JULY, 1967…
One hot and sultry Thursday evening, Madison and Tina sat in their favorite places, Madison curled up on the couch and Tina stretched out on the floor, watching the band rehearse. They ended rehearsal with a new song called "Words" and when they were finished both Madison and Tina stood up cheering and clapping.
"Wow!" Madison exclaimed. "That was so groovy!"
"You really like it doll?" Micky stood up from behind the drums.
"Yes!" Madison smiled. "You and Peter singing together was an inspired idea. Girls will be fainting in the aisles." She noticed Peter was blushing and couldn't help but giggle.
"Thank you, thank you." Mike did an over-exaggerated bow. "Of course, it was my idea."
"Oh, shut up." Davy elbowed him in the ribs and laughed.
"What did you think Tina?" Peter asked shyly.
Tina looked over at Micky and winked. "It was really far out. Maddie's right, girls will be fainting dead away."
Peter turned even a brighter shade of red and giggled, causing them rest of them to laugh.
"Well, y'all, I'm going to bed." Mike yawned and stretched. His Texan accent always stronger when he was sleepy.
Davy looked down at his watch. "I have a date with Jenny." He started towards the front door.
"Is Jenny the redhead?" Madison giggled.
"No, doll." Micky started laughing. "Amber is the redhead, Jenny is the blonde."
"You're both wrong." Mike corrected. "Debbie is the redhead, Amber is the blonde and Jenny is the one with dark hair."
"Face it, we will never be able to keep up with him." Micky laughed, casually throwing his arm around Tina's shoulders. "Maybe we could get some sort of calendar."
"You're just jealous." Davy shot him a dirty look then smiled.
"Not one bit." Micky started firmly kissing Tina on the cheek.
"I am." Peter said sadly, causing the rest of them to double over with laughter.
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The next morning, Madison walked over to the pad and in the back door. They had an open door policy including keys to both houses. She would often come home from meeting with her publisher and find one of them dozing on the couch, watching TV or working on a new song. Sometimes the pad could get a little crowded and her house was a quiet place to get away to. On the other hand, sometimes her place could get a little lonely and the pad was a non-stop fun-filled atmosphere to lose herself in.
It was turning into an absolutely beautiful day and she was hoping they could all spend a lazy day at the beach. But the instant she walked in the door, she knew something was wrong. She found Mike, Peter and Davy sitting at the kitchen table looking quite somber.
"Mornin'." She said quietly. "What's wrong?"
"Mornin' luv." Davy half-smiled. "You want some coffee?"
"Sure." She sat down at the table.
"Tina broke up with Micky last night." Mike stated quietly.
"What?" Madison exclaimed taking the cup of coffee from Davy's hands.
"What happened?"
"Don't know, darlin'." Mike answered. "He won't talk about it."
"Where is he?" Madison asked taking a sip of coffee.
"Upstairs." Peter replied. "He's been up all night."
"And he destroyed our room." Mike butted in. "I've never seen him act this way."
"Maybe he'll talk to you." Peter suggested.
Madison nodded and stood up. She could tell how worried they were about their friend. "I'll see what I can do." She gave Peter's shoulder a gentle squeeze, then walked towards the spiral staircase and up to the room Micky and Mike shared. She knocked softly on the door. "Mick, its Maddie, can I come in?" There was no answer. Slowly, she turned the knob and peeked her head in the door, completely unprepared for what she was about to see.
The room was an absolute shambles. There were clothes thrown all over the floor along with papers and books. Micky's dresser was clean, its contents scattered and broken on the floor. The penholder he kept next to his bed was thrown against the wall shattered in a million pieces. The picture of him and Tina taken on the beach just a few weeks before had the unmistakable mark of a boot in the middle of it.
Micky himself looked like something the cat dragged in. He was sitting on the floor amid the mess leaning against his bed, his hair more out of control than usual and wearing the same clothes as the day before. His face was unshaven, puffy and red.
Madison slowly walked over and sat down on the floor next to him. "Mick?"
He looked over startled and it occurred to her that he hadn't even heard her come in the room, too lost in his own thoughts. "Hey doll." His voice cracked.
"The guys told me about Tina." She said quietly. "What happened?" She put her hand on his back.
"Hell if I know." He half-chuckled. "One minute we were making out on the couch and the next she tells me she's moving to San Francisco and its over."
Madison wrapped her arms around him in a hug and he clung to her around the waist like a life preserver. "Baby, I'm so sorry." She cooed stroking his unruly curls. She realized in that moment that Micky had fallen in love with Tina more than any of them had known. And like anything else Micky did, he was hurting with his entire heart, mind, body and soul.
"I feel like such an idiot." He whimpered. "I thought she felt the same way about me."
"George Michael Dolenz, you are not an idiot." She stated firmly taking his chin in her hand. "Tina is." She wanted to tell him that the hurt would go away and someday he would find someone else, but she knew those words would only fall on deaf ears. She held him for a long time, gently rubbing his back and stroking his hair. "Do you want to come downstairs? The guys are really worried about you." She said softly.
Micky sat up and rubbed his eyes with the palms of his hands. "Not right now."
