The Time Machine
Part Three: The Way We Run
By TippTee
"Oh wow, would ya look at this place," exclaimed Mike as Adriana opened the door to her condo. Adriana lived in a condominium in a small suburb of Rockscoe, Illinois. It had a two-car garage, two bedrooms, two bathrooms, basement, kitchen, and a spacious living room with sliding doors that lead to a large deck.
"Now I could really deal with staying here," Micky said, smiling at Adriana.
"Well," she said, "it can't be forever you know, just until you guys get on your feet. But, however long it talks, you'll always have a place here."
"That's great," Davy said, looking around the apartment "Now, where is the nearest Go-Go? I'm going to find me a very, very fine future chick."
"Okay," Adriana said, leading them into the living room, "first thing's first. Before I even let you out of the house, you boys have got a lot to learn about the future."
The clock radio alarm beeped to wake Adriana up precisely at 7:00 the next morning. She resisted the urge to climb back under the covers and call in sick. Adriana had been up with the guys all night explaining things and showing them movies to help show them some of the things they had missed. It was Monday, her vacation was over and it was back to work at the bank. She threw on her slippers and robe, then padded into the kitchen. Soon discovering that she was not very hungry, Adriana walked into the living room. Looking over at the couch, she could see the argument of who would get the couch had been lost by Micky. Laughing to herself, she peaked in the guest bedroom to find Peter and Mike sharing the large double bed, which meant that Davy was on the single bed in the basement.
Not wanting to wake the guys up, she quietly walked into the bathroom adjacent to her bedroom and shutting the door behind her, prepared to get in the shower. Walking over to the curtain (still clothed in her bathrobe) she pulled it back. A scream resounded from inside the shower.
"Gosh, Davy," Adriana said smiling, "you don't have to scream so loud, I've got neighbors you know."
Davy grabbed the curtain and pulled it back.
"So," he asked, "is this what you people in the future are into? Surprising people who are in the shower?"
"Me surprising you," she laughed. "HA. What are you doing in my bathroom? I told you that you guys would be sharing the other bathroom. Why aren't you in there."
"Well," came Davy's voice from inside the shower, "I was going to take a shower in there, but the lighting isn't quite right."
"Lighting," she asked. She always thought Davy to be very concerned with his looks, but not to this degree. "Well, I'm sorry Davy, but you're just going to have to deal with it. Why don't you hurry and finish up in there so I can get to work, okay?"
"Fine," he said.
Adriana opened the door to the bathroom, revealing three sleepy-eyed Monkees staring at her.
"We heard Davy screaming, so we thought we'd come see what happened," Mike said, looking at her questioningly.
Micky peaked around Adriana, into the bathroom and asked, "Ooh, what's been going on in here you two?"
Adriana reached over and whacked Micky on the arm. "Nothing, noisy," she said, straightening her robe and standing up straight. "I accidentally walked in on Davy while he was finishing a shower in my bathroom."
"Oh," Peter said, letting out a sigh of relief, "thank goodness."
"What," Adriana asked.
"Oh, well, um," Peter said nervously, "just for a minute I thought maybe Davy had you know, gotten you to fall for him or something."
Adriana laughed. "Me," she asked, "fall for Davy! Oh, Peter, you're too much." She then waved her hands, directing the guys out of the room. "Now, let Davy get dressed and out of here. I got to get ready for work."
A half-hour later Adriana stepped out of her room and into the living room. The guys sat on the couch, glued to "Baywatch".
Adriana cleared her throat.
No answer.
"Oh, man, what a groovy lookin' chick," Mike said, moving closer to the television.
"She's beautiful," Davy said.
Adriana cleared her throat again.
No answer.
"Boy," Micky contributed, "look at that one! I'd love to go to an alternate universe to meet her."
"Hey," Adriana yelled.
The four faces turned around to look at her. Peter smiled brightly at her, Mike nodded politely with a sheepish grin, and Micky let out a low whistle.
"Adriana," Davy began, "you sure look different."
