Deaf & Dumb

Peter Tork Tells His Friends About the Beautiful Girl

Peter ran home quickly to tell the other Monkees about Rosemary. He had this huge smile on his face as he rushed into the house. The other Monkees were around the house doing various things.
Mike was standing in the kitchen doing the dishes, and the dishes were already clean. Micky was reading, but the book was upside down. Davy was playing checkers with Mr. Schneider; Mr. Schneider was winning.
"Guys, I've just met the most fantastic girl!" Peter exclaimed.
The other Monkees were all taken aback by Peter's statement. Mike abandoned his clean dishes. Micky tossed his book over his shoulder. Davy lost against Mr. Schneider. They walked over to Peter and stared at him.
"What's her name?" Mike asked first.
"Is she pretty?" Micky asked next.
"Is she single?" Davy asked finally.
Peter smiled. "Her name's Rosemary. She's the most divine," Micky and Davy and Mike glanced at eachother surprised at his word choice, "lady I've ever seen. I'm taking her out to dinner tomorrow night if I can."
Davy frowned. "You didn't answer my question," He said a little annoyed.
"I never asked," Peter said.
"It's not like it's a hard question," Micky said turning to Davy. "Just, hey Davy, are you dating anyone?"
"Oh yeah, like five girls right now," Davy said.
Micky rolled his eyes. "See."
"Well, it's not simple like that with her," Peter said. "She can't hear the question like Davy can."
Micky, Davy, and Mike stared at Peter. "She's deaf?" Mike said.
Peter nodded his head. Mike shook his head slowly. "Babe, this'll only end up trouble for you," Mike said.
Peter frowned at Mike. "What do you mean?" He asked.
"I mean, she ain't like you," Mike said stammering over his words. "I don't know. I can't control you. Just don't do somethin' dumb, alright?"
Peter nodded his head and ran up to their room to look in his piggy bank for some money. Mike and Micky and Davy exchanged glances.
"I've never seen him like this," Micky said.
"We gotta get him some help," Mike said.
"Don't you think it's nice that Peter's finally found a girl he really likes?" Davy asked.
Mike and Micky stared at Davy. "She's deaf," Mike said.
Davy frowned. "What's that got to do with anything?" He asked.
Micky turned to Mike. "Davy's right," He said.
Mike frowned. "How do you reckon he's supposed to talk to her? He doesn't know sign language," Mike said.
Davy and Micky glanced at eachother. "We'll teach him," They said.
Mike stared at the two of them. "You're both crazy, you know that?"
Davy and Micky smiled at eachother. "Maybe we are," They said bolting out the door of their beachside residence.
Mike kept mumbling about how his two friends were nuts.
Peter was sitting on the floor of the Monkees bed room counting his change and dollars to figure out how much money he had. The sum was meager. He could bring her to a semi-nice restaurant and buy her a semi-nice meal and walk her home, but nothing else.
Micky and Davy burst into the room both panting heavily. They both had a book in their hands. Micky dumped his book in front of Peter. Peter read the title. "Basic Sign Language; So Simple an Idiot Could Learn It," He said out loud.
Davy dumped his book in front of Peter. "Sign Language for the Dumb," Peter read out loud. He looked up at Micky and Davy and smiled. "What're you trying to say?"
"We asked for the simplest copies of sign language books at the library," Micky replied.
"And these are what the lovely librarian recommended for us," Davy said.
Peter opened the first one. He read through them trying all sorts of signs. He tried making sentences with the signs. He smiled the further he got a long in the book. He was finding the signing pretty easy. Mike came into the room to call the other three Monkees to dinner, but Peter was still signing.
Mike whistled in surprise. Peter was really trying at this. "Dinner's ready," Mike said.
Peter finally looked up from his book. He followed Davy and Micky and Mike to the kitchen where they ate in silence. Peter tried asking for more potatoes in sign language, but none of the others knew what he was asking for, so he broke down and spoke.
Peter didn't know much sign language by the end of the day, but he kept trying hard to learn it. He really wanted to know how to communicate with Rosemary. Finally he went to the phone and called her. It rang a couple of times.
"Hello?" It was a rather nasally voice. It was very annoying. Peter cringed.
"I'm calling to speak with Rosemary," Peter said.
"Gimme a minute. I'll get her in here," The voice said.
There was silence on the phone for a few minutes then the voice returned. "She's here, shoot," The voice said.
"I was calling wondering when she wanted to go out; tomorrow at eight is good for me," Peter said trying to stay polite.
"She said that that won't work for her," The voice said. "What about the next day at the same time?"
Peter thought for a moment. They had a gig at that time, but it was at a restaurant and it wasn't a long show.
"Ask her if she minds if I am playing music for part of the time," Peter said.
"She said that'll be fine. So two days from now at eight, where?"
"Cowbell's Bar and Grill," Peter said.
"She said she can't wait."
"Tell her bye for me. I hope you both have a nice night," Peter said.
"We will," The voice said hanging up.
Peter placed the phone down and walked to the couch. Micky, Mike, and Davy were all sitting on it watching a movie. Davy had the popcorn on his lap and was eating it mindlessly as he watched the film. Peter took a seat in front of them and started to watch the movie as well. It was The Miracle Worker.