"You know, we're here if you need us." She gave him a firm hug then stood up.
"Thanks doll." He managed a smile.
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Later that afternoon, Madison was at home sitting on the couch working on her latest story when the doorbell rang. She opened it to find Tina standing on the other side. "Hey Maddie." Tina said softly. "I wanted to return your jacket before I left."
"Thanks." Madison replied coldly, taking her jeans jacket from Tina's hands. She sighed, "Tina, how could you do that to Micky?"
"I met someone else." Tina answered. "I'm moving with him to San Francisco."
"Damn, Tina, you've been cheating on him." It was not a question. "He loves you."
"I can't help that. We had a lot of fun together but its over." Tina said harshly. "I'm moving on."
"You're amazing." Madison voice was full of sarcasm. "Maybe its better he never found out what a little slut you truly are."
"You bitch!" Tina stormed, then smiled. "Well, one thing is for sure, I had him and you never will!"
"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Madison's eyes grew big.
"Oh, give up the holier-than-thou attitude, Madison." Tina stated. "You're in love with him. You'd have to be blind not to see it. Too bad he doesn't feel the same way." She turned on her heal and left.
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The next week was hard on everyone. Madison was having trouble getting over what Tina had said, even though she believed it wasn't true. She knew there was no way she was in love with Micky, they were best friends and that's all. They shared a lot of things with each other but being in love with him? That thought had never entered her mind. She also knew she should tell Micky about the other guy Tina was seeing but decided against it knowing it would only hurt him more than he already was.
As for Micky, he was hurt and angry and snapping at anyone that got in his way. He didn't want to rehearse with the band and was spending most of his time either locked up in his bedroom or away from the pad, although no one knew where he went. Mike, Peter and Davy felt like they were walking on eggshells when he was around. They were trying to understand but they were also finding it extremely hard to live with him.
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The following Thursday, Mike finally talked Micky into rehearsing because they needed to. They hadn't played together as a band since the night Tina broke up with him. Madison was curled up in her favorite spot on the couch and thought for sure that her ears were deceiving her.
"Mick, man, you're all over the place." Mike stopped playing.
It wasn't her ears.
"So sorry, oh flawless one." Micky replied sarcastically. "We can't all be perfect like you."
"I never said I was perfect." Mike shot him a dirty look over his shoulder. "I just figured you'd know this song by now. Hell, we've only been playing it for 2 years."
"Go to hell!" Micky said in a low voice standing up behind the drums.
"Hey, now, we don't need any of that." Davy stepped in.
"Maybe we should take a break." Peter said quietly looking back and forth from Micky to Mike. It hurt him so much to see two of his best friends angry with each other.
"Fine with me!" Micky threw his drumsticks down and stomped his way out the front door slamming in hard behind him.
"Well, that was fun." Madison said quietly.
"He's about this far from getting killed." Mike said angrily.
"Mike, he's hurting." Peter always trying to be the peacemaker.
"Pete, we know that." Davy chimed in. "But, man, he's getting worse everyday."
"Just give him a little more time." Peter suggested.
The four of them spent the rest of the evening together waiting for Micky to come home hoping they could rehearse a little more. Mike quietly played his guitar working on a new song, Davy was on the phone, as usual, and Peter braided Madison's hair.
Eventually, Micky did come home but he was in no state to rehearse. He staggered in the front door with a girl under each arm. "Hey guys!" He slurred loudly. "I want you to meet a couple of friends of mine." Everyone stopped what they were doing and stared at him in complete astonishment. "This is Barbie." He gestured to the tall busty blonde wearing a short mini-skirt on his left. "And this." He giggled. "This is Sandy." He gestured to the redhead wearing a half-shirt and tight bellbottoms on his right.
"Mick, man, what are you doing?" Mike asked disgusted.
"Just having a little fun, Mike old boy." Micky chuckled. "You should try it some time."
"Micky, you're drunk!" Madison shook her head in shock.
"Yes, doll, I am." He staggered over to her and threw his arm around her shoulders. "And I plan on getting drunker. Wanna come?"
"Definitely not!" Madison stated firmly dodging out from under his arm.
He grabbed her around the waist and pulled her close. "Ah, why not baby?" He rubbed his hands up and down her hips. "You could use a little loosening up." He kissed her hard on the lips, holding her tightly against his chest.
Madison pushed him away and then smacked him across the face. "Don't you ever do that again!" She wiped her mouth with the back of her hand, her bright eyes turning dark with anger and fear.
"Ouch." Micky laughed, rubbing his cheek. "Come on girls, let's blow this funeral home." He threw an arm around each girl then kissed them both on the cheek and led them out the door.
"Are you okay?" Mike asked, placing a gentle hand on Madison's shoulder, causing her to jump.
"I'm fine." She replied softly, pushing his hand away. "I'll see you later." She walked out the back door.
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Madison tossed and turned all night long. She couldn't believe what Micky had done. What gave him the right to grab her like that? What gave him the right to kiss her? After everything she had been through to put her life back together that kiss shattered it. It brought back a flood of bad memories that she had worked so hard to forget.
