*Knock, knock knock* came three soft pounds on the door.
“I’ll get it,” Peter said and dropped the newspaper he was reading onto the ground.
A short guy with fancy looking clothes was standing right outside with 7 or 8 suitcases surrounding him. “I’m Davy Jones, is this where Micky Dolenz lives?” He asked nervously, trying to look behind Peter and into the rather shabby apartment in front of him.
Peter looked confused for a moment and then smiled. “Are you the other guy who’s going to be in the band?”
“Yes he is!” Micky said, coming up behind Peter. “Hi Davy! I haven’t seen you in years! So glad you could come, come on in,” He picked up two of Davy’s many suitcases and brought them inside. “This is Peter, by the way.” Micky told Davy. “He’s an old pal.”
“Oh, uh, hi Peter,” Davy said, picking up several of his own suitcases and timidly walking into the house.
Mike was standing right inside and took one of Davy’s many suitcases. “Wow, that’s a lot of, uh, clothes?” Mike said as a bit of a question. He grew up in a poor family and the sight of so many clothes surprised him. ‘This guy seems like he was pretty well off before; I hope he doesn’t expect very much here…’ Mike thought worriedly to himself. None of them had any money; they had only played one gig in about three months and they were way behind in their rent money.
“Yes, they are some of my clothes. Where can I put them?” Davy glanced around again.
“Some?” Mike said doubtfully, “Oh and you can put them in this downstairs room. You’ll be sharing a room with me.”
“Oh, thank you.” Davy said as he began into the little downstairs bedroom, “I had to leave many of my clothes back in Manchester; I expect I will buy more now I’m here.” He called over his shoulder.
‘I expect you won’t,’ thought Mike to himself.
Peter, Micky, and Mike stared after Davy slightly nervously. “Does he know we haven’t played a gig in more than a month…?” Peter asked.
“Plus we’re three months overdue in our rent, if we don’t get it paid off in a month we’re getting thrown out, remember Micky?!” Mike pointed out.
“Ah it’s okay guys,” Micky smiled, “Just relax; things will turn around now he’s here!”
“For his sake I hope so,” Mike frowned.
“Well, when’s our next gig?” Davy asked, coming into the main room of the house where Mike, Peter, and Micky where watching tv.
“Uh, we don’t have a next gig yet…” Micky informed Davy, “But now, with you, we can get some publicity and maybe come up with a name for our band!”
“Oh, you mean get the band name out there so everyone knows about us!” Davy smiled, “I get it.”
“No, he means come up with a band name, we don’t have one yet,” Mike informed Davy.
“You don’t even have a band name?” Davy looked over a little despairingly at the three guys calmly watching TV.
*Knock knock knock* three loud bangs came from the door. Mike, Micky, and Peter looked a little worried. “I’ll answer it!” Davy said slightly annoyed.
“No, wait!” Micky called out, but the door was already open. Micky glanced over at Mike and Peter quickly before bringing his eyes back to the door where their very angry landlord stood glaring at them.
“All right, out! I’ve given you three months, now out you go!” he yelled.
“But you said you’d give us four months!” Peter pointed out.
“Wait, three months for what?” Davy interrupted.
As if noticing Davy for the first time, the landlord took a double take at the short, English accented boy wearing a somewhat fancy suit, then glanced back at the other three in their jeans and old button up shirts. Looking confused he started to say something, then shut his mouth and glared at them all.
“He’s new,” Micky told the landlord.
“Oh… Well he maybe new, but he’ll be gone like the rest of you in two hours if your rent isn’t paid, and I don’t expect it will be so you may as well start packing up now!” the landlord told them sternly and then, taking one more look at Davy, strode out of the house and slammed the door.
Mike, Micky, and Peter all looked nervously at each other, and then at Davy. “Well, looks like unless we get our rent paid in two hours, which isn’t going to happen, we’re getting thrown out of our house…” Mike trailed off.
“He can’t just throw you out of your house!” Davy complained.
“He can if he’s our landlord and we haven’t paid the rent in four months,” Micky said sulkily, beginning up the stairs to his bedroom.
“You haven’t paid your rent in four months?!” Davy exclaimed, surprised.
“We haven’t paid our rent since we had a gig,” Mike told Davy.
“How long has that been?” Davy asked.
“Four months, and would you two stop monkeying around,” Mike told Micky and Peter who were sliding down the banister and then hurrying back up to slide down again. Micky dejectedly marched into the bedroom and Peter came back downstairs and began to watch TV.
“Oh… Well wait a minute, I think I can get you rent money!” Davy reached for his wallet, but found it missing. “Hey! My wallet is gone!” he cried.
“Gone? How can it be gone?” Mike and Peter began searching everywhere that a wallet could possibly go.
