The Monkees sat nervously in the office of Mr. Webster, the owner/manager of the Go-Go Club. They had just auditioned to play at his Halloween dance and were now waiting for him to finish auditioning the other groups.
"Man, I hope we get this gig." Micky said, twirling his drumsticks between his fingers.
"Yeah, Babbit really looked serious when he said we better have the rent by the end of this month." Davy replied.
“I hope Mr. Webster liked us.” Mike said.
"Well, he had a smile on his face when he was listening to us." Peter put in.
"True, but..." Mike began to say, but just then Mr. Webster walked in.
"Hi boys." Mr. Webster said, a smile on his face.
"Hi Mr. Webster." The guys replied.
"Congratulations, Monkees." Mr. Webster said as he sat down behind his desk. "I've decided to hire you to play for my Halloween dance." The Monkees stood up. "Thanks, Mr. Webster!" They exclaimed, shaking his hand.
"You're welcome." Mr. Webster said, "So be here ready to play and in costume at 7 p.m. Halloween night."
The guys looked at each other. The club owner noticed this and frowned.
"Is there a problem?" He asked.
"Well, Mr. Webster," Mike said, "We don't have any costumes.”
"Or the money to rent any either." Micky added.
"I did want you four to wear costumes..." Mr. Webster mused, scratching his chin. "I'll tell you what."
"What?" The Monkees asked in unison.
"I'll advance you four twenty dollars of your salary to rent costumes, preferably matching ones, for Halloween night."
"That'll be great, Mr. Webster." Davy said, "Thank you!" The club owner pulled a twenty-dollar bill out of his pocket and handed it to Mike.
"Now go out and get some costumes," He said, "And I'll see you here Halloween night."
"We'll be there and in costume, sir." Peter said, "Thanks again!" The Monkees said their goodbyes and quickly left the office.
********
Mike drove the Monkeemobile over to Brown's Costume Shop a few miles away. Pulling in front of the shop, the guys jumped out and ran into the store. Going inside, the Monkees could see that there weren’t many costumes from which to choose. Many shelves were empty and several of the mannequins had no clothes on. Peter shielded his eyes as he walked past them. Near the back of the store, they came upon a fully clothed mannequin of an old man.
"Wow, what a real-looking costume." Micky observed.
"May I help you gentlemen?' The mannequin asked.
"AHHHH!!" The Monkees screamed, nearly fainting.
"Ha ha!" The old man laughed, "I love doing that to people."
"You love giving people heart attacks?" Mike shouted at him.
"I'm sorry." The man said, "My name is Mr. Brown, how can I help you?"
"We're... looking for some costumes." Davy said, panting.
"Obviously." Mr. Brown chuckled, "What kind were you looking for? As you've noticed, I don't have much left since Halloween is almost here."
"We really don't care what kind they are," Micky told him, "As long as they're matching."
"And they don't cost more than twenty dollars...total." Mike put in.
"Let's see what I can do." Mr. Brown said, beckoning them to follow him to the storeroom behind the register.
So, for the next several minutes, Mr. Brown showed the guys what he had left
in matching costumes. Some were of pirates, spacemen and Indians and such, but either they were too expensive, or one costume was the wrong size. Finally, Mr. Brown found a box from the back shelf and opened it up.
"Ah, I didn't know I had any more boxes up there. Let's see what this is." He said, pulling out part of a costume. It was a Viking helmet, complete with plastic horns.
"Hey, we could be Vikings." Mike said.
"Real Viking helmets didn't have horns." Davy put in, "But let's see if they fit."
So the Monkees tried the Viking costumes on over their clothes. The costumes fit perfectly, even the helmets.
"What do you boys think?" Mr. Brown asked.
"How much?" Mike asked.
"Since you boys were so patient, I let you rent these costumes for twenty dollars." Mr. Brown replied.
"Deal." The Monkees replied.
So the Monkees took off the costumes and put them back in the box. Mike paid the man his twenty dollars and the guys went back to the pad.
Chapter 2
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