My Beatles Fan Fic - Chapter 2

[domino43]

~ Chapter 2 ~



The last hand was almost over. Katorea had studied each of the Beatles and had figured out each one’s bluff giveaways. John drew in a sharp breath through his nose. Ringo tapped his ring finger on his cards. Paul got a worried look, and then realized what he was doing and tried to look normal. George took a long drag off his cigarette.

John laid down his cards. “There y’are boys. I win again. You’re lucky we weren’t playing for money. You’d all be broke then.” Katorea knew that John had bluffed, and yes, even cheated a bit, but she was a sport and didn't say anything.

“The only reason you won three times is because you cheated,” Paul states.

“Do you have any proof?” John replies.

“No, but I know you, Lennon. You cheated.”

“If you don’t have proof, don’t accuse me of cheating,” John responds. “Now,” he turns to Katorea,

“I believe you were going to play a game with us. Are you ready?”

“You bet! Let’s play,” she responds. “Can I deal?”

“Sure, why not. Here you are.” John hands the cards to Katorea. “Are you sure you’ve got everything?”

“I’m sure I’ll manage.”

“Okay. If you need any help, just ask. I’m sure me or Ring can help.”

Katorea starts to clumsily shuffle the cards. The boys look at her in disbelief. This is going to be an easy game. All of a sudden, Katorea is shuffling like a pro. “Okay, boys, five card stud is the game. One-eyed jacks and red ladies are wild.” There is a look of wonder among the band. They can almost see a ‘card shark’ visor magically appear on her. Maybe this won’t be such an easy game after all.

After six hands, George speaks up, “You’ve beat us six hands in a row! How do you do it?!”

“Easy, while you played those other games and I was sitting out, I learned all of your bluff giveaways. And I can tell when someone is cheating. It’s kind of a gift.”

“Yeah, but how did you learn how to play so well?” Ringo inquires.

“Well, I told you I had three older brothers, didn’t I? They taught me when I was little.”

“Why didn’t you tell us you could play?” Paul asks.

“You didn’t ask,” she bluntly states. “So, you ready for another game?”

“I think we should talk. I can’t lose doing that,” John says sarcastically. As they are getting up to go sit back down on the couch and chairs, John leans over to the rest of the guys and whispers, “It’s a good thing we weren’t playing strip poker, or she would be the only one wearing any clothes!”

They sit down in the same places they were before they went to play cards. Paul breaks the silence, “So, are you single?”

“Yes. And looking. Well, looking for one particular someone, but looking,” she answers, looking in George’s direction.

“How old are you?” Ringo inquires.

“Nineteen. I’m gonna be twenty on the second of October, though.”

“Hey, my birthday is the ninth of October,” John points out.

“Oh, great. Now I have to change my birthday. Who would want to be born in the same month as you?” Katorea teases.

John throws a little pillow at her that was on the couch. It hits her in the face. She throws it back at John, who ducks behind George. It hits George on the arm. The next thing you know, everyone is running to get a pillow off a bed. Pillows start flying everywhere. Laughter fills the room. John picks up Katorea and puts her on the couch. He starts beating her with his pillow. Paul goes to rescue her, but John grabs on to her arm. Paul, still holding Katorea in his arms, falls backwards into Ringo. John is still attached to Katorea, so he falls on top of her. George stops and laughs at them. They all look at each other and smile. They get up and tackle him. They are rolling around the floor in a heap, beating each other with pillows. Just then, Norm walks in. No one sees him. Then Katorea notices him standing there. She just stops and says, “Hello, Uncle Norm.”

The boys all stop and look at Norm. “Hello,” they say in unison.

“Please tell me this isn’t what it looks like,” Norm says. {In case the reader is wondering, this is what it looked like: Katorea was lying on the floor, on her back, with George laying on her lengthwise along her left leg. Paul was laying the same way along her right leg. Ringo was at her ankles, on his back, underneath George and Paul. John was on top of them all, sort of sprawled out. Quite a scene, and not one Norm wanted to see his niece in.} They all get up quickly and straighten their clothes.

“It’s all right, Uncle Norm. We were just having a pillow fight. Nothing happened. None of them tried anything. Besides, I started it. Well, I helped start it. John was the one that threw the first pillow, but I deserved it.”

“Yeah, ‘Unkie Norm’,” John states, “it was all her fault.”

Katorea turns to him, “You dirty traitor!” He just smiles at her.

“Well, whatever happened, or didn’t happen, you guys have a press conference to get ready for. Go fix yourselves up. We leave in twenty minutes. Katorea, are you coming with us, or are you going to stay here? Or are you going back home?” Norm questions.

“I want to go with you guys, if that’s okay.”

“Boys?” Norm asks them.

“Fine with me,” Ringo answers.

“I’d be delighted to have her come along,” Paul states.

“The more the merrier,” George responds.

“Just make sure she doesn’t have any pillows with her,” John retorts.

“Okay, Katorea,” Norm tells her, “you’ll be riding with Shake and I. You can stand with us to the side of the boys.”

“Thank you, Uncle Norm.” She gives him a hug. Then she turns to the boys, “Does one of you have a brush or a comb I can borrow? My hair is a mess.” They all pull combs out of their pockets, for a Beatles never goes anywhere without a comb. She takes George’s, because his hair has pretty much the same texture as hers and besides, he’s the closest to her.

After everyone is ready, it is time to go down to the cars. The Beatles get into one car, and Norm, Shake, and Katorea get into another.