doing this song. Me and George did some fine harmonies on it, too."
I smiled. "Of course. I really like this song, too."
"Maybe I could get ahold of a copy of our version and play it for ya," Paul suggested.
I smiled again and nodded. "Yeah, I'd like that a lot."
"And if I can't get ahold of a copy, then we'll just hafta play it live for ya, luv," Paul told me.
I got an electric surge down my back and nodded vigorously. Play for me? Wow. 'I still haven't heard them play live yet. Now that will be an experience I'll never forget! I hope I'll be able to hear them soon.'
The song ended (much too quickly for me!), and Paul's arms slid off me. I thanked him for dancing with me.
"Aw, no problem, luv," he replied. We headed over to the refreshment bar, and sat down there at the counter. My stomach rumbled.
"Eh, we'll hafta get ya something to satisfy your stomach, then," Paul said. He rang a little bell at the end of the counter. "Anything in particular ya want?"
I shrugged. "A sandwich or something like that would be fine."
We ended up ordering a turkey sandwich and a Coke for me, and chips (fries) and a mixture of scotch and Coke for Paul (which Paul very nicely paid for - he kind of had to since I had no money with me - it was on top of the dresser at the hotel). When we got our meal, Paul offered me a sip of his drink. I took his glass, saying that I didn't drink very often. I took a little sip of the concoction and made a face. "Yuck," I said, handing him back the glass, "I don't like it very much." I took a gulp of my plain old Coke.
Paul smiled and took a big swig. "I do, luv," he commented. We talked for awhile as I munched on my sandwich.
Paul was fun to talk to. He made several jokes as we talked, yet he could be very serious too. I found myself laughing and smiling all of the time when I was around the Beatles. Just the vibes and good feelings they made were happy!
John came over later, sat down on the other side of me, and ordered a beer. "Heya, Lee," he said to me. I smiled at him.
"Hello, Johnny," I replied. He made a face at me.
"Johnny? Well, well," he told me. I laughed.
When the waiter came back with his drink, John grabbed it and drank about half of it all at once. 'Gee whiz,' I thought, finishing my sandwich. John kept drinking his beer, and soon it was gone. He saw me looking at him in amazement, then said, "Oh, sorry luv, didja want some then?" and laughed. I forced a smile and scooted closer to Paul. I hoped John and the others wouldn't get drunk. I've been around several drunks before, and I do not like it at all.
John ordered another beer, and Paul finished his scotch-&-coke drink, ordering just a scotch this time. 'Oh, no,' I thought, getting up to leave. I didn't want to be around when the swearing and violence started. I'd read about John and his temper, and knew he could be violent. Freaky.
"Lee, luv, why doncha stay?" John called at me. His eyes were hazy-looking already; I think he was on his third glass now. "I'll buy ya a drink."
"No thanks," I mumbled, heading to the dance floor. I heard him and Paul laugh loudly at something, I disappeared into the crowd.
Not wanting to dance alone, I looked around for Ringo or George. I spotted Ringo over at a table with four girls all squished into a two-seater booth, with him inbetween two of them. One was totally drooling and stuck onto Ringo, her head pressed on his shoulder. The other clasped one of his hands and had her arm around his waist. Ringo, totally ignoring the two girls hanging on him, was talking to the other two girls across from him. They were actually calm and talking back.
Deciding not to go to that table, I turned to look for George. I found him dancing with a short brown-haired girl. They were talking and laughing. He looked over her shoulder and saw me. I waved and he motioned for me to come over.
I wove my way through the dancing people and made my way to his side. The short girl dancing with him smiled at me. "Hello," she greeted me. I returned her greeting, thinking, 'Why can't they all be this nice?'
I said to George, "You seem to be having fun." He smiled and nodded. The song that was playing ended and the girl smiled at George.
"Thanks for dancing with me, George," she thanked. George smiled and bowed.
"My pleasure. See ya 'round, Cindy," he said to her. With a wave, Cindy disappeared into the crowd.
"Why did ya say that, luv?" George asked me, referring to the 'having fun' comment.
I shrugged. "Well, Ringo has girls hanging all over him, and Paul and John are over at the bar getting drunk, and I was wondering about you," I told him.
George glanced over toward the bar area. "Paul won't get that drunk; he just doesn't drink that much. We'd better watch out for John, though. If he gets too bad we'll hafta stop him.
I nodded. "Aren't you having fun, Lee?" George asked me. I nodded again.
