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Tough Love Part 96; Part 5 (3)
Hoped you really enjoyed the last part! Hope you ready for this one :) ~Aariyan Њ∞â?¢ Њ∞â?¢ Њ∞â?¢ Њ∞â?¢ Њ∞â?¢ Њ∞â?¢ Њ∞â?¢ Њ∞â?¢ Њ∞â?¢ Њ∞â?¢ Њ∞â?¢ Њ∞â?¢ Њ∞â?¢ Њ∞â?¢ Њ∞â?¢ Њ∞â?¢ Њ∞â?¢ Chapter 96; Part 5 (3) *Life Lessons*Growing Pains(Part 1) Jermaine has said a lot. And Iâ??ve had listened to a lot. â??Let me blink first to make sure itâ??s still daylight,â? he smiles for a second. â??Iâ??ll be back, I have to use the restroom,â? then he puts on his shades. When he comes back, I go as well. That really was a lot of information and I had drank all of my mango by the time Jermaine had stopped talking. Who could blame me? â??Well Iâ??ve talked so much and we need a small intermission.â? â??Un-huh?â? â??Dance with me.â? It was true, people were dancing as the radio played some great tunes. â??Jermaineâ?¦with this cast on. Iâ??ll look dumb, what would people say?â? â??If I have to, Iâ??ll do you like Joseph did to Katie and Iâ??ll get you to dance with me.â? he cracks a side smile. â??But Jermaine I donâ??t feel comfortable. Iâ??m too embarrassed.â? â??Come onâ?¦my handâ??s getting tired.â? I smile and roll my eyes as I take his hand. What the hell would you know, â??Shake Your Body Down to the Groundâ? came on. I hadnâ??t even danced to the song with Michael yet. Itâ??s been released for three weeks now. â??Guess weâ??ll have to settle for this now,â? Jermaine smiles. â??I might be in this cast, but Iâ??ma move,â? I laughed. Then I remember the part when the music starts to buildup to its climax and the brothers moved their pelvis at my surprise birthday party. I was about to hold my breath, but Jermaine didnâ??t make things so obvious so I was relieved. â??Liked â??Blame it on the Boogieâ???â? â??Un-huh.â? Then I began singing the chorus. They had a longer version playing, so I got to hear the brothersâ?? voices even longerâ?¦no favoritism intended, but since I was the most upset with Michael, hearing his keen, and somewhat nasally to me, voice gave some comfort. I hadnâ??t talked to him â??normallyâ? in a few days, so hearing him sing with this much joy made me smile and even yearn for him to talk to me a little. But shh, donâ??t tell him I said that. â??The song is over Lyric.â? I was still moving to the â??imaginaryâ? music. â??Oh. Sorry.â? But when the Isley Brothersâ??s â??Itâ??s Your Thingâ? came on, I snatched his hand back up so we could dance so more. â??You know we covered this songâ??mainly Michaelâ??in the early â??70s.â? â??I know Jermaine!â? I just wanted to groove to the music right now. I really didnâ??t want to listen to story time right now. I just wanted to dance! And I sanged too! â??You know you donâ??t sound half bad?â? â??Expecting me to?â? â??Noâ?¦no not that. I just admire it.â? I stopped dancing and even started laughing, â??My voiceâ??right!â? â??No, no NOT THAT! I really ENJOY it as Iâ??m listening to you. You got your own twang.â? â??â?¦Well.â? â??Take that as a compliment.â? I smile and maybe even blush a little. â??Thank you Jermaine.â? â??Youâ??re welcome.â? When Jermaine was leading us back to our seats, I stopped him so I could call the house. â??Hey, Michael wouldnâ??t expect this from me, so if I shake things up then he wonâ??t expect that Iâ??m up to something.â? â??Okay.â? Biting the inside of my lip, I went over to a payphone. But when I called, I just got the dial toneâ?¦no freakinâ?? answer at all. I probably had the option to leave a message but I wasnâ??t going to so I just hang the phone up. â??And...any luck?â? Jermaine questions when I get back. â??Noâ?¦non.â? â??Oh kayâ?¦well letâ??s get back to the story.â? â??Okay.â? â??Well where did I leave off?â? he smiles. â??Jermaine come on. You know you left off on Jackson-mania. You know we were talking about your house.â? â??Oh yeah, well I guess Iâ??ll start talking about Michael when he was a teenager.â? â??Oh cool! Leggo. I think Iâ??ve been waiting for this; weâ??ve worked our way up to this point!