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Tough Love Part 96; Part 3
Hey yâ??all! â?¢∞â?¢∞â?¢∞â?¢∞â?¢∞â?¢∞â?¢∞â?¢∞â?¢∞â?¢∞â?¢∞â?¢∞â?¢∞â?¢∞â?¢∞â?¢∞â?¢∞â?¢∞â?¢∞â?¢∞â?¢∞â?¢∞â?¢∞â?¢∞â?¢∞â?¢∞â?¢∞â?¢∞â?¢∞â?¢∞â?¢∞â?¢ Chapter 96; Part 3 Getting to Know the Jacksons Part 2 The phone rings in the middle of the night. Iâ??m not too concerned with it until I hear what Michaelâ??s sayingâ?¦. â??Yes Clarence. Sheâ??s sound asleep. Do you want me to get her? Noâ?¦okay. Talk to you later. Bye.â? When he hangs up, I lazily lift my head from Michaelâ??s chest. â??Was that weird for you?â? He nods his head, â??Heâ??s callinâ?? this lateâ?¦or earlyâ?¦to see what weâ??re up to.â? â??Seems to far-fetched to me.â? I barely remember my head hitting Michaelâ??s chest again before I blacked-out again. When I woke up, that comment about the lips Michael made started nagging at me for some reason. I mean it was CLEVERâ?¦I just wanted to know if he meant itâ?¦or knew what he was actually saying. So once I woke up, I noticed the bathroom light was on. Once Michael opened the door, I used my crutches to get to the doorjamb, but after that, I hobbled my way to the sink and started running the water so I could brush my teeth. While doing this, I decided to casually ask Michael about it. â??Michael?â? I could just picture him sighing on the inside. He knows whenever I call his name like this, I usually have some kind of bizarre question to ask him; and this time he isnâ??t wrong at all. â??Yeah?â? he was brushing his own teeth right now. â??You know that comment about you hope I would button up the lips you enjoyed the most, did you mean it? I mean it was almost not even called for.â? â??â?¦It was just a joke in response to all the things YOUâ??D say. I thought it was funny. Not like I was thinking when I said it. I just needed a quick response to beat out your smart aleck statements.â? â??â?¦I guess.â? â??You liked it hunh?â? â??Or I was a bit disturbed by it!â? â??Speaking of being â??disturbedâ??, I believe your room is back in order.â? â??â?¦Really?â? â??I can carry you or wheel you to it so you can see it. While you were gone, the exterminators fixed the problem.â? â??Iâ??ll wheel myself there.â? And thatâ??s what I did while Michael followed. â??It looks brand-spankinâ?? new.â? â??I hope! Thatâ??s what I paid for.â? While I looked around and began recognizing my stuff that got left in the room, I began to feel a sense of paranoia. Although the room was â??scientifically cleanâ?, I didnâ??t feel comfortable with sleeping in there after I knew bugs, insects, or whatever those things were, were having a party in my room! â??Were you looking for this? Iâ??m surprised it survived the ride.â? Michael had the recorder M.J. had given me with that â??4 Letter Wordâ? song recorded on it. â??YEAH! I surely was actually....Hey, thank you Michael.â? â??No problem.â? After making sure my room was tidy enough, we left it and Michael was beginning to take the responsibility of cooking breakfast again. He was opening the eggs when he suddenly stopped. â??Lyric, yâ??know I just got the urgency to look at the sunrise. Do you wanna watch it with me?â? When he said that, I remembered I had no idea what time Jermaine wanted to meet up, and even where. â??Sureâ?¦in a few minutes.â? I needed to make that phone call, but I already knew how wary Michael was about me â??abusing the phone usageâ?. â??Okay,â? he smiled before heading out to the porch in the front. While he was there, I made that quick phone call as painless and quick as possible. I was looking at Jermaine as he had me propped up in his recliner chair. So quite obviously we didnâ??t meet up at the same place. â??I hope you like the tea. I did my best to make it taste traditionally Southern but I didnâ??t think it was too hard to do.â? Traditionally, myself, Iâ??m not a tea drinker, but heck!! Jermaine JACKSON fixed me this tea. If he wanted, Iâ??d drink ALL the tea he had in the cabinets if he wanted. â??Oh no itâ??s fine. What made you choose that? Wanted to test out your Southern hospitality? Your inner-Southern hospitality?