Wait

Chapter Two

John used his arms to hoist himself from the mattress after the coldness in the room penetrated his skin that caused him to wake up. The lights were still out but he knew it was already morning. He fumbled for his pants, quickly putting them on as he stood up. The others weren’t around, leaving him with this woman who was snoring lightly under the blankets in his bed which was on the bottom bunk. He rolled the mattress and placed it under the bed carefully so she wouldn’t wake up. John looked at her. He couldn’t recall her telling him her name while they were in the club last night. He was too pissed to care or to remember.

The door opened and Paul came in holding a brown bag. “Morning, Johnny,” he said, settling the bag down. George came after him, eating a huge chunk of bread.

“What’s so good in this morning, Macca?” John scratched his chest. “I woke up with all of ye gone. Where you’ve been eh?”

“We went looking for something to eat. We’ve got one for you, it’s there in the bag.” Paul was looking in the mirror while combing his hair. George just sat on his bed, away from the two. He had become quiet since that night when John punched him. They never talked about it but the two hadn’t spoken much to each other as well.

John bent down and looked for his shirt. “Not hungry. George, would ye like to eat mine too?”

“You mean, I can have yours?” George’s eyes widened, surprised that John had started talking to him. He was done with his food yet he still was hungry.

“Yeah sure. Help yourself.” John smirked, finally had his shirt on, walked around the room. “Where’s Pete?”

“He was with us but went out with a bird. He’ll be back later.” Paul smiled. It was nice to see that his friends were now sensible; being buddies and pals as they were before.

John looked at George eating in his heart’s content. He looked at his friend’s face right where he punched him; his once-swollen cheek which by now was becoming yellowish-brown in color. He felt sorry for hurting him; he felt sorry for acting dumb, for letting his frustrations swallow him. John grabbed his coat and shoes and put them on. He made it to the door but flinched when he heard the woman murmur something incoherent in her sleep. Paul and George grinned but John just shook his head.

“Paul, when she wakes up, do help her on her way out before Schuyler finds out we brought a bird in our room. I’m goin’ out for a while.”

“As usual, Johnny." Paul winked. "Leave it to me.”

“Don’t let George shag ‘er too, okay?”

They all laughed at John’s remark. John was trying to be funny but his made-up smile suddenly faded as soon as he was out in the streets. He instinctively wandered around the town with a cigarette between his lips until he reached the back of the large building where he would often go at times like this. John hadn’t come here for a while. Long nights spent in gigs, and obviously with women, John had come to realize what he had been doing with his life here. Was this really the way he planned things to happen? He said he’d prove to Mimi that one day he could make a living with rock ‘n roll. That was his first, best goal; that’s why he was here. But now this didn’t only concern his dear aunt at all. Sitting on an old log, seeing only a dim view of the outside, the rather dark and empty environment gave him the time and space to contemplate.