â? Jermaine smiles. â??Well letâ??s go Jermaine!â? Then I mumble, â??Stop killing me with the suspense.â? Then he starts chucklingâ??I guess heâ??s enjoying teasing me this way. â??Okay well we live in the house yâ??know about now since May of 1971. Hayvenhurst would become our home. I mean I know you know that Hayvenhurst is located in the suburb of L.A. which is in Encino. â??I know this Jermaine,â? I smile. â??We have one of those ranch-style houses. On- level houseâ??it has six bedrooms, a basketball court, a pool of course, and we have two acres with trees. Weâ??re not right on the main road either. Earle Hagen, the Emmy award-winning composer previously owned the house, so for this reason, we already had walls with music and an already-made studio. â??If we wanted, we could swim until dusk came, then have breakfast underneath the glorious morning sun. But guess whatâ??we finally had space! We didnâ??t have the typical views of Hollywood because we chose to live in the suburbs. Now we had 13 members in our family because Jack Richardson and Johnny were staying with us. You DO remember Jack, right?â? â??â?¦Sure.â? To be honest, I donâ??t even remember if he was one of their early managers. Jermaine has told me a lot in a little amount of time. â??Yeah. We NEEDED that 8,000 square foot amount of SPACE. But you know our houseâ??itâ??s popular for its â??70s twist. We have the sliding doors, loud colors, the wooded paneling, and the plastic seating. Plus we have the spiral staircase which twists itself from the living room, which has its wraparound couch. â??Weâ??d get an allowance of five dollars each week. What would Michael spend his won?â? â??I donâ??t knowâ?¦candy?â? â??No, art supplies.â? â??Oh.â? â??He was also beginning to do magic tricks as well. Mother finally got new furniture and bought a new wardrobe; Joseph bought a Ford Kombi; and Jackie got an orange Datsun 240Z. â??All those stories youâ??ve heard of us doing chores ARE true. Our parents didnâ??t spoil us; and Joseph even installed a pay phone. So letâ??s say you visited us on a random weekend, you wouldâ??ve found us kids doing chores. Thatâ??s just how things were.â? â??I wish I wouldâ??ve. I wouldâ??ve felt so â??at homeâ?? because normal kids do chores all the time.â? â??Thatâ??s the point. We were â??richâ?? you might say but we were and are STILL humble. We still maintained that â??Gary mentalityâ??. Speaking of the â??Gary mentalityâ??, Joseph still ruled the home. It wasnâ??t as bad as it was, but we still had strict rehearsals where we could still be threatened with the belt. â??I can recall one time when Michael was dressed and was about to leave with Mother so they could go to Kingdom hall, but Joseph wanted him to rehearse for a national tour. However the day was on a Sunday and Michael clung onto our mother instead. Joseph smashed a window from his fury while the two left. Even after that, even Randy and Janet had to deal with Joseph in the way we had to.â? So I wouldnâ??t seem horrified or something, I just sat there, trying to blink naturally. I mean I feel Iâ??ve seen worse things, and I didnâ??t want to seem judgmental, so Jermaine moved on to the next thing. â??Hi maâ??am, can I get uhâ?¦non-alcoholic piña colada.â? â??Yes sir. And what about you maâ??am?â? â??Well, whatâ??s in piña colada again?â? â??Coconuts, pineapplesâ?¦.â? Hate coconuts. â??Sureâ?¦Iâ??ll take one tooâ??non-alcoholic of course.â? She nods and before she walks away, Jermaine stops her. â??And make those large, please.â? â??Okay.â? She smiles. â??Why arenâ??t these people freaking out when they see you?â? Iâ??ve BEEN wondering that. â??Weâ??ll discuss that later, but thereâ??s something else I need to tell you.â? â??Yeah?â? â??Michael received this death threat.â? â??WHAT?!â? â??Wait, let me finish, let me explain.â? â??..Yeah, okay go on.â? â??It was serious enough for us to be pulled from public schools, so thatâ??s when we started going to private.