“You guys, that wallet has all the money I have in it, everything!” Davy cried out, “I was sure I had it when I first came here!”
“What’s going on?” Micky asked. He appeared at the top of the stairs caring a suitcase and looking rather sad.
“Davy was going to pay off the rent,” Peter told him.
“Great! Wait, was?” Micky glanced at Davy, worried he’d changed his mind about staying.
“My wallet is gone!” Davy glanced around worriedly, and then went back to searching.
“Oh, do you know where you could have left it?” Micky dropped his suitcase and joined the search as well. ‘I really want Davy to be able to stay, and be happy here, so to do that he needs his wallet. Plus it’s terrible he lost it,’ Micky thought to himself, ‘besides, if we find it, we don’t have to move out!’
“Hey Peter, Micky, what are you guys doing?” Mike interrupted Davy’s thoughts of searching.
“Well I just came up with a great song idea and we decided to play it,” Peter smiled.
“Would you guys please stop monkeying around and search for the wallet,” Mike groaned.
‘Where could it have gone?’ Micky asked himself and he began searching everywhere he could think of on the first floor, just then he heard someone playing the guitar outside. ‘Hey, they’re really good’ he said to himself, and began outside to see who it was, leaving the other three still searching for the wallet. On the way out, he glanced down and noticed something. “Hey, it’s a wallet, and I bet it’s Davy’s!” he whispered to himself, but just as he was bending down and about to tell to Davy to come see if it was his, all went black!
Micky woke up tied to a chair in some apartment he had never seen before. “I see you’re awake now,” a voice said from somewhere behind him.
Micky looked around, but couldn’t see who was talking since they were behind him, “What’s going on?” he asked, quite confused and with a bit of a headache.
“Some little rich guy went into your apartment today, and I’m holding you for ransom. He said you’re good friends, so I figure he’ll give me the money. If not, your loss.” the voice told Micky.
“Huh?” Micky nervously glanced around but couldn’t see anything except the wall he was facing.
“I’m having a ransom note sent over there right now-”
The voice was interrupted by a door opening and another voice that said, “I got the ransom note delivered boss, anything else you want me to do?”
“Yes, did the short one get his wallet back?” the ‘boss’ asked.
“Yeah, he was very happy when I returned it,” the second voice said.
“You let them see you?! Well, they don’t know you delivered the ransom note, right?” The ‘boss’ asked.
“Nope, just the wallet boss, and they were real happy about that.”
“Well that’s all right then, maybe even a good thing… They’ll never suspect you if you were nice enough to return his wallet.” The boss sighed.
Meanwhile, at the Monkees Pad:
“Micky, Micky!” Peter called, “I can’t find him anywhere!” he told Mike.
“First we lose Davy’s wallet, then we find it, then we lose Micky,” Mike grumbled.
“Well with this pattern the next thing to happen should be ‘then we find him,’ right?” Peter pointed out.
“Hey, did you mean to send this to me and never did?” Davy asked, holding up an envelope with, ‘To Davy Jones,’ written on it.
“Not that I know of… Hey, can I see that Davy?” Mike took it from Davy and opened it up, he took out a small note and began reading it.
“It says here that someone is putting Micky up for ransom and Davy has to pay the ransom money by three o’clock or else!” Mike exclaimed. “That doesn’t give us much time!”
“But we don’t have any money.” Peter said seriously.
“Somebody obviously knows Davy has money…” Mike pointed out, “But who?”
“The guy who returned the wallet! He knew I had money, and he must have returned it so I could pay the ransom!” Davy exclaimed.
“Couldn’t he have just stolen the money out of the wallet?” Mike asked.
“I didn’t switch my money from English to American when I came here and maybe he didn’t want a lot of questions about why he was only switching it now and not when he came over,” Davy told Mike and Peter.
“Well, why didn’t you switch it when you came over here?” Mike asked.
“Well… I wasn’t quite sure if I’d be staying you know…”
“Look, do you have enough money to pay off the ransom?” Mike asked.
“In American money? Yeah, exactly the right amount, no more, no less… If I pay it we won’t be able to pay off the rent, though,” Davy looked sadly at the money in his hand.
“Look, I have an idea. Peter, you go to the police and get them, Davy if you take out enough English money to pay the rent I doubt they’d ever notice. We’ll go over there and try to stall, but give the money over if Peter and the police don’t get there soon enough. Peter, why don’t you go now. Davy, you come with me and we have to hurry a little so we get back before the landlord comes for the money. Peter, would you please stop Monkeying around?!” Mike complained to Peter who was still looking for Micky under the sofa cushions.
“What am I supposed to do? Oh yeah, go get the police! Where do I tell them to go?” Mike gave Peter a copy of the address, then started with Davy toward to kidnapper’s apartment.