â? Jermaine laughs, â??If thatâ??s what you want to believe, then sure. But you know, word spread around. I know youâ??re from Georgia. Youâ?¦got that twang about you.â? I shrug, â??I guess. Itâ??s not too far from Alabama,â? I smile as I acknowledge the resemblance of his mother and me. â??Ha! I like your wittiness.â? I smile. I simply smile. Then I clear my throat. â??Okay, back to business. Time to learn about the Jacksons again.â? â??Why are you so interested in the Jacksons. Geez, weâ??re not the First Family,â? he jokes as he takes his seat. â??Might as well be. Yâ??all are when it comes to the entertainment business. And especially music!â? â??Well thank you. Iâ??m sure the rest of my family would appreciate that comment from such a bright girl. But where did I leave off? Tell me Lyricâ?¦where did the storyteller left off?â? â??Umâ?¦ohâ?¦umâ?¦hmm,â? I couldnâ??t remember to save my life at the time. I even know that I was sounding either uncoordinated or uninterested. â??Oh now I remember! How could I forget? You left off with a tidbitâ??with the fact that yâ??all have Blackfoot and Choctaw Native American blood. Iâ??m still in disbelief and shock because I never knew. I never wouldâ??ve guessed.â? Jermaine started laughing. â??You said the same thing last time.â? â??But those feelings havenâ??t changed.â? â??Okayâ?¦but before I get started can I ask how has Michael been?â? â??Likeâ?¦does he know?â? â??Yeah and how has been other than that?â? â??Well he doesnâ??t knowâ?¦yet at least. Or I guess. But then on that same note, Michael has been fine. I think heâ??s really having a fun timeâ?¦.It seems like heâ??s enjoying the break from the constant traffic and crowding of California.â? â??Yupâ?¦thatâ??s my brother. He likes his space sometimes.â? â??Yeah.â? â??Or his seclusion with you.â? I cover my mouth because my smile was so wide. â??Noâ?¦I donâ??t think itâ??s that.â? â??Ohâ?¦but like I said, we Jacksons donâ??t feel something for nothing.â? I shrug once again. I didnâ??t know where Jermaine was getting at when he said that. â??All I know is I miss Janet and I havenâ??t talked to her in a few days.â? â??Okay. Let me stop wasting time. Iâ??ll get on with it.â? â??Because of our intriguing interest with music, weâ??d do the unthinkableâ??Tito would play Josephâ??s treasured guitar.â? â??Huh?â? Jermaine had to backtrack since I was confused about what he was about to talk about. â??Oh, yeahâ??â? I probably shouldâ??ve said nothing. I mean Tito plays the guitar todayâ?¦so it makes sense. â??Jackie and I were learning songs from the radio, while Tito played the guitar at school. He was passionate for it, but once we got home, of course we couldnâ??t let him risk it all by playing it at home. But once Tito didâ?¦â? â??He â??borrowedâ?? Josephâ??s guitarâ?¦right?â? â??From the back of his closet. When Joseph worked, Tito played. And when Tito played, weâ??d make harmony. Mother caught us. Once she *â?told us we were â??playing with fireâ??â?, sheâ??d turn a blind eye on us. Basically you could say she was a lot more lenient than Joseph. Things were fine and dandy, until we were singing this Four Tops song. A guitar string takes its last pluckâ??Tito had accidentally broken the guitar string. He turned white, while Jackie was saying *â??Oooh youâ??re going to get it now!â?.â? â??Sounds like Jackie,â? I smile. â??Yeah. And we did our best by putting this â??treasureâ?? back in its home. It didnâ??t take us long to ruffle out fatherâ??s feathers, because once he got home, he said *â??WHOâ??Sâ?¦BEEN MESSINGâ?¦WITH MY GUITARRRR?â?. Michael and Marlon left us older boys to fend for ourselves when they ran off. Mother, bless her heart, did her best to intervene, but Joseph said all of us were â??going to get itâ?? unless one of us squealedâ?¦.Tito was man enough to admit that he was the one who was playing with it. But he wasnâ??t afraid to tell Joseph he knew how to play it.â? â??Did Titoâ?¦get a beaten?