"Yeah, I am," I replied. The song "Heartbreak Hotel" began to play. I instantly looked over toward the bar and saw John stand up on one of the stools, a beer in hand. "Oh, no," I moaned. This was one of John's favorite songs. Who knows what he'll do - he looked pretty drunk to me.
George danced around a little, but kept a sharp eye on John, who was now waving his arms around in the air and singing intentionally off-key with the song. A crowd of female admirers were standing around him, cheering him on and singing along.
"Why doesn't Paul make him get down?" I asked, concerned. George looked around.
"I don't see Macca anywhere. Musta had to relieve himself," he replied, laughing a little, then he saw my look. "Don't worry, luv. If he falls, the girls'll catch 'im."
I nodded. "Yeah, you're right." I started to turn around to dance.
Everything happened in slow motion after that: a screaming girl lunging at John's legs, John shouting a long string of slurred cuss words, John slipping and falling hard onto a few girls, George shouting and racing to the bar, a girl crying "Omigosh, he's dead!", Paul appearing at the edge of the dance floor and running to John's side, Ringo jumping up and joining Paul, girls screaming and piling on top of John.
"Give him some air, people!" Paul yelled, pushing girls aside to get to John.
I ran to the bar after a moment of disbelief and concern and started pulling girls off of John. The other Beatles were doing that already. 'Oh, John, please be okay,' I prayed in my head as the girls all around began to back off.
John was laying on his back on the floor. I clasped his hand and cried, "John! Can you hear me?" I was worried.
He opened his eyes. "I'm a stupid shit, ain't I?" he said, sitting up. I breathed a sigh of relief. He was a little shaky, but I figured that was mostly because of his drinks. Paul and I helped him stand up, and John took a few shaky steps, then collapsed. A girl to my left started sobbing.
Ringo looked at all of us and nodded to the door. We all nodded in reply. The party was over. It was time to go home (or back to the hotel anyway). Girls were crowding around us and asking if John was okay. We told them it was late (even though I thought it was pretty early - ha) so we needed to go back to the hotel, but they kept bugging us. I was hoping nobody would follow us back to the hotel!
Before we left, John lifted his head and bellowed, "Hey, girls! I'm fine, so stop worryin' 'bout me, hear?" That brought out screams of relief and amusement. I smiled to myself.
As we neared the door, some girl ran up to me and handed me John's hat. I guess it had fallen off his head when he fell. I thanked the girl nicely. I mean, she could've kept the hat for herself, but she gave it back. I stuck the very cool hat on my head, and opened the door for the others. We left the dance club.
The night had grown much cooler than it had been earlier. I shivered. Paul saw me and came over to my side. He pulled off his suit jacket. "Here, luv," he said, holding it out. He helped me put it on, and I thanked him. I began to grow warmer. His jacket smelled like aftershave and cigarettes. I smiled. For some reason this was comforting.
I was walking beside Ringo and George. "Nice hat," Ringo said to me, laughing. "I think John has one just like it."
I laughed with him and George. "Yep, I noticed," I replied.
We reached a street we had to cross. A car was coming our way, and John jumped out into the road. "John!" Ringo cried, "Get outta the damn road!" I bit my lip, hoping John would move or the car would stop and not hit him.
John just laughed and hopped around in the road, the car coming closer. It was going really fast, apparently not seeing John for some reason. My heart raced.
"Move!" I yelled at John, running out into the road. The car's headlights blinded me momentarily. I recovered and grabbed John arm, pulling him quickly onto the sidewalk just as the car zoomed by, it's wheels flattening a bottle cap on the road. "And just to think that could've been you," I said to John, my heart slowly returning to a normal speed. He ignored me and stared into the darkness of an unlit shop window.
The others applauded as they crossed the street. George said, "For your quick thinking and bravery, we award this daring young lady with the Beatles' own special award: the Headshaker!"
"What in the world is that?" I asked, keeping one eye on John as he pranced around on the sidewalk, jumping over cracks and totally oblivious of our conversation.
"Everytime ya do something we think is great, all of us go..." Paul started.
"Wooo!" they all cried in unison (except for John - he was hopping parking meters now), doing their famous shout and shaking their heads. I laughed so hard, tears came to my eyes. The other three laughed with me.
"Thanks, guys!" I cried, smiling broadly, wiping a tear away from my eye. We reached the entrance of the hotel and entered.
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