Everyone ready to relive the Nifty Fifties?

Mike: Sure, why not. The cars were cool.

Peter: And the music was cooler! :D

Micky: You betcha! :D

Davy: Ready!

(We open at the Nifty Fifties Fair on the parking lot next to Millie's Cheesecakes and Other Oddities as "The Girl That I Knew Somewhere" plays. The Four Martians, wearing black leather jackets and rolled-up jeans, walk off-stage as Millie, dressed in a floral shirtwaist frock, announces the next group, the Monkees. The Monkees, however, are nowhere to be seen.)

(Suddenly, we hear the squeals of at least ten or twenty teenage girls, and the Monkees barrel through the crowds and onto the stage. Security takes hold of the girls as they grab their instruments and take over the song. Mike wears a tight white t-shirt, rolled-up jeans, and boots, with his hair in a greased ducktail. Peter is dressed more simply, in slacks, a sweater, black high-top sneakers, and a blue and white letter jacket, though we see a hint of his beads under the jacket.)

*Davy wears a letter jacket, button up shirt, jeans, and Converses. His hair is slicked back. Micky wears a leather jacket, red t-shirt, black jeans, and boots. His curls have been completely slicked down into a ducktail."

(The crowd dances and sings along. The girls are seen in the crowd, dressed normally but enjoying themselves. Emma pats her now-somewhat-larger belly. Valerie smiles proudly, relieved that they made it to the stage in one piece. )

Emma: (Over the music) Whew! I didn't think they were going to make it for a minute.

Valerie: I really need to discuss security with Millie. She promised! :p

Lauren: I have the distinct feeling that no matter WHAT the size of the security group, we still would've had a problem.

Valerie: (Shrugs) What can I say? Their sales may be slipping a bit, but the boys are still headliners.

Emma: (Smiles) I'm glad Mrs. Marion and Mrs. Filcheck offered to take the kids for a while so we could enjoy some time with the guys. If the movie is as big as a hit as they're hoping for, we won't have this "us" time for much longer.

Valerie: (Makes a face) If the damn movie ever comes out at all. They're still working on editing it, and will be for the rest of the summer.

Lauren: Oh geez.... :P

Emma: That bad, huh?

Valerie: Miles and miles of footage that makes no sense whatsoever, or so Bob Rafelson claims.

Emma: He directed it, and he can't make something of it?

Valerie: He says he, Bert Schneider, and the editors are trying their best. (Groans) I shudder to think of what it'll look like in the final print.

Daphne: More holes than Swiss cheese.

Lauren: Swiss cheese after being shot at about a hundred times. :P

Valerie: (Sighs) I need to talk to Bob Rafelson and Bert Schneider about an appropriate publicity campaign, too. This is going to be a VERY difficult film to market, and we'll need to do something special.

Mike: (As the song ends) So, didja enjoy that one? (Roar from the crowd) Yeah, me too. We've got another one comin' up from a Mr. Davy Jones, just for all you ladies, "I Wanna Be Free."

Emma: (Looks at her watch) Come on. Let's go to Millie's and get something to eat. We did say we'd meet the guys there.

Lauren: *glances at Daphne and rolls her eyes* That means you, too, Daph! You can drool over Dave later! *grabs her arm and drags her along*

Daphne: But...

Valerie: Daph, you've heard Davy sing this a hundred times, including in the shower.

Daphne: But...

Valerie: We'll ask Davy to give you a special performance later!

Daphne: Ohhhh, all right.

(The girls, Daphne reluctantly, heads over to Millie's. Fade out on "I Wanna Be Free" and fade in on Millie and all four women sitting at one table in the back of a busy store. They all laugh.)

Millie: (Shakes her head) Only Micky would somehow book a Mexican vacation in a hotel sitting on top of ruins. (Chuckles) Sweet boy, but he has a terrible sense of direction. He almost needed a map just to get around under the sink when he finally fixed the plumbing.

Valerie: Don't worry, I did the booking this time. We've learned our lesson.

Lauren: No kidding.

Millie: He reminds me of Lupe, a Latino boy I knew in Hoboken who worked in a TV and radio repair shop. He knew his way around the insides of a TV like no one else on the block, but he'd get lost going home to his mother's, and he'd lived with his mother all his life in the very same neighborhood.

Valerie: Micky is brilliant with machines and with drums. On some other things, I question his judgment.

Lauren: I question his judgment most of the time.

(The boys enter at this point, just pulling away from signing autographs. Mike grins and leads them over to the girls' table. Larry comes in, too, wearing a sweater, white button-down shirt, red polka-dot bow tie, slacks, and shoes, and joins them.)

Millie: Hello, dear. Have a hard time getting through the mobs?

Larry: No, we fought them off. (Pulls up a chair as the boys do the same and joins them)

Millie: (Stands, pad at the ready) So, what'll the famous celebrities have?

Mike: Carrot cake and your strongest coffee.

Millie: Yeah, I know Mike, you like your coffee the same way I like mine - ready to sit up and bark.

Larry: No wonder she has so much energy. I take a sip of her coffee and I'm awake for three days.

Lauren: I could only imagine what it would be like if Mick drank coffee.

Micky: Funny, babe.

Millie: We'd never get him off the ceiling.

Peter: I'll have a blueberry muffin. I ate too much at the fair.

Millie: With tea and honey?

Peter: Of course! :)

Davy: Lemon poppy seed muffin and English Breakfast tea please, Millie.

Micky: Hmmmm, always such a tough decision. Ah, just gimme the almond tort and an iced tea unsweetened.

Millie: Wow, Micky, are you on a diet? You didn't order the whole menu!

Mike: We discussed this earlier when it was just the two of us. We don't want to eat all of your profits, Mil.

Micky: That's right.