â? Jermaine makes this face like I had just beaten him! â??No,â? then he briefly laughs, â??Joseph just told Tito to play it then and prove to him that he knows how to play. So Tito starts, and even though Jackie and I were a little off-key, we kept singing. We could see Joseph was moved in some way. He relaxed, and his head even moved to the beat. He even started lip-synching and doing the motions with usâ??thatâ??ll become a habit for him. By the time we had gained our confidence, we had stopped sniffling, sounded a hundred times better, and was even snapping our fingers. When we finished, Joseph didnâ??t say anything. But since we had gotten away without a spanking, I have to tell you: thatâ??s all what mattered to us. â??But the dream wasnâ??t over because two days later, Joseph came home with an electric guitar for Tito. He told him to start practicing, while me and Jackie had to start rehearsing. People may THINK that our father made us sing, or forced his sons into show business, but no, that isnâ??t true. Our father realized his boys had something in them. He progressed our love for entertaining others, while not focusing on his own band, the Falcons. We were going to be something in Gary. â??Michael and Marlon were too small to join the group, so as Michael paid attention to us, Joseph would position us the way he saw fit. We didnâ??t know what else to expect, but Mother knew. This wasnâ??t dreamy sessions for Joseph. He took it VERY serious. he even had one microphone on a stand in the living room. Joseph would always tell us not to be scared of it. We had to play it, hold it! Us being new to this, we were confused so he put on the James Brown LP. He showed us how to dip the microphone from the left and right, and throw it forward, since he knew itâ??ll bounce back. â??Then heâ??d tell me to listen closely to the voices that were singing the songs. He wanted me to *â??do it JUST like that.â?. Then when Joseph motivated us to move, we were naively shuffling about. He told us we couldnâ??t just sway and sing. We had to put feeling into our motions. Since he worked with us so much, Josephâ??s â??verbal handbookâ?? became our own mental handbook. We had to â??entertainâ?? and â??be differentâ?? and â??take it to our audience!â??. When Joseph wasnâ??t busy at work or sleeping, we were practicing. Practice wasnâ??t making things perfect, *â??It makes consistency.â? Thatâ??s what heâ??d say. We had to do things until we got it right. That was just Joseph Jackson. While this was happening, â??ole little Michael was beating on his cardboard tubs of the Quaker Oats. Finally Joseph got him a set of secondhand bongosâ?¦.So you see Randy wasnâ??t the first brother to be playing on the bongos. It was Michael.â? â??See, I never would have guessed that,â? I say again as I shake my head. â??But a hard thing for any kid was when we would see other kids playing outside while we were always in the house rehearsing. Because of that, there was an ongoing curiosity about the things we were doing in our home. A few times, kids would come to our window and tease us. Theyâ??d say things like *â??Youâ??re locked up! Youâ??re locked up!â? and run off. But Joseph wasnâ??t having that. He told us we couldnâ??t get distracted by ANYTHING. Focusing was our jobâ??and thatâ??s because distractions are always out there to mess us up. â??Another CRUCIAL thing Joseph taught us was â??showmanshipâ??. What does showmanship mean to you?â? â??â?¦.Showmanship to me is how you prove yourself to other peopleâ?¦itâ??s their first impression of youâ?¦?â? â??Correct,â? Jermaineâ??s eyes lights up. â??Like with you, you donâ??t TRY to be the way you are, but you Lyric,â? he points at me, â??YOU have natural charisma. The way you can walk into a room, make all the guys look at you, but you know what, YOU take it FURTHER than just your outer-beauty. You can just move your shoulders as you scoot back in a chair, but something about it is still special. Now thatâ??s â??showmanshipâ??!â? â??â?¦.How? That doesnâ??t even add up!