She felt the blood rush into her cheeks. Adriana hadn't done anything out of the ordinary getting ready for work. She curled the ends of her layered blond hair under, put on a little bit more makeup than usual, and wore her favorite suit; a sky blue skirt that fell at mid-thigh, a white dress shirt, and a matching sky blue tailored jacket.
"Well," she began, "I do have to look professional. It's the year 2000 you know. Can't go around dressed like a hippie every day."
She glanced at the guys, who then looked down at their own clothes.
"We've been meaning to ask you about that," Mike said cautiously.
"Well, if we're going to be living and working in the future," said Micky, looking down at his Haggar slacks, "don't you think we should look the part?"
"Hmm," Adriana began, "I didn't think you guys would be so concerned about fitting in, but, I'll tell you what. As soon as I get home today, we'll go shopping and get you guys some things, okay?"
"Shopping," Davy asked. "Alright!"
"Okay, well, I'm gonna be going to work now. I've got some phone numbers posted next to the phone in the kitchen. There's my work number, Jessie and Link's numbers, although they're never home, and Ursula's. Ursula would probably be the easiest to contact since she took the semester off to do an independent study; she'll probably be home quite often. There's plenty of food in the fridge so be sure to help yourselves. And remember not to leave the house. I don't want to take the chance that somebody might recognize you and freak out, okay guys?"
The four Monkees had already turned themselves back to the television.
"Guys, I'm leaving," Adriana announced.
No answer.
Picking up her keys and walking to the door Adriana laughed to herself, thinking "Guys will be guys no matter what century they're from."
The weeks past quickly. Adriana had a blast taking the guys shopping. She hated the thought that they would have to wear clothes that just didn't seem like them, but they seemed determined to fit in the year 2000.They went everywhere together, and were never noticed as long as they wore their year 2000 clothes. Adriana took them to Chicago nearly every weekend and they were delighted to go to museums and theatres to discover what they had missed in the last 33 years.
Throughout the entire month Adriana found herself musing over learning exactly what these Monkees were like. Her own preconceptions were a mix of what they were like on television, and how she knew the Monkee actors of her time were like.
In Mike she found the strong willed leader, the glue of the group. He held them all together. He truly was the father figure that the show made him out to be. She thought she would see some of the angry, sometimes bitter tortured artist Michael that she had often thought of the 'real' one as, but this Mike had none of that. He was very polite, courteous, and even a little bit shy.
Davy was not too big of a mystery to Adriana. He was almost exactly how she had imagined him, very conceded, very girl crazy, and somewhat immature. In Monkee news she had often heard of the 'real' David Jones being very generous and thoughtful. This Monkee basically did what he felt. He was somewhat considerate, but only when he had to be. This Monkee never trained to be a jockey, and had a little bit of a temper.
Micky was only a little bit different from what Adriana thought he would be. He was hilariously funny, extremely witty, and eager to make people happy. From what Adriana had read in Micky Dolenz's biography, she expected him to be almost as girl crazy as Davy, and foul mouthed. She had been shown just the opposite. Micky enjoyed seeing pretty girls in the future, but remained very polite and contentious of others.
Peter was the biggest surprise to Adriana. She remembered the hours she used to spend as a younger teenager thinking about Peter Tork, the misunderstood, intelligent, totally unlike his character hippie that had dimples that pierced her heart. This Peter was a kind and generous soul, but the more Adriana got to know him, she discovered that he was well, a little bit dull. She expected him to be a conglomerate of the character Peter Tork, and the 'real' Peter Tork, but that's not what he was at all. He was the genuine Monkees TV show Peter, and that somewhat disappointed her. She liked him, and at times she felt like she could fall in love with him, but she struggled with the notion of actually liking Peter or liking whom she thought Peter to be.
Meanwhile, while her heart was wrestling with this dilemma, she found another problem to throw into the ring. Adriana felt herself slowly turning to another Monkee, for who he was now. One question remained; should she give her heart to Peter, whom she knew loved her, or should she pursue one of his best friends and stand the risk of loosing them all?
One Saturday in October, the guys sat around the kitchen table, eating cereal and staring at the newspaper that was spread out before them.
