Junk and Other Stories

Meanwhile Upstairs...

"Come on, David!" Davy cried. "Surely you can do better than that!"

"Well, I'm sorry," David replied huffily. "I just haven't been the luckiest checkers player in the world. And besides, I think you're cheating."

"Me? Cheat? You're completely out of you birds," said Davy as he tripled-jumped David. "There! Suck it up and king me!"

David muttered angrily but kinged Davy's winning checker piece. Freddie watched them contemptuously, his legs elegantly crossed over each other.

"Everyone knows you cheat at checkers, Davy," he sniffed. "It might wash with us but you don't have to do it to the new kid."

"Hey, less of that 'new kid' stuff!" David snapped. "It makes me feel like a lesser being."

"Well, you kind of are, compared to me," said Freddie. He grinned and struck a glamorous pose, his head tilted back, one hand on his hip, and the other draped over his knee. David pretended not to notice and went back to contemplating his next move.

"You guys are ridiculous," George spoke up. He had been watching the game of checkers from his regular spot on the fluffiest white cloud. His fingers absentmindedly brushed against the strings of the sitar was sitting in his lap.

"Ridiculous?" Freddie repeated.

"Yeah," said George. "You're always looking for a fight, Freddie."

"Am not!" cried Freddie.

"Are too!" George retorted.

"I am not!"

"Are too!" said Davy.

"I am not!"

"Are too!" said David.

"I am NOT!"

"Are too!" the other three chorused.

"I am not, so shut your bloody mouths!" Freddie shouted, his cheeks flushing alarmingly red.

There was a small ripple of laughter, then everyone went back to what they had been doing. Davy continued to beat David at checkers. George went back to playing with his sitar. Freddie went back to being fabulous. There a few minutes of silence, then someone came rushing up to the group. This someone had long, floppy, blond hair and stubble on his chin.

"Hey, you guys!" he said brightly. 

"Hi Kurt," the other four replied.

"You haven't seen John around here, have you?" Kurt asked.

"Which John?" said Davy. "We know a lot of those!"

"Yeah, Kurt, remember to clarify your John," Freddie added.

Kurt rolled his eyes and began his speech all over again. "You haven't seen John Lennon around here, have you?"

Davy, Freddie and David glanced at each other. They all looked back at Kurt and shook their heads. Apparently no one had seen John the entire afternoon. Kurt looked a little dismayed but thanked the group for their time and sloped off. No one spoke for a while, then David broke the silence.

"How many Johns do we know?" he asked.

"John Wayne is up here," said Freddie. "And I think John Entwistle is too."

"Then there's John F. Kennedy," Davy added.

"What about John Deacon?" said David. "Is he up here too?"

Freddie looked horribly offended. "No, John Deacon is not dead!" he said indignantly.

Davy rolled his eyes at Freddie (who often got a bit prickly when someone made him mad) and turned to look at George. He had been awfully quiet since Kurt had showed up. Davy abandoned his game of checkers and sidled up to George. He propped one elbow up on the cloud were George was sitting.