â? â??Ohâ?¦.â? â??You remember the kidnapping of Cindy Birdsong in 1969.â? â??Yeah the lady who mustâ??ve replaced Diana in the group.â? â??And she was able to get herself out of the car while it was moving on the highway. Thatâ??s probably why we got Lobo and Heavy.â? â??Who are they? Bodyguards?â? I snicker. â??No, our dogs. But basically yeahâ??our German Shepherds. Lobo would snarl at journalists, and Janet is our chief dog lover in the family.â? â??Hmm, thought it was probably Michael.â? â??No, remember rats are his thang.â? We laugh. â??Then there was Johnnyâ??s Dobermann. Being mischievous, Johnny named the dog â??Hitlerâ??â?¦but you know thatâ??s something we didnâ??t tell the press.â? I just shook my head. â??But what kind of dog is that?â? â??Itâ??s a German dog as well. Some people would say they are intimidated as well.â? â??Oh.â? Then the waitress came back with our drinks. â??By now Tito, Michael, Marlon, and I went to a school in Panorama City, which is called the Walton School. It was more liberal and more user-friendly when it came to our touring. We were equal to everyone; not better. Michael even had to audition to get a part in the school production of â??Guys and Dollsâ??.â? â??Wait! But Michael NEVER told me he was a part of â??Guys and Dollsâ?? or a school musical. Jermaine the term is â??musicalâ?? since theyâ??re singing.â? â??Yup my bad, but he was in it.â? â??Theatre people donâ??t like it when you get those two mixed up.â? â??My bad.â? â??Just saying,â? I surrender Then Jermaine told me how this new student arrived at their school in a hearse. The reason behind this is that he was the son of a funeral director. Heâ??s became a friend for life them, and was always at the guys houseâ??although Iâ??ve never seen him the times Iâ??ve been there. He was like an adopted brother to them. â??As a teen he had music ambitions.â? Just like Michael, John had a thirst for knowledge when it came to music. Whatever the boys learned from the Big House (Motown), Jermaine would tell John. Then Jermaine told me how Michael and John buried this big mouth kid named Sean in sand all the way up to his chest. That was one of the really rare times a teacher said, *â??Iâ??m surprised at you, Michael Jackson!â? â??Well whoever said Michael was an â??angelâ??.â? â??Exactly!â? Jermaine agrees. â??Then Michael would always stick to me outside of class. One time when I thought I got away from the brother magnet, I had disappeared with this girl. Sheâ??d invited me to a dark room because she said she wanted to kiss me. After we had the door closed, we were doing our best to get pass our teen shyness. When our lips were about to touch, we heard *â??I CAUGHT YA! I CAUGHT YA!â? as Michael bursts in. Because of Michael causing a commotion, a teacher came to see what was going on. While I explained why in the hell I was in the dark room with a girl, Michael had run off, laughing.â? When Jermaine was about to continue, a man walked up to us. â??Excuse me sir but need the space. There have been reports that you two have been occupying this table for some time, so do you mind if we utilize your table?â? I glance at Jermaine. I mean weâ??ve been here for a while. We were even here two days ago. Makes me think did they think we were taking too long then too? â??Okay.â? Jermaine gets up and I follow him. I didnâ??t think I had time to put on my shorts, so I just followed him to his car. â??Well I wasnâ??t banking on that!â? â??Do you know where else youâ??d want to go?â? â??No. I mean thereâ??s always myâ??â? â??Youâ??re going to see Michael eventually?â? â??Yeah. I planned on it.â? â??Well Jermaine, me and Michael donâ??t have much of a longer stay.â? â??Thatâ??s fine.â? â??Soâ?¦â? â??What are you coming up with?â? â??You should swing by our house and see if heâ??s there.â? â??Really? Donâ??t think heâ??ll care?â? â??I mean thatâ??s Michaelâ?¦and youâ??re brother.â? â??Okay, well letâ??s try to see if we can reach him.