When Gabrielle showed one of the letters describing Hamburg’s Reeperbahn to her roommates, Lucy declared it a "Paradise" and Lori denounced it as "A Filthy Hell". Gabrielle sort of figured that if George loved it so much then there must have been something about Hamburg that was interesting.
She decided to stay at school for Christmas to study for her mid term exams. One day before the holiday she was sitting in her room trying to focus on her notes about the chemical properties of Sulfuric Acid when one of the girls form down the hall popped her head in the room "Gabrielle?" she asked
Gabby looked up "Uh huh" she said, looking down at her paper again
"You’ve got a phone call from your parents"
"Sure okay" dying for a break, she followed the girl down the hall to the old phone. So old that the end that you listened to came apart from the rest of it.
"Hello mum" she sighed, and let he mother launch into her Happy Christmas speech, complain about he neighbors and how old Ben Traubbers was stealing out of their rubbish bins. Louise Harrison had sent Peter over with a fruitcake the week before and it was *just lovely* apparently.
"What’s that Louise? No just stir the gravy a bit more, it doesn’t need it…" Her mother was rather bad at covering the mouth piece with her hand when she yelled across the room and Gabrielle winced
"Oh, I’ve got to go Sweets, before Mrs. Harrison ruins the gravy. They’re over here this year, poor George is looking miserable all by himself"
"What?" Gabriela almost shouted, "What’s he doing there?"
"Why he’s over for Christmas Dinner Gabby, like he always is-"
"No," Gabrielle tried not to sound exasperated, "I mean isn’t he in Germany"
"What are you talking about Germany?" there was muffled sound like she was trying to cover the receiver again "Georgie darling, are you in Germany?" she whispered loudly. There was some muffled talking that Gabrielle assumed was George and she got excited. She wanted to squeal loudly and hug someone because George was no longer in a foreign red light district. And that was always a good thing.
"Oh what do you know darling, George was in Germany" said her mother airily "Why on earth would you want to go there Georgie Darling…oh? Oh? Oh I see," she took her hand off the phone to talk to Gabrielle "Apparently his band was playing some posh club there. You know I hate this new rock n’ roll music. Did you know he had a band Darling?"
"Yes mum" she said, rolling her eyes "I knew George had a band"
"That’s amazing dear, what instrument do you play?" her mother asked George,.
"Lead Guitar" Gabrielle said impatiently, wondering how in almost sixteen years of living next door to the Harrison, six of which George had been playing guitar and three had been in a band, and her mother had just picked up on it.
"Oh right…" Gabby’s mother trailed off "No Louise, it doesn’t need sifting, just stir it! Oh, sweetie I have to go, kiss kiss."
"Kiss kiss" Gabrielle said dully "Oh wait mum! Can I talk to George"
"Oh yes of course dear, here he is, now Louise, I’ve made this gravy a thousand times…"
George picked up the phone "ello?" He said experimentally
"Georgie!" she shrieked, and then regained her composer "You’re home! Why are you home?"
"Because I got deported" he aid tonelessly
"You what?"
"Got deported" he repeated and sighed heavily "They found out I was underage and all… so they sent me back. And the worst part is Paul and John and everyone are still in Hamburg"
"Still playing stripper joints?" she asked, her voice joking
" I don’t care, I want to go back… I’ve got to get another group together here. I was thinking maybe Arthur Kelly and some other blokes might want to help me out"
"Aw, George" she sighed and leaned against the wall next to the phone, she could hear the disappointment in his voice and she could tell it was tearing him apart that John, Paul, Stu and Pete hadn’t come back with him.
"Yeah I know" he made an irritated sound "Mum it’s just Gravy!" he shouted "Sorry"
"It’s ok" she giggled
"You know how that can be with their gravy"
"Oh of course, at least your not a girl, you don’t have to be in the kitchen, trying not to stab yourself the way our mum’s carry on over gravy"
He chuckled "That is good, that" there was a long pause, that usually would have been nice and normal except the rarely talked over the telephone so she couldn’t see what was going on with his eyes. "Guess what, I’ve got some gossip" he said at last
"Oh do you?" Gabrielle giggled "Find Shaz and tell her"
"When I get the stomach to leave the house I will" he said, his voice falling into that disappointment again.
"Ah George…" She started but he cut her off
"No, I want to tell you this. Stuart met a girl"
"A girl? You mean like a girlfriend girl?"
"Yeah" She could hear his smug grin over the phone "Her name was Astrid, and she already had a boyfriend named Klaus, but oh man, Gab, She and Stu were making eyes at each other the whole time we were there"
"Was she pretty?"
"Eh" he shrugged, and thought better of it "Oh, I’m shrugging Gab"
"Ok"
"She had this weird hair cut that was sort of looked like someone had stuck a bowl on her head an cut around it." He paused to take a breath and examine his callused fingertips "The Germans called it pilzenkopf, it means mushroom head"
"Mushroom head?" she laughed "Why mushroom head?"
"Cos" he shrugged again "That’s just what it looked like, all short and long at the same time. Anyway… I may have had a small thing for her"
"Who? Astrid?"
"Yeah, Astrid" he said quickly "She wasn’t like all the other girls from Liverpool, she was an artist and she was independent and she was really smart…" there was another long pause "She reminded me of you kinda Gab"
"Oh thanks…" she said quietly
"Yeah, anyway" George cleared his throat, "She was nice, and she had her own car so she could drive us places if we needed… Stuart probably would have stayed behind when we came home anyway"
"They’re in love then?" she asked, feeling a little ridicules asking
"Hmm mmm" George sighed contentedly "And now I’m gone, who knows what Paul and John will get up too"
Gabrielle laughed "I’m sure we’ll get sick even thinking about it."
The girl that had told her she had a call appeared again, startling Gabrielle slightly
"You have to get off now" she whispered
Gabrielle nodded "George?
"Yeah Gab"
"I’ve gotta go"
"Oh, why?" he made pathetic whining noises "Don’t leaves, it’s Christmas and I’m dreadfully depressed and no one loves me"
"Oh sure they do, I love you"
He snickered evilly "You don’t count"
"Oi, now that’s not fair"
"Gabrielle" the girl said, "You really need to be off that now"
"Sorry, hang on" she said, pleadingly "Oh, I’ve got to go"
"OK, I love you gab"
"I love you to Georgie"
"Will you write me a letter when you get back to your room"
"Sure George"
"And will you please not include a load of big words so I can figure it out"
"Yes George"
"And will you…"
"George, good by"
"Bye" he laughed and then there was click and he was gone