The Aylesbury Chronicles

Chapter 4

Andy's POV

Nicky and I were busy playing Space Invaders when my phone started buzzing. I whipped it up and answered it, it was Larry. "Hello?" I said upon picking up my phone. "Hi Andy, how are you doing?" Larry asked. "Doing alright, I don't know what alright is at that point but I'm not sick right now, just playing Space Invaders with my big, I mean, little-not-so-little brother," I said. Larry just chuckled. "Sometimes I forget Nick's younger than you, you're so bony and short," Larry said. "So are you," I said. Well, Larry and I are the same height but we're also very skinny and bony. We're barely gaining weight due to our illnesses. "So, I wanna tell you that me, Nick, Stu, Dave, Mart, Richard, Jon, Sarah and Keren are going to sleep over at your house," Larry said. Sleepover? At our house?

I put the call on hold and nudge Nicky for a bit to make him pause the game. "What's up?" Nicky asked. "Our friends are sleeping over at our house," I told him. "Hold up, what? Does dada allow this?" Nicky asked. Now that I'm questioning it, dada's very overprotective. Well, he's not always that way but he became more overprotective ever since I got sick. But I have a bad feeling about dada's reaction towards Larry when he visits. He has cystic fibrosis and when he gets sick, I'll get sick. "I don't even know, but we gotta ask dada," I said. "Alright, I'll ask for you, you can talk to Larry more if you want to," Nicky said, standing up in order to go up to dada. I then continued the call. "So?" Larry asked. "We'll let our dad know, he's a bit overprotective," I said.

"He actually has the right to be a little bit overprotective but not too much, look we're both suffering from life-threatening terminal illnesses, sometimes there's a reason to. My dad, Bono, became overprotective of me when you were diagnosed with cancer because he's worried that you'll get my bug. But since you're now allowed to get out and even go to school, I'm not sure what your dad would think of me, going into another sick person's house," Larry said. I thought about it for a bit before I continued the conversation. "If any of our dads is not okay with it, it's okay if you can't come," I said. "Yeah, but boy, your dad is much stricter than mine, my dad had to convince your dad before allowing me to come in," Larry said. "But okay, if my dad doesn't allow it, it's fine, okay?" I asked.

"Okay, but I was also wondering, how come uncle Fletch and uncle Alan weren't overprotective towards Dave?" Larry asked. "Dave's cancer is stage 2 and isn't severe, he isn't on chemo thankfully because the tumour shrank and was removed," I said. "That's not fair, I mean, that's good for Dave that he's not as ill as we are, we cannot breathe properly without our oxygen tanks and we're so thin and weak but that cannot define us, we should live like normal kids, we just breathe differently," Larry said. "Yeah, you're right Larry," I said.

Nicky's POV

I went up to dada who is washing the dishes if our friends can come over. "Hey dada, can my friends Dave, Mart, Nick, Stu, Richard, Larry, Jon, Sarah and Keren come over?" I asked. "Of course, Nicky, but not Larry," dada said. "Not Larry? Why? He's literally Andy's best friend," I asked. Andy really wanted Larry to come over but Larry also suffers from cystic fibrosis so it's gonna be a challenge. Especially because they both suffer from terrible lung problems. "Larry has cystic fibrosis, if Andy catches the germs he has in his lungs, he'll die," dada said. "Oh," I said. I needed to find a way to convince him so I grabbed my phone and called uncle Bono. "Oh, hi Nicky, you alright?" Bono asked as soon as he picked up the phone. "Hi uncle Bono, I have a question," I asked.

"Go on," Bono said. "Will Larry spread his germs to Andy? We're worried about him because my dada wouldn't allow it," I asked. "Actually, you don't have to worry too much about it, the bacteria Larry has in his lungs isn't severe enough to infect Andy so he's all good," Bono said. "Can you convince him or something? It's so hard to convince an overprotective father," I asked. "Sure, I've actually been there before, I was overprotective towards Larry but the thing is, it won't help him no matter how sick he is," Bono said. "Really?" I asked. "Yeah, but all I needed to do is trust in God, and that He would protect Laz, so I did and Laz is really the most innocent and joyous little boy I've ever seen," Bono said. "He really is," Nicky said. "Okay, I'll tell your dad about it and convince him that Larry isn't contagious," Bono said.