â? Was I nervous to see if Michael was going to be there? Well a little. Heâ??d be happy to see his brother but still be pissed at me. Oh well, thatâ??s just how we are. When we got there I didnâ??t see his car there. â??He might still be at the office to withdraw our stay here.â? â??Okay,â? Jermaine says. â??Nice place.â? â??Thanks,â? then I unlock to door. â??Want anything?â? I turn around as Jermaine looks around in the house. â??No. Not even water.â? â??Okay.â? I sit on the couch, the one by the hallway, while Jermaine is silly enough to sit on the ottoman, but sit right in-front of me also, so he was between me and the coffee table, though he pushed it back some. â??What I was TRYING to say before the manager walked up to us was that at this time, so many girls were coming at me during this time, and the attention became impossible to ignore. Um Lyric, are you â??too much of a girlâ?? to hear this?â? I started laughing, â??Just go with it Jermaine.â? â??Well it was a skill to get a girl pass Billâ??s door, and making sure Joseph wasnâ??t around. The fact that interacting or even ACKNOWLEDGING a girl was â??forbiddenâ? made it seem like a homeroom every time I got a girl pass the checkpoints and she crossed the threshold of my bedroom. â??And because of experiences of like that, Iâ??ve never been so grateful for back stairways or exterior fire exits. But the next damn problem was that Michael was around.â? â??Yeah, waitâ?¦ohhh, youâ?¦and and Michael, yâ??all shared beds! I mean rooms! But theyâ??re just as bad!!â? â??Yeah, you got my problem. Every time I would pursue this girl, Michael would DELIBERATELY glue himself to my hip. But one golden time, Iâ??m telling you Lyric, Michael wasnâ??t around, so I slipped the prettiest girl, who I met at the hotel gathering, into our room. â?? WAIT. What about HAZEL? â??Hazel and I were seeing each other a lotâ??we were sending constant love letters from our puppy loveâ??but things werenâ??t serious. So yâ??know I had the freedom to build up on my experience while on the road. Us older brothers had a way of explaining how far we had gotten with a girl: first base was the kiss, second base was the touching and the clothes being taken off, and third base was the sex. And that night I have to say I became an L.A. Dodger running wild. My eyes were closed while I was over this girl. I was kissing and touching all over her. *â??That feels really goodâ?¦â? she said.â? â??Jermaine you donâ??t have to tell me anymore.â? I was about to cover my face and plus I was thinking that the Dodgers were from New York. Maybe Iâ??m just confusing them with the New York Yankeesâ?¦.. â??No, just listen to me. Now I was beginning to get serious while she groaned. *â??Third base was in sight. I stroked her face while my other hand was laying on the mattress beside her head. The girl states, *â??I love how you stroke my thighsâ?¦youâ??re real gentleâ?¦â? Iâ??m not stroking your thighs. â??â?¦it feels good.â? She whispered. â??So I peeked my eyes open and maneuvered my head so I could take a look down the bed. And thatâ??s when I saw him! Michael had his arm reaching from underneath the bed, and his hand was circling her thigh. *â??MICHAEL!â? I jumped up, while the poor girl was evidently MORTIFIED. Michael on the other hand was cracking up, and had already scrambled out the room. I wanted to kill him! And it wasnâ??t just that he was hiding there, but that he had heard me whisper those sensual things that sweetly meant nothing, and I knew heâ??d tease me for weeks after this. So that night, I refused to speak to him. Even after we turned the lights out and he wished me goodnight, I said nothing. So Michael waited for a few minutes and broke the peace by saying *â??She got some real creamy thighs!â? When he said that, we burst out in laughter.â? â??CREAMY?!