Lucy In The Sky

                                    

                                          
"Picture the girl with the sun in her eyes and she's gone," ~Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds - The Beatles
                          
07 May 1967 12.04pm
                          
"I'm glad I was able to get in touch and more importantly, that you wanted to see me" Aunt Mandy laughed as she poured a tea for Charli.
"You were the one relative who treated me like a person" Charli smiled.

                          
"I'm just sorry I didn't get in touch sooner, when your father moved to the states...." Mandy tried explaining.

                          
"Its alright, I think he would've hidden anything coming from England" Charli dismissed. Mandy, had seen Charli in the papers and had been saving the articles, she eventually sent a letter to Charli through The Beatles fan club and a few days later they were sitting for tea together.
                          
"Mandy? Mandy!" An elderly voice called as Charli's grandmother shuffled into the room "Ya' hid it again!"
"Mum, go back to bed" Mandy called over her shoulder "I'll be in with tea in a bit, I've got company now"
Charli's Grandmother squinted her eyes at the table.

                          
"Is that Charlotte?" She asked "Still listenin' to that Elvis...runnin' off with that boy..."
"Excuse me," Aunt Mandy said standing up.
"Mum, I told you." she said taking her gently by the arm and leading her to a small room "Charli is grown now, she can date who she wants.."
"And end up in Hell!" Her grandmother shouted.

                          
Charli rolled her eyes and sipped her tea. She could hear Mandy trying to calm her mother down.
                          
"Sorry about that," Mandy said sitting at the table again "She's a bit senile..can't live on her own anymore and since your father has decided to stay in the US...it lands on me to take care of her"
"Sounds fun" Charli smirked.
"Oh, it's a gas...really..." Mandy laughed. She then smiled at Charli "It's so good to see you luv!"
"You too," Charli smiled "I've always wondered how you were related to my father"
Mandy's smile faded.
"I wonder that often," She said "But he is my brother...I never fit into this family either"

                          
"Why?" Charli asked.
"Being an independent female in this family doesn't go over so well," Mandy sighed "It's always been that way, your grandmother has always run things and believes a woman's place is at home...cooking...cleaning...and bending to every whim her husband may have. Oh, and popping out children. I never wanted that."

                          
"So..." Charli ventured nervously "Why did my parents treat me the way they did? Why have I been the 'bad child'. Dad beat me constantly, mum never did anything...she encouraged it...and I'm the one who's had to suffer. It took surgery to fix me shoulder, which still pops when I move wrong...I have scars from him..and myself...I just..I don't understand."
"Your dad is...he may be my brother...but he's a fucking caveman and he won't change. You, my dear, Charli, have always had your own opinions and when you were finally around friends who encouraged your personality...it scared him."
"Scared him? That's why he hates me?" Charli asked. Mandy nodded.
"He's always had a temper, he used to fight with me...there were some brutal ones," Mandy added, "Your mother is the shining example of the 'right' woman...demure...no sense of self...but she's also pretty terrible in her own right in her apathy towards you luv, I almost am less forgiving of her than my bloody brother."
"It still makes no sense," Charli shook her head.

                          
"I know," Mandy said "Now, I can talk to you about it as your Aunt...and believe me, I have some strongly biased opinions on your parents. However, for any unbiased opinions and help; ethically, you should see one of my colleagues"
                          
During her visit, she learned her aunt had been studying to be a psychologist when Charli was a teenager, she'd gotten her license shortly after her parents moved her to America.
Mandy dug through her purse pulling out the card of a fellow psychiatrist.