Mary slammed the freezer door, and held up a plate. She lifted the tin foil off the plate, and sniffed some sausage rolls. She punched the microwave door open, put the plate inside, shut the door, and selected defrost.
“All the same, Don, I have to tell you. I really don’t like Thelwall coming round here any more. He’s worn out his welcome in my home.”
Don leaned on the door frame, and folded his arms. The microwave crackled. He wasn’t surprised Mary was complaining. They’d met Thelwall at Greenglades. They’d been visiting Don’s mother who’d endured a long stay there.
“But he’s nowhere else to go, Mary.”
“He’s too difficult. He doesn’t say a word. He doesn’t like it here, Don. Maybe he doesn’t like my cooking. Maybe that’s what it is. You’d think he’d be more grateful.”
Don’s mother died, and then there was no reason to visit Greenglades. He missed Thelwall by the door with his cigar twice a week. He missed Thelwall’s “evil warders”. No one could say Thelwall was pleased about being stuck in Greenglades. So Don arranged with Greenglades to have him over at weekends.
“Take heart, Mary. I mean, he’s just a sad old man in a care home. I’ll talk to him.”
Mary screwed up the tin foil.
“Sad old man or not, he’s no right being miserable with all we do for him. When you collect him, tell him from me.”
Don grabbed his coat and keys.
“I’ll do that, Mary. I’ll tell him. See what he says. Maybe I can cheer him up a little before he gets here.”
“Well you can try.”
Don closed the door, and opened the garage. He climbed in the car, and started the engine. He rolled the car forward, and watched rain hit the windscreen. It was going to be difficult. Thelwall was one of those people who would never cheer up. He set off for Greenglades.
Thelwall was waiting out of the rain under the porch. Don pulled right up to the porch, and Thelwall climbed in the back. Don turned round.
“Now look, Thelwall. Is there anything you’re unhappy about?”
Thelwall brushed rain off his jacket.
“No, I’m fine, Don... Why do you ask?”
“Well, you see, Mary says you’re a bit quiet these days. I know Greenglades took your bottle of whisky away. What would you say to a replacement? Take it back with you. Smuggle it in. How about that?”
“No thanks I’m fine, Don. Really.”
“Well, what is it then? You know… I’ll be straight with you, Thelwall. Mary’s had enough.”
Thelwall glanced back at Greenglades. He was the youngest in Greenglades. No reason why he should be there, except otherwise he’d be on the streets. Unlike the others, he still had his marbles.
“I’m fine, Don. Really.”
Don turned round and shoved the car into gear. It took a minute to reach the front door. Greenglades was only a ten minute walk away, but Thelwall couldn’t do ten minutes on account of his leg which had swelled. So Don had to get the car out for him each time. He stopped the car, and climbed out. He opened the door for Thelwall.
“Easy does it, old chap.”
“Less of the old chap if you don’t mind.”
Thelwall climbed out of the car, and made it to the front door. He went into the hall, and Don followed him through to the lounge. Thelwall removed his jacket, and held it out for Don. Don took it, but Thelwall kept hold. He held it tightly.
“Let go, Thelwall.”
“It’s just that I’m an imposition, Don, an imposition.”
“That’s nonsense, Thelwall. We’re both glad to see you. Let go.”
But Thelwall held the jacket.
“No, I am. I’m an imposition. I’m no use to anyone. Time has caught up with me, Don.”
“Well that’s just not true, Thelwall. Listen to Mary. Mary will tell you.”
Don tore the jacket free, and carried it out of the lounge shaking his head. He hung it in the closet. Mary was holding the tray of sausage rolls with an oven glove.
“Well, Don, what does he say?”
“He says he’s an imposition. Can you believe that, Mary? Will you tell him?”
She slammed down the tray of sausage rolls.
“An imposition? Does he indeed? We’ll see about that.”
She threw down the oven glove, and marched into the lounge. Don followed. She stood in front of Thelwall, and folded her arms.
“Thelwall. Is there anything you’d like different? Be honest now.”
Thelwall was sitting in his usual chair. He leaned forward, and held his glasses up to the TV guide.
“I won’t have anything to eat this time round if you don’t mind.”
“Fine. Anything else?”
“You mind if I light up?”
“Go ahead. Be my guest.”
Thelwall drew a large cigar out of his top pocket. Mary looked at Don, and Don came back with an ashtray.
“What will you drink, Thelwall?”
Thelwall lit the cigar.
“What about that whisky you mentioned? Do you have a single malt?”
Don went into the kitchen, and came back with a glass of single malt.
“Anything else?”
“I’d like to hear some Beatles. Do you have any Beatles? In My Life. Greatest song ever written.”
Don pulled open a cupboard door, and found his Beatles CD. He slid it into the player. The song started. Thelwall sat back in the chair, and drew on the cigar.
“Now that’s a fine song. That song will still be playing after we’ve all gone. Do you ever think about things like that, Don, Mary?”
Don and Mary looked at each other. The song finished.
“Put it on again.”
Don kneeled beside the player. He’d never really listened to the song before. He knew the early hits, but The Beatles were just a big noise, and then nothing. He set the track to repeat. Thelwall drank the whisky, and smiled.
“Do you hear that? You’re listening into the future. Do you know, Don, Mary..? This is the way I’d like to go. Do you think you could arrange it?”
Don closed the cupboard door.
“Come on, Thelwall. Don’t talk like that.”
Thelwall held up the glass, and looked right through it. Then he drank the lot.