â? â??I mean that you have the showmanship to be interviewed but still dazzle the crowd. Weâ??ve had to do that, so Iâ??m saying that you have that type of showmanship people seek FOR show business.â? â??â?¦I guessâ?¦.â? Donâ??t tell me that too much! Iâ??m still trying to catch on. â??Anyway, Joseph was saying that we had to PRESENT ourselves to a crowd with a type of professionalism that would seem amazing for kids our age. And we couldnâ??t dance by counting numbers in our head. It had to be REAL. We had to FEEL it. I mean because if we canâ??t feel it, then how is our crowd suppose to, right?â? â??With more practice, Tito could play the guitarâ??hands down; I became vocally strong; and Jackieâ??s dance steps were perfect. You know he and Rebbie were in dance contests when they were little. But what I struggled with was singing with a childâ??s lungs. Thatâ??s when Joseph told me the analogy about a balloon expanding, and I should be singing from my stomach because thatâ??s the way to sing.â? â??Thatâ??s what Iâ??ve been told before!â? I know I caught Jermaine by surprise, so I had his attention. â??When I was cheering, theyâ??d say, â??Cheer from your diaphragmâ??, and with my chorus teacher, she tells us to sing from our diaphragm. But it all makes sense because if you donâ??t make any use of it, youâ??ll only hurt your throat by straining it.â? â??True! And ever since then, I used that analogy to help me sing. And with more time and discipline put forth, performing to usâ?¦was just a natural thingâ?¦.It became A PART of US!â? Then Jermaine told me about when the family visited Mama Martha, Katherineâ??s mother, in Hammond, East Chicago, to show her what theyâ??d been practicing. All of a sudden, little Michael jumps in by singing. Jermaine tries to shoo him off because he was â??ruining their momentâ?. Thatâ??s when Michael got his chance to sing and â??play the micâ?. â??Thatâ??s when we knew Michael had been memorizing everything we were doing. Thatâ??s when the Talent emerged,â? Jermaine smiles. â??Nowâ?¦Iâ??ll leave it to Michael to tell you about his first live performance. This was his *â??quiet confidenceâ? that we werenâ??t aware of just yet.â? â??Waitâ?¦could you tell me a little more?â? â??Wellâ?¦just pictured this little boy belting out this amazing song.â? Then Jermaine tells me how Joseph worked with the boys for three yearsâ??1962, the year I was born, through 1965. He told me how they admired and used the Temptations facial expressions to help them with their own, but that Joseph didnâ??t want them to become the next Temptationsâ??every guy group wanted to be the next Temptations. Thatâ??s like me and my friends wanting to be the next Supremes. Either way, I understood where Jermaine was coming from. So because of this reason, Joseph wanted the boys to be better than the Temptations. He also told me that even though Michael seemed to â??understand emotions that were way mature for his age, he was simply a master of imitation. Jermaine also told me that Michael was heavily intrigued by James Brown and Fred Astaire. Heâ??d just memorize things; he never had to write them down. By now, Michael and Marlon were in the group. Iâ??m guessing he was five now, even though Jermaine decided to skip over his brotherâ??s first live PERFORMANCE! Jermaine even gives me another analogy about how Joseph made the boys stand a few feet from the wall. He had them stick their hands out to touch the wall. Theyâ??d complain that they couldnâ??t do it, but Joseph wanted them to push through those doubts. He said that Michael was the one who gave the most effort to reach this wall although he was the tiniest. â??Our first performance was on Michaelâ??s seventh birthday. Pretty ironic now I think about it since 7 is his favorite number. Although we didnâ??t recognize his birthdayâ??my brother told you we were Jehovahs right?â? â??He told me a little about it.