Sail along

Chapter 16

Mike stumbled in an hour or so later, eyes red from either tears or alcohol. Maybe a little of both.

"Hey, Mike," Micky said, rising from his seat. "I'm really sorry about...but it's okay, it's gonna be okay. Mike?"

Mike wasn't listening to a word he was saying. Instead, he made his way to the phone and sat down, dialing a number. Micky frowned, taking a few hesitant steps toward him.

"What're you doing...?" He asked and Mike began nervously tapping his foot as he held the receiver up to his ear.

"Hello?" He sat upright when he finally got an answer. "Hello, Ma? Are you there?...Oh, hi Rene. I wanna speak to...is she...okay, okay, but where...I-I...I heard from her just a few days ago! She can't possibly...no, it's not...it can't be...what?"

He suddenly frowned for a new reason, a confused response more than a desperate one.

"Yeah...but why...?"

Micky stopped and looked at him, about to ask until he saw Mike's confused expression.

"Yeah...okay..." he sighed and pulled the phone away from his ear.

"It's gonna be okay, Mike. You know, these things–" he started, wrapping his arm around Mike, trying to be a comfort before Mike interrupted.

"Rene wants to talk with you," he blurted out and Micky frowned.

"Oh?" He asked and Mike nodded. Why would Mike's sister want to be talking to him? He shrugged and took the phone from Mike's hands. Mike sighed and looked down, pulling away from Micky's touch and sat down on the couch. Micky sighed and wanted to go over and comfort him. But at the same time, he knew it was best to give him space and allow him to come around on his own. He just sat there and watched as Mike curled himself into a ball, trying to make himself as small as possible before crying lightly. He sighed and held the receiver up to his ear.

"Alright, what happened?" Rene Nesmith's angry voice demanded. "What did y'all do to Mike?"

"Hello to you too Rene." Micky said.

"Don't be cute with me Micky." She snapped "What did you do?" Micky rubbed the back of his neck.

"Well, there's been a little bit of an accident."

"What kind of an accident?" Rene asked, worry in her voice "Do I need to fly out there?"

"No, you don't have to fly out here Rene." Micky said quickly "Mike was doing a roller skating competition yesterday and got a concussion. He thinks it's 1965.There's nothing you can do."

"Okay," Rene said, hesitantly "Is Mike still there?" Micky looked around and saw Mike still crying.

"Yeah," Micky said slowly.

"Good, put him back on please."

"Okay." Micky said "Just give me a second." He put the phone down and went over to Mike.

"Hey Mike," He said softly, "Your sister wants to talk to you." Mike sniffed and got up and went over to the phone.

"Hi Re," he whispered, "Is Ma really not there?" Micky heard her say something and Mike nodded and looked at Micky.

"He's nice. I like him." Micky snorted and went into the kitchen to make Mike a fresh cup of coffee.

"No," Mike said "Y'all don't havta come out here. We can't afford it." Micky watched as Mike rubbed his temple and he took out one of the orange pills and put it next to the coffee.

"Okay. Yeah, I love you to Re. Who's in the background? I have nieces and nephews? No, I don't wanna say hi to them. Not right now. Tell them I'll visit when I can. I'll send a letter to all y'all. Hmm hmm. Okay, bye bye." He hung up the phone and made his way over to the couch and layed down.

"Hey Mike," Micky said setting down a coffee cup and the orange pills.

"You lied to me Micky." Mike whispered.

"Yeah, and I'm really sorry," Micky said "I thought it would help."

"How would lying help?" Mike asked. Micky shrugged.

"I-I thought that if we could pretend that it was 1965 then it would help you. Can you please take this Mike?" He asked as he held out the orange pill.

"How can pretending it's another year help me Mick?" Mike asked "and what year is it then?"

"Mike," Micky said quietly "take the pill and I'll tell you what happened. Okay?" Mike took the pill and popped it into his mouth and then downed it with some coffee.

"There, happy," Mike snarled, "now, what happened?" Micky sighed and sat down next to him.

"Last night you were in a competitive roller skating championship." Micky said looking at Mike hoping to have a spark of recognition. Nothing. He sighed again.

"Anyway, you got pulled down by someone and hit your head on the floor pretty bad and got a concussion. We've been in the hospital all night."

"Oh," Mike said, "Am I any good?" Mike asked.

"At what?" Micky asked.

"Roller skating." Mike said.

"Oh, yeah, you're awesome at it." Micky said "It makes you happy to do it."

"Oh, okay." Mike nodded, "anything else I should know about?"

"You and me are in a band." Micky said "We're called The Monkees and we have roommates. Davy Jones and Peter Tork." Mike nodded.

"So where are they?" Mike asked, looking around.

"They're not here right now, they're at a friend's house. We thought it might be easier for you to just have me right now and not overwhelm ya."

"Oh." Mike said laying down as he put his feet up on Micky's lap.

"You okay Mike?" Micky asked, concerned.

"I'm tired." Mike said, closing his eyes.

"Okay," Micky said "I'll try to be quiet. Can you get your feet off me?" He asked.

"Nein." Mike said

"Speaking German now?" Micky asked, smiling.

"Hmm." Mike sighed.

"Alright I'll be quiet." Micky said.

"Thank you." Mike whispered. They stayed like that until the phone started ringing and Micky slowly picked Mike's feet up and set them down as he made his way to the phone.

"Hello, Monkee residence this is Micky." He said.

"Hey Mick, it's Davy," Davy's voice said "How's Mike doing?" Micky looked at Mike.

"He's fine," Micky said, "he's asleep."

"Oh, is that good or bad?" Davy asked.

"It's good," Micky sighed, "you two can come home if you want. Mike knows it's not 1965. And he's speaking German."

"What?" Davy said "like full on German?" He asked.

"No, he just said 'no' when I asked if he could get his feet off me, he could've picked it up from Peter." Micky said.

"Oh, yeah, that's true." Davy said "well, I'll tell Pete and we'll be home in an hour or so."

"Okay see you then. Bye Dave." He hung up and sighed, running a hand down his face.