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Maui Hawaii
2024
There was a chill in the air, despite the beautiful tropical setting of palm trees and sandy beaches, surrounding the last two remaining Beatles.
At the moment, in December, the island had a slight drop in temperature, requiring jackets to keep warm.
Regardless of the slightly chilly weather, Maui was always a beautiful place. The Beatles couldn’t deny, all four of them had possessed many great memories of their stay here.
First as a young group of lads, in their early twenties, to later on as mature individuals, the following decades' afterwards.
Yet, the talented musicians once travelled around the globe, in the height of their glory days. Together, the four lads from Liverpool entertained the world, and had many wonderful vacations here upon this very spot.
It never once occur to them, that the first of the fab four was to die, in this divine paradise!
John Lennon and George Harrison stood before the side walk, outside the luxury resort, where Paul McCartney was gunned down, forty-four years ago.
The killer, had originally intended to murder John Lennon, who was residing in New York City at the time, discovered, Paul McCartney and his family took an early Christmas holiday for the entire month, at the Hawaiian Islands.
So the murderer chose to take the shorter trip from California to the island of Maui, where he stalked the ex Beatle. Then, one night, after the famous man and his wife were returning to their beach house from dinner, a mad fan asked for an autograph.
Seeing it easier to sign his name in his drunken stupor, then say no and deal with the disappointment of a fan, the bassist’s signed an old record from the Beatles days. That should have been all, and if it had been, life wouldn’t have changed.
Unfortunately, the crazed man pulled out a gun, and shot the musician at close range.
Paul’s wife Linda, ran for help immediately, but her husband’s injuries were too great, and he was pronounced dead at the scene.
The killer had remained, and sat on the sidewalk, and did not resist arrest.
When John learned Paul had been shot, he immediately inquired which hospital his friend was located.
The caller had the unfortunate duty to fill John in that his beloved Paul was no longer at the hospital, but in the morgue.
Upon hearing such news, John went into a blind rage!
Paul was his friend, his life long companion, and secretly his former lover.
They had broken up a few years ago, but neither intended for that to last long….
And now it really was over!
Enraged, the heartbroken lover smashed the phone! The wretched device that would dare relay such horrible words was soundly punished into pieces, upon the plush carpet.
Yet it was all true, as Lennon soon discovered, when he blindly turned on the television news, to find the dismal announcement on every channel.
John responded by flipping the mind numbing device over, then a table, a few chairs, and began just smashing random item’s until Yoko, his wife, scurried into the room with the commotion.
“John!” The raven haired lady cried out.
Hearing his name, Lennon suddenly froze.
“He’s gone.” The husband replied in a daze, only now looking upon the room laying out in shambles.
“Who?” Yoko demanded to know.
“Paul!” John screamed, then dropped to his knees, breaking down. “He’s been shot!”
Instantly, Yoko was at his side, holding her man, who wept out of control in her arms.
John didn’t issue a public statement until three days later, in which the media criticized him relentlessly.
He was also attacked in the news for not contacting the McCartney family until after the press interview.
The entire experience was an endless amount of torment.
Alas, that was forty-four years ago, and that fucker who killed John’s beloved Paul, will never see the light of day again.
Paul’s widow, Linda, now Linda McCartney Laneski, testified against her husband’s killer before she died, in 1998, for his parole board hearing.
She argued the prisoner would be in danger if released, therefore for his own safety he should remained locked up for the rest of his life.
The woman was right because John would definitely kill him! Never before did The Beatle want someone dead so much, and so badly. Thankfully the bastard will remain behind bars, and will inevitably die there too!
Tragically Paul missed his kids growing up, and even worse, the singers children were fully orphaned upon losing their mother, just eighteen years afterwards!
What secretly nearly killed John, was when he learned the killer had originally intended to kill him!
That was his bullet, and his Paulie took it for him!
The guilt over powered the lead singer into a dark abyss in his mind. The darkness grew, and took over his soul. So in the 1980s, John briefly returned to heroin, and nearly lost his wife and family.
An intervention happened, and even his ex-wife Cynthia was there, along with their shared son, and his aunt Mimi.
Spinning around the circle of people, John saw all of his sisters were gathered together, and his other aunts were seated in the row of chairs afterwards, as well.
Lennon found himself cornered, and couldn’t get his fix. Instead, he was in the middle of an enclosed space, of those who truly cared for him. They were all devotedly united in compelling the former Beatle to go to rehab.
Then Linda McCartney Laneski appeared. She had only recently remarried a movie producer, who gave her that terrible new last name.
However, the ladies new husband Moses Laneski from all accounts, was a decent guy, and was good to all of Paulie’s kids.
Yet, no matter who this woman married, she was Paulie’s widow to him, always. So he stared at Linda, with the same love he had for Stuart Sutcliffe’s fiancé, after his old friend died.
Linda sweetly assured John, that Paul loved him, and would hate to see the state he was currently in now. The Beatle broke down in her lap, just knowing his Paulie really did loved him in return.
It shattered Lennon’s heart, not having the long time boyfriend and companion throughout his life!
So, relenting, a tearful Lennon agreed to accept the treatment he was offered.
John confessed his problem, and entered inpatient service at one of the most prestigious treatment centers in the United States.
He was in that facility for six months, but through therapy and meditation, the man found peace with the world.
Painfully, he learned again how to say goodbye to his departed mother Julia and more recently, his beloved Paul.
John came out clean and sober, and was able to move on, and find better ways of coping with pain, than the nasty habits which almost took his life.
Blissfully, John remained clean and sober since.
As for George Harrison, he had been advised in 1972, by an Indian doctor to quit smoking. Normally the youngest Beatle would scorn the very notion, but the non British physician offered, what was promised to be an effective solution to kick the habit, through meditation.