â? â??Okay. Well we had our performance at a jamboree. This woman, Evelyn Lahaie, invited us to it. She was the one to suggest our name also. It would be a few months prior to our performance at Theodore Roosevelt High. Tito realized someone had sabotaged his tuning pegs. Joseph told him to always check on the tuning before going out to perform. We did â??My Girlâ?? by the Temptations. Then I singed â??Get Readyâ?? by them, and Michael ended with James Brownâ??s â??I Got You (I Feel Good)â??. Michael took us to another level. We werenâ??t meant to be that good. And as we relived what had just happened, Joseph still told us we had work to do. We had won. But we still had more improvement needing to be done. â??Did you know we knew how to play baseball?â? I shook my head no until I backtracked myself, â??Well Iâ??d assumed you guys knew how to get around the bases,â? I smiled. â??You know my school is really big on that.â? â??Oh.â? â??Yeah, weâ??re not the best at football,â? I looked down as I smiled. â??But tell me more about it.â? â??Well we just so happened to have a view of a baseball field from our bedroom window. If you hadnâ??t noticed, Jackie is the jock in the family.â? â??Oh I think I wouldâ??ve guessed that,â? I smiled again as I reminisced about as a child I was always overwhelmed by Jackieâ??s tone physique. â??And if you hadda asked us what would we have chosen as a careerâ??either music or baseballâ??we wouldâ??ve said baseball. It just seemed the most realistic to us. Jackie, Tito, and I were decent juniors. We played for the Katz Kittensâ??â? â??Katz Kittens?!â? â??Yeahâ?¦well that was our name. That was Garyâ??s Little League. We grew up witnessing none other than the Chicago Cubs. And maaan, Jackie was good to the point that people were already scouting him! He was a good hitter and pitcher. He could continuously make home runs! All of that turned around thoughâ?¦.â? â??Oh boyâ?¦it seems tragedies always mark the start of something new.â? â??That indeed is true. Now let me finish,â? he smiles quickly until he expression changes again. â??It was me who screwed it up.â? â??Donâ??t mess it up by telling me the ending Jermaine. Just start from the beginning.â? I was doing my best to ease his guilty expression. â??Okay, well I remember it was on a weekday evening. We were having some big game with our local rival. Tito was on second, Jackie was the pitcher, and I was on the outfield. We were gaining a rep as â??The Jackson Boysâ??.â? We smile as the same time as I pictured them in some type of glory cloud. â??The Jackson Boysâ?. They were always referred to that. â??Oh listen to those Jackson boys sing!; Oh Iâ??m going to marry one of those Jackson boys!; Which Jackson boy do you love the most?â? Stuff like that was built around the fact that the Jacksons are a unit, they are one, and was always built around that. â??It was Jackieâ??s pitching that really got us that title, so the next time you see him, thank him for that.â? â??Okay.â? â??It was while we were doing warm-ups our coach would hit the balls in the air as a part of the catch practice. We were always told to call for it. So here was me as I had my eye on it, *â??MINE! I got itâ?¦â?, while Wesley, our catcher, had taken off his mask, and was going for the same ball. He hadnâ??t called for it or heard me. What came next was BOOM! Because we collided. That was the first time I had seen stars without the cause of it being Josephâ??s belt. You see, Wesleyâ??s forehead had hit me across my right eye, and I was split wide open. He was out of it. Blood was everywhere. I remembered concerned faces until I saw Josephâ??s pained look. That expression didnâ??t leave his face; even while I had gotten 14 stitches. I was bruised because of this, and as an entertainer, I had put myself at risk. I had an image. Now, Mother was just gracious that my vision wasnâ??t altered, but Joseph was upset about making such a careless decision by letting this injury take place. Because of this he made a swift decision. *â??No more baseball for you, Jermaine. None of you. no more baseball! Iyâ??s too dangerous.â? So of course you knew who took it the hardest: Jackie.â? â??Speaking of your school being big on baseball, you go to California High, right?