What was even worse than that, she thought, maybe Tina was right. Maybe she did have feelings for him other than friendship. It was hard to see him with those two other girls, almost heart breaking. Was it jealously? She couldn't be sure if her emotions were just working over time or if she truly felt something for him.
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Madison completely avoided the pad on Friday. She couldn't face any of them right now, especially Micky. She was too angry and hurt and afraid she would say something she didn't mean, or worse, something that she did mean. She still wasn't sure how she felt about Micky, except that he was her best friend and that mattered above everything else. She trusted him, confided in him, laughed with him. He was the first person in her life to ever accept her for her and never expected anything in return.
She knew he hadn't meant to hurt her. How could he know? She still hadn't found the courage to tell him. At this point, she wasn't sure if she ever would. That part of her life seemed like such a distant memory, almost as if it had never happened.
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Madison walked into the pad on Saturday morning and there was that bad feeling again. This time, she found only Mike and Peter in the kitchen. "What happened now?" She grabbed a cup from the cupboard and poured coffee into it.
"He came home drunk again last night and way out of control." Mike stated somberly. "We tried to calm him down but that only made it worse." He sighed heavily. "Then he got into a fight with Davy."
"Good God." Madison cupped her hand over her mouth. "Where's Davy? Is he okay?"
"His pride is hurt but other than that, he's okay. He went over to Jenny's house to cool off and said he would be home later." Peter answered.
"Where's Micky?" She stood up.
"Passed out upstairs." Mike replied.
"This has gone far enough!" Madison said harshly. She walked over to the refrigerator and took a large pitcher off the top of it. Then she filled the pitcher with ice cold water.
"Maddie, I don’t think…" Peter started until Madison whirled around and shot him the "don't try to talk me out of it" look.
Madison took the pitcher and stomped up the staircase. She didn’t bother knocking on the door; instead she threw it open so hard it bounced off the wall. The room looked even worse than it had a few days ago. Added to the mess now were beer cans, broken bottles and pizza boxes. Micky was lying spread-eagle on the bed, snoring loudly and still wearing his shoes.
"GEORGE MICHAEL DOLENZ!" She yelled walking over to the bed and dumping the entire pitcher of water on his face.
Micky sprung up into a sitting position and instantly grabbed his now wet head. "What the hell?!" He yelled. It felt like a freight train was using his head for a tunnel.
"What the hell is wrong with you?" Madison stormed, her face red with anger.
"Leave me alone Madison!" Micky spat. He knew using her real name would hurt her since he had practically never called her than since the day she moved in next door.
Madison was hurt, but she was also angry and the anger took over. "No, I'm not going to leave you alone. You're acting like an ass and its about time someone told you so."
"And you just have to be the one to do it, right?" His stomach was turning and his head rocked.
"Do you think you're the first person in the world to ever get dumped and have their heart broken? Because I got news for ya, you're not!" She continued. "There are three other people who live in this house who love you and would do anything for you, not to mention me, but you've managed to alienate all of us."
Micky opened his mouth to say something. He wanted to tell her to leave and get the hell out of his life but she stopped him, pointing her finger in his face.
"So, here's what you're going to do. First, you're going to get out of that bed and clean yourself up because frankly you look like hell and you smell worse. Then, you're going to put this room back to the way it was before you started feeling sorry for yourself." She took a deep breath. "And finally, you're going to march your ass downstairs and apologize to your best friends." She turned on her heal and walked out of the room slamming the door so hard Micky swore he felt the room shake.
Madison stomped back down the stairs to find Mike and Peter standing at the bottom with their mouths hanging wide open in shock. She set the pitcher down on the table. "I'm going for a walk!"
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Madison walked the beach for a long time letting the cool water lapping against her feet calm her. She finally climbed up on a boulder and stared out at the ocean. Since she had moved here, she was drawn to it. It was like a safe and secure place that she could come to when she was sad or angry or even scared and it always made her feel better. It had felt good to yell at Micky. Better than that was the feeling that she had gotten back some of the control in her life.
She wasn't sure how long she had been out there when Micky walked up and cleared his throat. She looked over at him and noticed he was clean and shaven.
He climbed up and sat down next to her. "I made peace at home and now I’m here to make peace with you." He sighed. "You were right doll, I was feeling sorry for myself and I was doing anything I could think of to make everyone around me feel as bad as I did."
"Did it work?" She asked quietly turning her attention back to the horizon.
"Yeah, until you came in this morning." He pushed a piece of hair out of her face. "I've never seen you so mad."
She looked over at him. "I've never been that mad before." She sighed, "But I couldn't hold back. You're my best friend and I couldn't go on seeing you hurt everyone around you, including yourself."
"I'm so sorry for everything, doll; especially the other night. I wasn't thinking and I didn't mean to scare you. I'm so sorry." He looked her directly in the eye. "If I've hurt our friendship, I'll never forgive myself." Part of him wondered what it would be like to really kiss her. To hold her close and kiss away the fear he had seen in her eyes that night. She was still holding something back from her past and he wanted desperately to help her.
Madison smiled and put her head on his shoulder. "That's the great thing about true friendships, Mick, they bounce."
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