Surprisingly, the method worked, and the youngest Beatle was the first of the group to quit smoking cigarettes.
George also tried in vain, to get his fellow bandmate Ringo Starr, to attempt this method with the intended goal to help control the drummers drinking and drug intake.
Yet the blue eyed man refused to even consider giving anything up. To be honest, it was frightening to think about the very Idea of living without his indulgences.
However, these habits were more important to the eldest Beatle than the very air which blew through his lungs. Starr just knew how to appear altogether, even when he was internally crumbling at the seems.
Lennon was below a hundred pounds when he entered treatment.
The slightly older musician was just better at hiding his problems.
Unfortunately, Ringo fell under the radar, with all the drama between John’s addiction, and Paul McCartney’s death.
Very few people knew, Starr’s wife Barbara Bach left him, after seven years of marriage. It was because of his drinking and drug use, which made the drummer violent.
The gorgeous James Bond model, got herself clean, and left the lost cause husband behind.
With the end of his marriage, the drummer of the band just spiraled into darkness.
In 1990, he announced his retirement from music and show business, but the truth was, Ringo's entire routine centered around his drinking and drug use.
He died in 1998, shortly after Paul McCartney’s widow, of cirrhosis of the liver and lung cancer. His body expired with a lit cigarette in one hand and a bottle of wine clutch close to his body, in the other.
It was a heartbreaking sight!
Now the two remaining Beatles, both John and George stared at the spot, poor Paul once laid.
“Why do you come here, and do this to yourself?” George asked, placing his hand upon his companions shoulder.
“Because this is where he left his body, and his soul was freed.” John replied never looking up from the pavement, where his beloved spent his last moments alive.
“Yes, but his soul has been freed, and has been with you, and his children, ever since.” Harrison assured, pulling his old friend into a side embrace.
Lennon just rested his head upon George’s inviting shoulder, where the two cuddled in a side hug. Slyly, Harrison began to move his friend away from the dreadful spot, and towards the beautiful beaches, just a brief walk away.
“You’re right.” John admitted, holding the man he was now in a relationship with, close.
The two musicians bonded after Ringo died, George’s beloved.
Together the pair of men were in an intense relationship, as John felt guilt over Paul’s untimely demise, and Harrison too, had his own demons to wrestle.
In bed, the youngest Beatle confessed his theory that Ringo never truly forgave him, for sleeping with Starr’s first wife, Maureen.
The beautiful first wife of the drummer, died just four years before her ex husband. Now all three of the Starkey children were without a living parent. Just like the poor McCartney children, who suffered from the same fate a few months earlier, with the loss of Linda.
Yet, John reminded his boyfriend, that Ringo refused help, which was regularly offered. He was a grown man of means, who chose not to accept the care he needed. It was unfortunate the man died from his addictions rather than face his demons, no matter what they were.
This shared trauma bonding cemented the remaining couples connection.
John and George, had harbor guilt over their late lovers tragic ending. Yet, together the two friends’ and lovers' kept each other strong.
At the moment, George was the strong one of the two, as he allowed John to mourn his Paulie.
Lennon didn’t cry this visit, which was not unheard of either way, when going to the dark place on the island.
When the death was new and raw, John broke down in hysterics even coming close to the treacherous area of McCartney’s murder.
Then about twenty years after the tragedy, John could gaze upon the spot, without crying. He was like that the following year, but the year after that, the man broke down. So The man’s reaction was hit or miss.
However, the years without crying were increasing in numbers, which was good. At least that's how George saw it.
Gazing upon the bright blue sky, the crescent Moon and the stars were out in all their glory.
For a moment both men were lost in the spectacular display, reflecting from the waters, in a truly beautiful night.
“I wonder if they watch us from heaven.” John suddenly spoke, squeezing George’s hand.
“I don’t think they watch us,” Harrison replied, “but are a part of the living experience for those who are still alive.” He further elaborated. “They cause the hairs to stand on our skin, they put the right song at the right time on the radio.” Then looking into John’s eyes, through his glasses the man continued. “I believe they cause all these little precious moments that remind us of them.”
“Do you ever wonder what would have happened, if things were reversed?” The lead singer then asked. “Like if that monster had killed me instead. Or if Ringo had quit drinking, but you kept on smoking?”
George laughed at the thought.
“That would definitely be a different world.” The younger old man agreed.
“I bet they would have been knighted by now, if they lived.” Lennon brought up, causing George to laugh. Neither of them were offered such an honor, after they returned their Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British metals’, in protest of the Vietnam War.
“Yeah, those two never rocked the boat.” Harrison agreed. “It was never their style.” The former lead guitarists added.
“Meanwhile, we’ve been a thorn in the side of the house of Windsor ever since.” John brought up, thinking about one of his biggest solo hits he had, after getting out of rehab. He called for the end of the British monarchy altogether. Even referring to royals as inbreeds, wearing crown jewels, stolen from other nations.
“Yeah, the powers that be, definitely would have preferred if we died, over them.” The aged youngest acknowledged.
“I’m glad we were here to give them all hell!” the lead singer added. “Even if we didn’t bring it down completely, we definitely gave the royals a major headache!”
“Yeah, things would be very different if the other two were around instead of us.” George admitted, when a shooting star, suddenly flew across the sky. John saw the anomaly as well, and the pair stared in awe, of the beautiful Hawaiian night.
“You think that’s a message from Paul and Richey?” John wanted to know.
“Possibly.” George replied, as the pair held each other close.
“I’d like to think so.” Lennon said with his eyes fixated upon the sky.
“Then it is.” Harrison simply replied, and the two men shared a kiss under the starry night, with two heavenly stars, never far from their souls.