â? â??Yes,â? I say with a smile. â??We entered into another competition against the winners from other schools. We won. But the one time we didnâ??t win was at Horace Mann High. We came in second place with the prize being a color T.V. Now let me remind you that we had this black-and-white T.V. that would break down on us sometimes. Marlon was the one to say what all of us was probably thinkingâ??we had won us a color T.V. But Joseph didnâ??t, well doesnâ??t, believe in second place. He said we didnâ??t deserve it so our color T.V. stayed there.â? â??..Oh.â? â??Before you know it, time really started to fly by with only a little staying vivid in my mind. 1966-1968 were the years that performed on the weekends as we were gaining our rep. Weâ??d be in-front of different audiences. Weâ??d go to Mr. Luckyâ??s, which was the main tavern in Gary. That was our first performance where we gained money. Michael would spend his share on candy and share it with those in the neighborhood. During this time, we were also getting our â??wardrobeâ??. Mother handled that while this lady, Mrs. Roach, sewed â??J5â?? on the breast pockets. I remember this because how she sewed them, they were crooked, but for once we couldnâ??t control that. When werenâ??t at Mr. Luckyâ??s, weâ??d be at High Chaparral or Guys and Gals. Many times, weâ??d finally get to perform at 11:30 at night, then get home at 2 A.M. although we had to face school the next morning.â? Jermaine gives me more informationâ??some of it I thought I could piece together. Like when he confirmed the story about some of their performances were in the same buildings that strippers were in. He told me that by being a Jehovahâ??s and this going on, this was a strong sin. Another time when a gang of guys attacked Joseph for some of the groupâ??s instruments. He even tells me about the boys being signed to their first record label, Steeltown. A song, â??Big Boyâ? was their first single. He said they were at their proudest when they first heard it on WVON Radio. â??It was during the Regal Theater, when we met Gladys Knight. She had just signed with Motown. That night, Joseph asked Gladys if she could get someone from Motown to watch one of our shows. She did her part, but there were no sudden changes. â??Our most challenging performance up to that point was at the Apollo.â? â??Oh yeahâ?¦Michael took me there.â? I didnâ??t know I was looking up at the ceiling in a dreamy way until I notice Jermaine was staring at me. â??And he took Janet tooâ?¦.â? â??Yeah. And for a performance like that, it takes TIME to develop your act. No one can just go out there and wing-it. Unless you want them to wing on your behind! It was May of 1968. And when Joseph, and this man named Richard Aarons, made a package of the things weâ??d done up to this point, they sent it to Berry Gordy. But a few weeks later, it was brought back to us and was ultimately rejected. Damn. â??But traveling the Chitlinâ?? Circuit wasnâ??t all bad. The best thing was to meet all of the greats before usâ??like Gladys, and Smokey Robinson, and Jackie Wilson.â? â??You should have never said that name.â? My smile broadens up. â??What?â? â??Well,â? then I remember: her. â??Letâ??s just say that Smokey played a GREAT part in my household.â? â??What do you mean?â? â??My, uh, myâ?¦umâ??â? â??Mother?â? â??Yepâ?¦she loved her some Smokey Robinson. Sheâ??d always teased if sheâ??d met Smokey first then he wouldâ??ve been my father. But since she hadnâ??t been able to meet him, then myâ?¦uhâ??â? â??Father,â? Jermaine was smiling this time. â??Yeah him. He was the closest to Smokey she could get. Both were light-skinned, and coincidentally the same age, with Smokey being only five months older than myâ?¦uhâ??â? â??Fatherâ?¦again?â? â??Yeah. Him. And she said Smokey was a little too bright for her, but she quickly changed her mind.â? â??Ohâ?¦I guess Iâ??ll have to askâ?¦Whatâ??s your momâ??s name again?â? I do my best not to roll my eyes in-front of Jermaine because I really didnâ??t want to talk about her right now. â??Angela.â? â??Ohâ?