“Well, you ready?” Mike, dressed as an electrician with Davy, also dressed as an electrician, was about to knock on the door.
“Are you sure he won’t recognize me?” Davy asked worriedly.
“Look, with those special shoes making you look taller no one can recognize you! But to be on the safe side don’t say anything in your English accent.” Mike smiled.
“It’s cause I’m short, isn’t it!” Davy grumbled, “Ok, I’m ready.” Mike knocked on the door and a tall man answered it.
“We’ve come to check your lighting, electricity rules. Every five years the electricians must come and check the lighting in your house,” Mike droned.
“But I’ve only had this apartment for three weeks!” another man said, coming up behind the first one.
“Well, have you had your lights checked yet?”
“No.”
“Well there’s another rule that electricians must come check your lights three weeks after you buy your house as well.” Mike said quickly. Mike and Davy pushed their way past the boss and guard and put their box of tools of a random counter. They noticed a chair facing the wall with ropes, “He’s over there,” they nodded at each other.
“Hey, you can’t be in here!” the boss yelled at them.
“You want your lights to stop working?” Mike took a few random things out of the bag, placed them on the table, and then said as he brought out two sandwiches, “And now the most important thing of all.” He gave it to Davy and they sat down to eat them.
“Hey, I recognize them! Their friends of the guy we kidnapped! That one is the rich kid!” the guard called out. Mike and Davy looked at each other nervously as the boss pulled out a gun.
“You know who we are now, we can’t take the money,” the boss moved in on Mike and Davy.
“But we ran out of bullets in that gun yesterday!” the guard pointed out to the boss.
“Will you be quiet,” the boss whispered to his guard, but Davy and Mike had heard enough. They quickly ran over to untie Micky who looked slightly annoyed, and slightly freaked out.
“Why didn’t you call out for help?” Mike asked him.
“Muhummmuhm,” Micky told him through his gag.
“Oh, I see.” Davy got him gag off him.
“Look out!” Micky cried.
The boss was standing behind them, “And this gun is loaded,” he smiled evilly and the three frightened boys, but just then the door burst open.
“You’re under arrest!” the police rushed in and took the two criminals away.
“I would have gotten away with it if it hadn’t been for those meddling, monkeying kids.” The guard called over his shoulder.
“There’s a reward for turning in those criminals you know,” The chief of police gave the four boys a large sum of money.
“Hey thanks!” Micky told him, “This is enough to pay off our rent money plus a little more!”
The chief laughed, “Well you certainly went through a lot to get it,” he told Micky who shrugged and smiled. “Let’s go back there right now, we only have five minutes to pay off the rent!” they all hurried back to the apartment where the landlord was waiting for them.
“Where’d you get this money? Didn’t rob anybody did you boys?” The landlord glared at them suspiciously.
“No, quite the opposite actually,” Davy told him.
“Well that’s great for you boys, but I’ll be back here next month and if it isn’t paid, out you go!” yelled and slammed the door.
“Well all’s well that ends well, what are you doing Peter?” Mike asked.
“Since we didn’t need Davy’s English money after all, I tearing it all apart and I’m turning it into a big poster to hang on the wall!” Peter smiled matter of factly.
“Oh no!” Micky, Mike, and Davy rushed over and Micky ran his hands through the destroyed money.
“Quite monkeying around and just stop, Peter!” Mike groaned, “We need that!”
Micky and Mike glanced over at Davy nervously, then looked at each other sadly, he would never want to stay after all this! Their band was ruined.
“It’s okay if you want to leave, we understand…” Micky looked at Davy sadly.
“Leave? With the tiny amount of money that’s left?! Besides, this is the most fun I’ve ever had in my life. Bad guys, and police, landlords yelling at you and everything! I would never want to leave, and besides, I think I’d miss you too much,” he smiled at all three of them. “Oh, and I’ve come up with a name for our band: The Monkeys! Because Mike’s always yelling at you two to stop monkeying around! If you’ll let me be in your band, that is…” Davy glanced at all of them hopefully.
“If? We’d be so happy if you stayed I don’t know what we’d do?!” Micky smiled and laughed.
“I do,” Mike grinned, “We’ll hang Peter’s money poster right over the door so we’ll never miss seeing it, and never forget today!”
“You mean you’re not mad at me!?” Peter asked.
“Nah, I’m not mad, just don’t do it again ol’ buddy. By the way, The Monkeys is a great name for our group, at least I think so.” Mike smiled and they all agreed, then they sat down and got right to work figuring out how the whole band thing would work now that Davy was there to stay. It wasn’t until about a week later that they got the Monkeemobile and changed their name to The Monkees, but that’s another story.