Millie: Thanks, Mike. I appreciate that. (She heads off for the kitchen while Larry settles back in his chair)

Larry: (Sighs) I'm glad I got this day off. (Smiles as he looks around Millie's store, with it's cardboard 50s-themed decorations and pink and turquoise crepe paper and tablecloths) This brings back so many memories...

Mike: How long have you lived in Malibu Beach?

Larry: All of my life. I was born here, in the house Millie and I live in now.

Peter: I'll bet a lot of things have changed since you were our ages.

Larry: (Nods) A lot of things have changed just in the last few years. (Waves his hand at the store) This used to be an old-fashioned drug-store before those crazy Chinese spies moved in, but the drug store went out of business when that big Cartwright Supermarket opened in the shopping center on Interstate 86.

(Peter blushes. Valerie's father owns Cartwright Groceries.)

Larry: There used to be a butcher's shop next-door, and the Hotel Caprice had a third tower that was demolished some time in 1954. (Grins) The road where the shopping center is now used to be nothing but fields, gravel, and mud. Very popular spot for drag races.

Mike: (Raises his eyebrows) Did you say drag races?

Larry: That part of the Interstate wasn't often used, until they put up the shopping center in 1960 and the housing developments in 1959 and 1963, and there's practically no curves in the whole road. The local kids and college students did races there until the shopping center was finished, and even a little bit after, though not as frequently.

Peter: (Looks at Micky) Sounds dangerous.

Micky: Yes and no...

Larry: (Shrugs) I don't know much about that, other than the stories I heard from some of the boys who used to hang around the drug store, where I worked at the time.

Emma: And I'll bet you know all those stories.

Millie: (Comes out with the boys' drinks and food; as she hands it around) Larry, are you boring the kids with your talk about Malibu Beach "in the good old days" again?

Peter: Oh no, we like hearing them! :D

Mike: Yeah, they ain't borin', Mil.

Millie: To you. You haven't heard them seven hundred times.

Peter: Tell us more about the drag races!

(Millie groans, but Larry ignores her.)

Larry: Well, it usually came after a night of cruising.

Mike: What?

Larry: The kids in town who had their own cars would drive around, looking for action - a race, a dance, a fight, a member of the opposite sex, a liquor store they could sneak into without ID. Challenges usually came towards the end of the night, when everyone was tired and full of liquor. (Makes a face) I certainly heard enough of them when I was stuck behind the counter during the night shift.

Millie: Tell them about the Cruiser. I always liked that urban myth.

Emma: The what?

Larry: You've never heard of the Cruiser? He used to appear during every drag race in a black car, dressed in all black - leather, pants, the works. He'd appear out of nowhere and help cars that were about to crash, or chase off cops who were driving by. No one ever found out who he was, or why he did what he did. When the drag races started slowing down after the shopping center was built, he just disappeared. Poof. No one ever saw him or that weird black car of his again.

Micky: Whoa...

Peter: Wow!

Mike: Crazy. He'd just appear and disappear? How'd he do that? Magic?

Larry: No one knows! No one's ever known! His car was this really weird model, all-black. Looked like it was put together from a couple of different cars. He wore all-black, and he'd never leave the car.

Micky: Did anyone ever actually see HIM?

Larry: To tell you the truth, I got so many conflicting stories, I'm not really sure. Some people said he was tall and lean; others claimed he was average height and muscular under the leather. Some said he was clean-shaven; some of the more romantic girls swore he had a mustache. Some said he had a crew-cut and looked a little like a square; beatnicks claimed he was some kind of local god who appeared on sacred grounds and saved the innocent.

Mike: I ain't gonna ask what got in their coffee. (Chugs his own)

*Micky just raises an eyebrow.*

Larry: There's been so many rumors over the years, I've come to wonder if any of it was true. (Shrugs and sips his own tea) I guess we'll never know now. He's probably married with six kids by now.

Mike: Hmm... (leans back)

Larry: (Finishes his tea) I'm going to give Millie a hand. I haven't seen this place so packed since my soda jerk days! (He picks up his cup and heads for the kitchen)

Emma: (Smiles) I love hearing stories about Malibu Beach just a few years ago. It sounds like a lot of things have changed.

Valerie: (Nods) This has always been a sleepy small town, even when the new developments came in, but so much business is moving further into the Valley. (Sighs) I'm worried it may hurt the Hotel Caprice downtown. One of Dad's longtime friends has owned it since he bought it from some Hollywood hot-shot who went broke in 1931, but it's so big and elaborate. Most travelers want something a little less grand these days.

Mike: There's talk of Stainton's Department Store downtown closin' too, or movin' to the new mall openin' on Crosby Avenue.

Valerie: I wish I could see it like it was when I was a little kid!

Peter: I'd love to see it, too. I was too young for drag races in the 50s.

Emma: (Thoughtful) Maybe we could.

Valerie: What do you mean?

Mike: (Little crooked grin) Time travel.

Emma: (Nods) Wouldn't be so far back this time. 1959 should do the trick. Summertime, right around when the high school let out. Bet there were a lot of drag races then.

Micky: Oh yeah... :D

Mike: (Nods) I'm gettin' the idea. We're gonna go back and find out who this mysterious Cruiser is.

Peter: And see what it was like to "cruise!"

Valerie: And see Malibu Beach as it was then.

Lauren: A live history lesson.

Emma: (Nods) It wouldn't take very long. We could be back in time to pick up the kids at the end of the fair. :)

Mike: (Grins) And let's bring Ursula this time. Not only has she never been time-travelin' with us, but we're gonna need transportation beyond the trolley.

Emma: She's in the parking lot across the street. No one will see us leave from there.

Mike: (Nods) Let's pay Millie (grins) and go out for a night of cruisin'. ;)