¦Angela. Thatâ??s a pretty name. Yâ??all sure do know how to pick â??em! What is itâ??Allen, Angela, Alaric.â? â??He doesnâ??t go by Allenâ?¦he goes by his middle nameâ??Clarence.â? â??Yup.â? He smiles. â??But by this time, we were getting $500 from our performances. So he was pushing us harder. He even reminded us that James Brown would FINE the Famous Flames if they made a mistake. But his way of straightening us out were through whippingsâ?¦.Marlon was the one to get it the worst. He wasnâ??t the most coordinated, and would have to go out to the same tree, which Joseph said represented our family tree, to pick out his branch. He learned to scream louder so the whopping would last not as long. But Marlon is the most tenacious out of all of us. Iâ??d tell you that! He put in the extra time to rehearse his part, although Joseph had considered making the Jackson 5 the Jackson 4. But Michael HATED how Joseph would use his talent to show Marlon the example of â??excellenceâ??â?¦.I donâ??t know if Michael would be pleased with me after I say this, but,â? Jermaine leans forward as if he was telling me this secret, â??I think this was the reason behind Michael beginning to rebel. He had turned from this sweet, ask-me-to-do-anything child, who was well-disciplined at school and all around, to this stubborn child with an attitude. Joseph would tell Michael to try a certain step, but Michael was already gathering his own style. Heâ??d simply say no and Joseph wasnâ??t having it. Michael was pushing him further than any of us could ever dream! So Michael and Marlon got it the most. Marlonâ??because of his errors. And Michaelâ??because of his blatant disobedience.â? When Jermaine said that, I thought about all the times I pissed of Michaelâ??many of those times, purposefully, and just to see how far I could push himâ??and I could see that obvious change in his demeanor and dialogue. â??Thinking about something?â? â??Yeahâ?¦how that still holds to be true today,â? then I smile. â??But if you hadnâ??t noticed, heâ??s real silly too. Michael loved â??The Three Stoogesâ??, and it could crack you up! â??It was until I became a teen that I understood why we got the whoppings and why we had the constant rehearsals and why we couldnâ??t go outside to play: the outside world wasnâ??t safe. Remember I told you we lived in a high-crime area. We were more afraid of Joseph than some gangster out on the streets and weâ??ve never gotten into any major trouble. Now thatâ??s a feat for a family with nine children. And with our Jehovahâ??s faith those were the lines we walked in our childhood. We had no holidays, but with performing on stage, THAT became our freedom. â??But when we were performing at the Apollo, a producer for David Frost was in the audience. The man called Richard Aarons, and wanted us to show up on â??The David Frost Showâ??. It would be in New York and broadcasted to all of America. Thatâ??s all we could talk about for the next few days. â??We didnâ??t know Joseph was creating his own dilemma. We performed once again at the Regal on July 17, 1968. We were sharing a bill with Bobby Taylor and the Vancouvers. Bobby was impressed to the point that he called Suzanne de Passe. She was Berry Gordyâ??s creative assistance, and was only 19. We auditioned for her in Bobbyâ??s living room. She remembers she called him and told him about *â??these amazing kidsâ?. But since he already had Stevie Wonder, who was very young, he didnâ??t want to go through more trouble by signing FIVE of us. Luckily Suzanne could persuade him. THIS is where Josephâ??s dilemma was created. We could either perform on â??The David Frost Showâ?? or take up our gold opportunity with Motown. Of course Michael and Marlon were devastated at first. But I gotta hand it to Joseph, that national performance wouldnâ??t have brought us any closer to a record dealâ??but that audition could. And it did! â??July 23, 1968 was the day that signaled us performing in-front of the greatestâ??a handful of Motown people, along with Berry Gordy. We couldnâ??t SEE them because they were in the sound studio, which was on the other side of the glass. Only a tripod captured us. We sang â??Ainâ??t Too Proud To Begâ?? and â??I Wish it Would Rainâ?? by none other than the Temptations. Then we ended it with â??Whoâ??s Lovinâ?? You?