Madison knocked on the front door. She was planning on taking her sister out to lunch because, quite frankly, she had hardly seen her in the last few weeks since she had gone to that party at Stephen's house with Peter. She knew that Danielle and Peter were spending a lot of time together and she suspected that there was more going on than simple friendship. Under normal circumstances, she would be happy; she loved Peter as her own brother; but she feared that Peter was using drugs and she didn't want Danielle getting involved.
Madison knocked again and when no one answered, she tried the door to find it was unlocked. She knew she shouldn't go in but her instincts got the better of her. She pushed the door open and walked through when the scene before her made her feet stop dead. There, on the couch, was Danielle and Peter, nude and barely covered by a blanket. Wine and whiskey bottles consumed the coffee table along with numerous baggies of different colored pills. Danielle looked over at her, slowing taking a joint out of her mouth and handing it to Peter.
Madison was shocked speechless for about two seconds before bellowing, "Danielle Marie Sage, what the hell is going on here?!"
"Hey sis." Danielle giggled.
"I asked you a question." Madison placed her hands on her hips.
"Don't be so uptight." Danielle answered. "We're just having a little fun."
"Drugs aren't fun, Dani." Madison replied. "In case no one told you, the sixties are over." She looked at Peter. "What about you? That's my 20 year old little sister, don't you have anything to say?"
Peter took a long drag off of the joint and smiled. "Nope."
Madison turned on her heals and stormed out the door, hearing their laughter echoing behind her. She ran across the yard and into the front door of the house, slamming the door behind her. Micky was sitting on the couch with Mac perched on his lap reading "Green Eggs and Ham."
"Hey doll." Micky looked up. "I thought you were going to lunch with Dani." Madison only looked at him as if he was from another planet. "I guess not." He placed Mac on the floor, took off his reading glasses and went to her. "What happened?"
Madison told him what had happened at the pad. "Mick, it’s a really bad scene over there." She wrapped her arms around his waist. "What are we going to do?"
"I don't know, doll." He kissed her forehead and pulled her close.
----------------------------------------
Mike and Samantha returned from their honeymoon a few days later. Mike wanted to get back to work right away and start rehearsing for their upcoming tour. Micky thought it would be best if they didn't say anything to him about Peter and Danielle because he didn't want Mike flying off the handle and deep down, he was hoping things would get better.
"Where is he?" Mike looked down at his watch. They had been at the studio for over an hour and Peter still hadn't showed up. He looked over at Micky and Davy and noticed they were both looking down at the floor, giving it much more attention than it deserved. "What's going on?"
Micky looked up. "Um…well…it's…um…nothing." He fumbled over his words.
Mike sat back in his chair and crossed his arms over his chest. "Out with it, Dolenz."
"Really, I'm sure its nothing." Micky tried to sound light-hearted. "Peter and Danielle have been partying some lately and maybe he overslept."
"I'm sure that's it." Davy chimed in.
"What exactly does 'some' mean?" Mike could tell he was not getting the entire story.
"You know, going to parties, that kind of thing." Micky replied quietly.
"Why do I get the feeling there's something you're not telling me?" Mike raised an eyebrow.
"Because there is." Micky sighed. "The truth is, Peter and Dani have been doing a lot lately."
"A lot of what?"
"Drinking, smoking dope and…" he took a deep breath, "and taking some pills."
Mike jumped up out of his chair. "What?!" He exclaimed. "How long has this been going on and why didn't you tell me?"
"For a while now. I think it probably started before you even moved out. As for Dani, since she moved here." Micky replied. "As for telling you, well, we didn't want you going off, kinda like you're doing right now."
Mike paced back and forth in front of them. "Is it bad?"
Both Davy and Micky nodded slowly. "Yeah, its bad." Micky answered.
"Well, come on." Mike motioned to them. "Let's go over there, maybe we can talk some sense into them before it gets worse."
----------------------------------------
Mike, Micky and Davy drove over to the pad and knocked on the door several times before Danielle finally answered wearing nothing but a skimpy tee shirt. Her long hair was knotted and dirty and her eyes were bloodshot. Her face was pale and drawn and she had also lost too much weight. "Hey." She said groggily.
"Aren't you a pretty picture." Mike said sarcastically. "Where's Peter?"
"In the john." She answered coldly. "Come on in."
They walked in and through the living room to the closed bathroom door just outside Peter's bedroom. They could hear him inside throwing up. "Peter?" Mike opened the door to find Peter hanging his head over the toilet bowl. He was wearing a pair of boxer shorts and nothing else. His hair was stringy and dirty and he had grown a beard. "Good God." Mike stepped back for a moment trying to escape the smell of vomit.
"Hey Mike." Peter managed to look up at his three best friends and then uncontrollably threw up again all over the floor.
Micky and Mike exchanged glances. "Let's get him cleaned up." Micky suggested.
"He'll be fine." Danielle commented from across the room. "The red ones don't agree with him." She shook a baggie full of little red capsules.
Micky quickly crossed the room and grabbed the baggie out of her hand. "No more!" He shouted, running to the kitchen and washing them down the sink.
"No!" Danielle stumbled after him frantically and made it just in time to see the last pill go down the drain. "You asshole!" She swatted him in the arm.
"Look at yourself." Micky bellowed. "Is this the way you want to live your life?"
"What Peter and I do is none of your business!" She slurred.
Meanwhile, Mike and Davy had gotten Peter off of the bathroom floor and into his bed. "The hell it ain't, little girl!" Mike yelled coming out of the room. "You're destroying yourselves."
"Get out!" Danielle screamed. "Just leave us alone!" She leaned against the wall and slid down to the floor in a sobbing bundle.
----------------------------------------
The situation only got worse. As the weeks went on, Peter and Danielle secluded themselves off more and more from the rest of the group bingeing on drugs and alcohol sometimes not leaving the pad for days.
Mike, Samantha, Madison, Micky and Davy showed up at the pad one night unannounced. Mike had heard about something called intervention. Everyone agreed that they should try it. Maybe if they could all convey to Peter and Danielle how much they loved and cared for them, the drugs would stop.
They pounded on the door and received no answer.
Madison's stomach was in knots. "Break it down!" She ordered. "Something is terribly wrong."
Mike and Micky looked at each other and then the door, both raising their legs and kicking it in. "Peter!" Mike called as they walked in. "Dani!" There, in the living room, Peter was passed out cold on the couch and snoring and Dani was lying on the floor, a small trickle of blood coming from her nose.
Madison cupped her hand over her mouth. She ran to her, flopping on the floor next to her. "Dani!" She screamed.
----------------------------------------
Dr. Strand walked into the waiting room. "Ms. Sage?" He waited until she was standing in front of him with her friends standing close around her, before he took both of her hands in his own, patting them gently. "We did everything we could for your sister, but there were just too many drugs in her system. She didn't make it. I’m so sorry."
----------------------------------------
Continue to Part 5
Back to the "As We Go Along" series
Storybook of You - FanFiction Page
Aimee's Shades of Monkees