"Oh man," Mike said, reaching a hand up to smooth his dark brown locks, "premature gray."
"Yikes," Micky exclaimed, "you should talk, look what's happened to my hair!"
"Hmm," Peter said thoughtfully, squinting at the picture in the paper, "I think I need a shave."
"Well," Davy said, spooning some cereal into his mouth, "I still think I look smashing."
Stepping into the kitchen and yawning, Adriana leaned over the table and asked what the guys were looking at.
"Oh," Peter said, moving to stand behind Micky, "good morning Adrian. Here, take my seat."
"Thanks," she said.
"Here," Micky began, holding out the paper to her, "get a load of this."
Holding the paper in front of her, she read the title out loud: " 'Here They Come, Again: The Monkees 2000 Tour.' "
Stunned, Adriana looked down the page to see a recent picture taken of the guys, who were all into their late 50's by then.
"Read on," Davy said, "it gets betta."
" 'At the urging of band mate Micky Dolenz...,'" Adriana read.
"Thank you, thank you," Micky said waving his hand in the air.
"..the group has gotten back together to tour promoting their new album 'Justus Has Been Served'. The group will be stopping in Roston, October 26th for a concert, before heading to dates in Wisconsin, Missouri, and Indiana.' "
"Roston," Adriana said quietly, "that's just fifteen minutes from here."
"Can we go, can we? Can we? Huh," Micky asked excitedly.
"Well," Adriana said, "I don't know, what if you guys somehow run into your older 'real' selves?"
"Ah," Mike answered, "come on Adrian, we'll get seats real far away. They won't be able to see us."
"Yea," Davy continued, "an we'll even wear disguises."
"Hmm," said Adriana, "if you promise not to get into any trouble."
"We promise," they said in unison.
"How do you guys do that," she asked.
"Do what," they again said in unison.
"Nevermind," said Adriana, "we can go."
"Take the last train to Clarksville and I'll meet you at the station..." the real Micky sang on stage.
"You can be here by four thirty, 'cause I've made your reservation. Don't be slow," the other Micky sang from the back of the audience.
"Oh no, no, no, no," the rest of the group joined in singing.
Micky nudged Adriana to join them. "Oh no, no, no," the five wailed, "And I don't know if I'm ever comin' home."
Adriana laughed and looked at the scene around her. Here she was at her first Monkees live concert and next to her sat the Monkees themselves! Peter was on her left, doing that little hip dance he always used to do; Micky was on her right, singing loudly; next to him was Mike, who just stood there, taking in the scene; and next to Mike was Davy, doing that famous Davy dance. They all wore dark sunglasses and floppy hats to disguise their looks. Normal everyday outings didn't usually require all of that, but Adriana knew that this would be the prime place for them to get recognized.
Soon the song ended and the Monkees on stage announced that there would be a fifteen minute intermission while they all went in back and took a quick nap.
"Somebody be sure to call Medic Alert if we're not out in time," Micky announced from the microphone.
The audience roared with laughter at the way the older Micky poked fun at his age.
"That wasn't funny," the other Micky said.
"Everybody's a critic," Mike said to him.
" 'ey, you guys," Davy announced, "I've got to go to the baffroom"
"Alright, why don't you guys go with him," Adriana said, moving out of the way so they guys could get through, "But be careful and hurry back."
"We will," they said in unison.
"Aw, man," Mike complained when he saw the line outside the men's Portapotties, "look at the line."
"I've really gotta go," Davy said in a hurried voice.
"Hey," Peter said, pointing to an area behind the stage, "maybe there's some more toilets back there."
The guys then made their way to the area behind the stage. There they found a building with an actual indoor bathroom.
"Alright," Davy said as he opened the door.
"Ouch," a voice yelled from behind the door, "watch it."
"Sorry," Davy said as he walked into the bathroom. Turning to look at who he hit with the door, he came face to face with his older self.
"Don't I know you from somewhere," the older Davy said, peering at the young man with the glasses and floppy hat.
"No, no," Davy said, running to an open stall, "I'm sure I would have remembered."
The older Davy shrugged. "What a weird kid," he said to himself, and continued out the door.