â?? which is Smokeyâ??s song. But then there was a pregnant pause!! No one would say anything after our performance. Thatâ??s when Michael asked *â??So? How was that?â? I said, *â??Michael!â? because his rudeness embarrassed me. All we got was *â??That was greatâ?¦very good.â? by some voice. But *â??two days later, we got the callback: Motown wanted to sign us.â? Jermaine just sits there with his fingers interlaced as he looks at me. â??Wellâ?¦go on.â? I motion my hand as I goad him to go on. â??I think thatâ??s enough for now.â? He smiles and gets up and immediately starts to stretch. â??Plus Iâ??m tired of talking. My mouth hurts.â? As he goes in the kitchen, I follow. â??But you said you would talk about when yâ??all started to perform.â? â??Yeah, when we STARTED. Lyric, you never mentioned when we became famous, or anything with Motown, so I did my part.â? I cross my arms. â??Do you want a snack? After all of that we deserve a MEAL!â? â??Yes please.â? â??What do you want?â? â??It doesnâ??t matter.â? â??Yeah it does. Go on ahead and look in the cabinets.â? â??Okay.â? After making a sandwich and scooping out some Häagen-Dazs ice-cream, I sit on Jermaineâ??s couch to enjoy my mini-meal. â??Yâ??know, I just have one request from youâ?¦.Itâ??s as a favor for me since Iâ??m telling you all of this.â? â??What Jermaine?â? I say as I playfully sigh. â??Go to dinner with me.â? â??What?! Why?â? â??Because I need feel you out. If youâ??re going to be around my brother, I need to see how you are as a person.â? â??Why would you tell me now? Now Iâ??m going to be on my best behavior,â? I laugh. â??How about a Chinese spot?â? â??Okay, who told you I like Chinese food?â? I smiled because only someone I knew could tell Jermaine that. â??No oneâ?¦my lips are sealed.â? â??Okayâ?¦but when are you plan on doing this? Plus should I go back to my place? What should I tell Michael?â? â??Just tell himâ?¦that youâ??re getting his surprise ready if he asks you and he WILL ask you. If not heâ??s going to be secretly wondering.â? â??What am I going to wear?â? â??â?¦Oh Iâ??m glad you asked that. I was still getting that together so donâ??t worry.â? â??â?¦Okay Jermaine.â? â??But once again Iâ??ll write down an address meet me there at this time and at this spot. I just need to see how you are as a person.â? â??Oh I know! I just have one question.â? â??Yeah?â? â??Why didnâ??t you ever show up at my sixteenth birthday party?â? â??I just never got a inviteâ?¦I donâ??t know.â? When I wanted to ask more, he had already gotten up with my dishes. I take a cab back to my place, but while sitting there, since I couldnâ??t necessarily put my legs up on the seat, I just stared there out the window. So much Jermaine said and it was a little overwhelmingâ??all the information he told me. I began to envision Michael and the way he is now. Heâ??s like my role dog; my sidekick sometimes; and even my Clyde. Even though this may seemed weird, I thought about his slender frame, which was about four inches taller than mines. I think about his luscious afro, and his smiles as heâ??d wrap his arm around my neck and shoulders. Damn! Michael is a catch for me alright! He is wonderful. He is perfect. And he damn sure is cute! Once again I went to our place with the mission to wrap my arms around Michael and never let go. The only interruption the last time was M.J. Now I hope itâ??d be no one. â??What brings YOU out for so long THIS time?â? â??Shut up and just hug me!â? Michaelâ??s eyebrow rose in confusion, but he knew I was serious. And I wasnâ??t about to let go. â?¢∞â?¢∞â?¢∞â?¢∞â?¢∞â?¢∞â?¢∞â?¢∞â?¢∞â?¢∞â?¢∞â?¢∞â?¢∞â?¢∞â?¢∞â?¢∞â?¢∞â?¢∞â?¢∞â?¢∞â?¢∞â?¢∞â?¢∞â?¢∞â?¢∞â?¢∞â?¢∞â?¢∞â?¢∞â?¢∞â?¢∞â?¢ All of those *â?? â? means the same things like in Chapter 96; Part 1 with the direct quotes.
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