“No. I’m serious. Right here, now. What am I? I’m a burden on you both. I’m nobody. Greenglades don’t want me. I’ll be out on the streets next. Half a bottle of single malt would do it. Tell them I didn’t want to go back.”
Thelwall went for a refill, but Don stood up, and took the bottle out of his hand. Mary stood beside Don.
“Easy does it, Thelwall. We’re sorry. You know, it’s best to stay cheerful. What brought this on?”
“What brought it on? What do you think brought it on? I’ve had a lifetime to chew it over. Nobody knows me. You don’t know me do you?”
Don and Mary looked at the floor. Thelwall jabbed his finger at them.
“Well do you? Do you know the true nature of what I am?”
Mary put her arm round Don.
“We don’t know, Thelwall. What would you like us to know? You live in Greenglades. You like the Beatles. That’s good. Is there anything else you’d like us to know?”
Thelwall laughed. He drained the last drop from the glass, and held it out. Don refilled the glass. Thelwall threw it back so the rim of the glass hit his teeth. He rubbed his mouth with the back of his hand.
“I like classical.”
“Anything in particular?”
“Bach. Do you have any Bach?”
Don kneeled by the cupboard.
“I’ll see what I have.”
He found a compilation disc that came with the Sunday paper. He slid the disc in the player. Thelwall sat up.
“Well, what about that.”
“I knew I had it somewhere.”
“Let me take a look.”
Don handed over the case. Thelwall looked at it, and smiled.
“Amazing.”
“Well, it’s just a free CD, Thelwall. They do it all the time now.”
“Free? Would you believe it? Four hundred years old, and it sounds like it was made yesterday. Do you know how long I’ve waited to hear that?”
Don laughed, and closed the cupboard door.
“What are you now, Thelwall, some kind of time traveller?”
“You can laugh, but I’ve seen things come and go. You can span a lot of time if you’re lucky. It’s a privilege.”
Thelwall closed the CD case, and balanced it on the arm of the chair. He put his hands on his knees.
“Let me take you on a journey. Sit down, and listen to your uncle Thelwall.”
Don sat down, and Mary sat on the arm of the chair, holding Don’s hand. Thelwall blew cigar smoke.
“The year’s seventeen hundred. Fifteen year old Johann Sebastian Bach sets out with a school friend for Luneburg, the centre of things in those days. Are you with me so far?”
Don looked at Mary.
“Well...”
“Good. They walk a hundred and eighty miles. A hundred and eighty miles. Would they have made it if a kind-hearted barge owner hadn’t given them a lift? Without that barge owner, Bach would never have made it to Luneberg. Does history report the name of the most important barge owner in musical history? Well, does it?”
“I don’t think so.”
“No, it does not.”
“Come on, Thelwall. What are you getting at?”
“Seventeen sixty two. Six year old Mozart is taken to the Court of Maximilian III in Munich. Who made that trip possible, Don? Mary? Do you know?”
Mary squeezed Don’s hand.
“We don’t know, Thelwall. What are you getting at?”
Thelwall hit the arm of the chair, and the CD case slid into his lap.
“Seventeen ninety two, the twenty-two year old Beethoven leaves Bonn. He arrives in Vienna several days later. Who changed the course of musical history, Don? Who? Come on, Mary, do you know?”
“Can I phone a friend?”
Mary put her hand over her mouth to laugh, and Don nudged her. Thelwall raised his hands.
“Name the man who brought the Beatles together?”
Don clapped his hands.
“Easy. That was Epstein.”
“That’s what people think, but take a look at the facts. 6th July nineteen fifty seven, St. Peter’s Parish Church Fete. Seventeen year-old John Lennon meets fifteen year-old Paul McCartney. Who made it possible? Who was it, Don? Mary?"
Thelwall grabbed the whisky bottle.
“Do you know?”
He slammed the bottle down.
“I travelled quite a bit in my time, you see. I brought the Beatles together. It was me. Thelwall Jones. St. Peter’s Church rector.”
He lifted his hands, and pulled up his sleeves. He stretched his fingers, and held down a chord on an invisible piano. He closed his eyes, and played the invisible piano. His hands moved up and down the keys. He leaned. Don took the bottle away. The music finished, and Thelwall pulled down an invisible piano lid. He opened his eyes.
“Well, it’s time I was going, don’t you think, Don, Mary? Time I was moving on. It’s been my pleasure. My pleasure. I thank you. I thank you for the whisky, for the music, for the hospitality. Without you, I would never have escaped the warders at Greenglades. I would never have had any visitors. I would be like everyone else, concert pianists, cleaners, nuclear physicists, grandmothers, chess masters, all united by one thing. People can watch all the TV they want. They should take a look inside Greenglades. That would give them all the time travel, the evictions, the big deals, the poker faces, the winners and losers. Eh? Nobody knows anything, you see. Nobody knows a damned thing.”
He tried to stand.
“I think…I think I will walk. The exercise will do me good.”
The whisky glass landed on the floor. Don jumped to his feet, and supported Thelwall by the elbow.
“It’s too late for you to be out, Thelwall. What about your leg?”
“Nonsense. Let me go.”
Thelwall pulled his arm free, and Don stepped back. Thelwall stood.
“Look at me.”
He stretched, and stood tall. He straightened, and walked. He stopped at the door, and turned round. He held the CD with his thumb through the hole. He held it so it caught the light. Mary and Don shielded themselves from the brilliant light coming out of Thelwall’s raised hand. He laughed.
“You don’t mind if I do?”
And then he was gone.