Peter, Micky, and Mike stood outside of the bathroom, leaning against the wall.
The older Davy Jones walked by them and gave them a strange look, muttering to himself, "Kids these days. Oh! I can't believe I just said that."
"Hey," Peter said to Mike, "wasn't that...wasn't that.."
"Yea," Mike said, with an amused smile on his face, "that was Davy."
" 'ey guys," Davy started to say as he came out of the bathroom, "you'll never believe who I just ran into in the baffroom."
"We know," the others said in unison.
"Oh," he said.
"Hey Davy," Mike asked, "where's your glasses and hat?"
"Here, in me hand," answered Davy, "I couldn't see me eyes and hair in the mirror when I had them on. I look betta without 'em anyway."
"Davy," Mike warned, "it's not about how it looks. It's about not getting us recognized. If some crazed girl saw you right now, she's libel to come and tear you apart."
"Oh," Davy said, "I think I'd kinda like that meself."
"Speak for yourself," said Mike. "Put your stuff back on or you got to get us in trouble."
"Fine," Davy answered. But just as he was about to put his hat back on, a shriek resounded from across the way. Five pre-teen girls had spotted young Davy Jones, and not bothering to wonder why he looked so young, began to run over to where he stood.
The guys took off running in the other direction, nearly bumping into three older men who had just come out of the restroom.
"Davy, Davy," the girls screamed.
"Some things never change," the older Mike said to the older Peter and Micky who were standing outside of the restroom, watching the swarm of five girls turn to ten, then to twenty, then to a giant ball of female energy.
"Adrian," Micky yelled from across the audience, "Yo, Adrian!"
Adriana almost started laughing, until she saw what was following the guys. A swarm of crazed Monkee fans were chasing her friends all over the audience.
"Oh great," she said to herself as she saw Micky's hat and glasses fly off his head and a ton of other people yelling "Micky!" at the top of their lungs and joining in the run.
Grabbing her van keys out of her purse, she yelled back at him, "Just run out to the van, I'll have it started and ready to go."
The next morning Adriana walked into the kitchen to see the guys musing over the paper once again.
"Adrian," Peter began, "look at this." Peter handed the paper over to her.
" 'Monkee Impersonators Cause Near Riot at Last Night's Concert'," she read out loud.
"Impersonators," she questioned, "they thought you guys were impersonators?"
"Well," Peter said, "I guess they just figured the real young Monkees couldn't really be there."
"What a relief," Adriana said, sitting on a kitchen chair, "for a moment there I was afraid I'd have to take you guys back.."
"Take us back," asked Davy. "After a night like last night, I never want to leave."
"Really," she said, "I thought if it got too crazy, you guys wouldn't be able to handle it and would want to go back home."
"No way," Davy continued, "I loved having the girls chanting my name. I could really deal with that."
"Yea," Micky said, "It was really groovy how everybody thought we were somebody."
"Sure," Peter said, "for once in my life I felt like people really accepted me."
"Mmmhmm," Mike continued, "all kidding aside, Adrian, this future could really have some possibilities for us. I know people would already know us as the Monkees, but we wouldn't have to be them here. We could change our name and sorta stay in the background, so people could listen to us for our music, and love us for that and not 'cause we're big television stars. I guess last night really opened our eyes to all the opportunities here. We want to go on as a band."
Adriana sat there in the kitchen, looking from face to face of each Monkee, seeing a deep sincerity in their eyes.
"Well," she began, "it would require a bit of work. We could fix the basement up so you guys could practice. Link knows a lot of people in Chicago. His friend Robert's dad is a record producer. We could get you some equipment on loan." Chuckling to herself she continued, "Besides, I knew I could never make you guys into working class stiffs like me."
"You're not so bad, Adrian," Davy teased.
"Yea," Peter said, placing a hand on her shoulder.
"Groovy, it will be a blast," Micky exclaimed, taking Adriana's hand and pulling her up to give her a friendly hug, "you really believe in us don't you?"
"Yea," she said, pulling away from Micky and looking at each of her friends, "I do."
