Beatlemania!

Zak grew quickly. Or maybe time passed quickly; I wasn’t too sure which one it was. Soon, it was already Thanksgiving time, and I ached to be in New York so I could celebrate it properly.

Here in England, people ignored it. I took the day off work and spent the day mooching around. It had been a busy month. Paul was back to ignoring me – surprise, surprise. The others were tactful not to mention him in conversation, and I’m sure they never mentioned me when I wasn’t around.

John and Yoko’s exhibit was opening on December first. They had already decided on a name, “Half-a-Wind.”

For the new single, the boys had dug up the good old satin uniforms and filmed “Hello Goodbye” on stage.

You see, they were being asked to perform on far too many shows. Instead, they sent the video to perform while they sat comfortably at home.

Paul’s “Hello Goodbye” was released with John’s “I Am the Walrus.” Both claimed great responses.

The BBC banned “I Am the Walrus,” probably because John mentioned knickers. I was upset, because I genuinely liked the song, but John was thrilled.

“Banned music is more popular than any other kind,” he insisted with a gleeful smile.

“Maybe for you it was,” I teased. “But my mum would never have let me buy a banned
record.”

I was setting up for Yoko and John’s exhibit by the end of November. It was entitled “Yoko and Me.” I was a bit surprised about this, and I questioned him about that later.

“I just wanted to help her out anonymously. She’s a cool bird,” he shrugged carelessly.

The idea of going to India was originally put forth by George, more specifically after the Maharishi’s talks in Wales. I know John was keen to go, and Paul and Ringo wouldn’t say no to a vacation.

They wanted me to come too, but I was hesitant. Doesn’t India mean dirty, poor begging children, rugged villages, and strange food?

I felt bad judging a place I had never been to, but I was nevous all the same. Especially when it was decided that we would be going in early 1968 – end of January, I believe.
~

As November became December, I went holiday shopping with nothing to go on. I bought George some books on Indian meditation, along with a case for his sitar. Pattie got a beautifully crafted red plate for the holiday season. I bought Maureen the same in green.

I bought John a book on good driving. I’m not joking. I was seriously concerned about his terrible driving habits.

I was walking by the grocery store when I noticed a pet sale. There were cats, birds, dogs, parrots, even pigs.

There was one dog in particular that reminded me of Harold, the dog that had tagged along on that one day in 1964 when I showed the boys around. It was a beautifully large dog with a slobbery grin on its face.

“I’ll take this one, Miss,” I called.
~
“You bought me a dog!” Paul was shocked.

“I told you a while ago I would,” I mumbled.

We were silent, remembering our best Christmas together, when we were practically shagging like rabbits. Oh, how wonderful it had been. It had been 1965 – and we didn’t have a care in the world.

“Does she have a name?” Paul was scratching the dog along the ears fondly.

“That’s up to you,” I replied.

“Martha. Her name’s Martha.”

“Merry Christmas, Paul.”
~

We didn’t get together as a Beatle group this year. I spent Christmas with Dad and the family instead. New Years was a quiet affair.

If I still lived in New York I would have crowded into Times Square to watch the ball drop. I actually fell asleep at ten. It was not shaping up to be a great year.

Yes, 1967 didn’t end so well. I was desperately looking towards 1968 for something a bit better.
~
By the time January came, I realized I was horribly unprepared for the inevitable trip. I took a whole Saturday and devoted it to just shopping.

It was so difficult without someone like Pattie or even Maureen to guide me. I was frustrated and empty-handed by lunch.

“Alice?” a strikingly familiar voice called out at me while I was gazing into the Mary Quant window.

I whirled around to see Cynthia Lennon waving excitedly at me.

“Cyn! Oh my goodness it’s been so long!” I called, letting her hug me enthusiastically.

“Far too long,” she conceded. “How have things been?”

I thought about all that had happened since I had last seen Cynthia. There was a part of me that felt terrible for sleeping with this woman’s ex-husband. However, he had been divorced for over a year before we had fooled around.

“Hectic, as usual,” I laughed airily.

“Yes, I can imagine being in the Beatle circle can get very busy,” she smiled.

“How’s Jules?” I asked, eagerly changing the subject.

“Oh he’s great! You know, John’s been visiting him more and more recently; ever since Sgt. Pepper was released,” Cyn informed me.

“Wasn’t it a great album? I can’t wait for the next one,” I gushed like a fan.

“Oh, me neither. Oh, are you still dating Paul?” she inquired politely.

“Oh no! That’s ancient history,” I forced a laugh. “Oh, Mo had a baby boy!”

Cyn sighed with a smile. “Oh how wonderful for them. Tell them congratulations from me.”

“I will!” I promised. “I’m having a terrible shopping day, mind you. I might as well go home.”

“I can help you,” Cynthia offered. “What are you looking for?”

“Light, summery clothes. We’re off to India in a couple of weeks.”

“For how long?” Cynthia asked.

I shrugged. “It’s sort of undecided. George would stay forever if he could, but I don’t think meditation is quite my thing.”

“Of yes; I can imagine. Now come on, there has to be at least a few shops with some light clothes.”

And so we were off. Cynthia was a lovely girl; I had always liked her. We got along very well, and conversation was easy. She was seeing somebody else now; she had met him a few months ago at Julian’s school, and things were going very well.

After two hours, I had more than enough, so I gave Cyn my new number and gave said goodbye with the promise that I would call as soon as I got home from India.
~
“Guess who I ran into the other day?” I asked Maureen as we sat in her living room, playing with baby Zak.

“Just tell me,” Mo smiled. “I hate guessing.”

“Cynthia,” I replied, reaching for my cup of tea.

Maureen raised her eyebrows. “Oh dear; that must have been terribly awkward.”

I shrugged. “Not really, actually. We chatted and she helped me finish up my shopping.”

“Oh, well...I don’t want this to sound too horrible, but once somebody leaves the Beatle circle we all just sort of drift away from them, you know?” her eyes were wide, begging me to just go with it.

“Well she was lovely, and I’ve always liked Cyn,” I sniffed defiantly.

“Oh don’t get me wrong, Alice. Cynthia is a lovely woman; I just...I just might be careful, is all. She might just be trying to weedle her way back into the circle, and that would not be good.”

I laughed airily. “Mo, she’s trying nothing of the sort. She’s seeing some bloke now; he sounds great. And anywho, if she wanted to get into the true Beatle circle she would have come running to you!”

Maureen shook her head. “I don’t think so. Sometimes it feels like you have your own separate circle with the boys. You’ve known them for less time, but you’re deeper into the circle than any of us wives.”

“Zak, don’t do that,” I pulled my handbag out of his mouth and handed him one of Ringo’s drumsticks to suck on. He liked this even more and settled down for a good lick. “You’d better watch out Mo; Zak’s got a feel for drumsticks,” I pointed out.

Maureen laughed. “Ritchie will be proud to hear that.”
~
February came along fast enough. Our trip was set; I was ready to go. Zak was to be left with Mo’s grandparents, and Pattie had invited her sister, Jenny, to come with the group.

The flight was long. I sat with John most of the time, but Jenny had taken to me, and I thought she was just as sweet as her older sister. We had a good giggle about the Beatles at the back of the place while John and George threw things at us when they heard anything rude.

When we finally landed, there were two cars waiting. I was dead tired by this time, and so was Jenny, but the car ride was short lived. We got to the foot of the mountain and there was a group of donkeys waiting to take us up.

Jenny and I exchanged looks. It was going to be a hell of a long trip.