â? I burst out and said as I laughed with him. I took a breath of relief because of the fact that I understood what Jermaine was REALLY trying to sayâ??he had almost gotten to â??third baseâ? with this girl until his little brother intervened. Iâ??m just glad I didnâ??t have to hear anything too explicit because Iâ??m a visionary when you tell me stories. â??Yeah I guess creamy. But seeâ??it wasnâ??t that bad!â? Jermaine points at me while Iâ??m still getting some of my giggles out. â??And girlfriends were basically banned at this time, so anytime Jackie and I got lucky, it had to stay on the hush-hush. Motown didnâ??t want to promote us anymore than *â??boys-without-girlfriends-and-looking-for-love.â? But we knew we had to keep the hope aliveâ??many of our fans believed we would become their boyfriends. Then second, it was originally JOSEPH who had that conscious-image rule. It was clear that girlfriends were bad for us. Theyâ??d distract us, which would lead to janked up record sales, and weâ??d lose our adoring fans so theyâ??d stop screaming for us. I mean the list just go on and on,â? he showed that with his fingers that this â??girlfriend cycleâ? was just a spiral of disaster. â??I mean we older brothers would roll our eyes at this. We were at that age that girls were on our minds. Basically he was saying to *â??never let the outside inâ? once again. â??With Michael, though, Iâ??m not sure if he ever really UNDERSTOOD the total concept of what Joseph, and even Motown was saying. He was to be the single boy looking for a girl in the public eye, but in truth he wasnâ??t even allowed to get close to one. Then Joseph had to reinforce that same rule when he caught Tito and his childhood sweetheart, Dee Dee. Joseph had pulled up with Jack, and saw Tito kissing Dee Dee. Letâ??s just say that opened a can of whoop-assâ??a big one at that. Tito kept screaming and protesting while Joseph stayed set in his waysâ??that if he kept it up then the group would split up because of him. I could tell that upsetted Michael for the fact that when we stayed up while on the road, talking about females, heâ??d speak all hush. Michael would ask me how to treat a girl, heâ??d wonder when was the right time he should make the first move while on a date. *â??I always want to be a gentleman.â? I can tell you he was 14 going on 42.â? Jermaine chuckled a little but me on the other hand, my HEART was beginning to melt. The way Jermaine said Michael wanted to know the RIGHT way to treat a girl and when to make the first moves on a dateâ?¦things really started to make sense up to this point. Michael was simply that: a gentleman; he holds his behavior towards others at a higher standard than mostâ?¦and I think thatâ??s one reason I like Michael so muchâ?¦he knows how to handle me when Iâ??m simple just being stupid on purpose. â??Lyric you still there?â? when I looked at him, he did a half-smile real quick. â??But at times Jackie and I would use our little bro as a wing man whenever Joseph didnâ??t know about it. He never suspected the younger ones hitting on the older chicks. Weâ??d be like *â??You see that cute one over there, go over and ask for her number.â? So when Michael wasnâ??t being personal for himself, he wasnâ??t shy at all. The girls would coo, and nine out of the teen times heâ??d come back with the paper, as if this was some mission impossible scene. Heâ??d be like *â??Hereâ??s her number. Sheâ??s real nice!â?. â??On the same token our tastes were different. I was looking for easy girls while he wanted a young lady. I was more concern with getting one in my bed while he rather watches cartoons after getting some ice cream. While I wasnâ??t fussy; he was. Once again Iâ??m about to bust Michaelâ??s bubble again, but when it comes to girls, and even young ladies now, Michael, he â??studiesâ?? them in a way that he studied all of those artists he admired. He looks for the littlest details: a girlâ??s mannerisms, her smile, her hair, and even the way she walked. His ideal chick *â??needs to be honest and kindâ?. Thatâ??s something Michael would always say, so believe me. Michael once wondered about the concept of honesty and asked aloud if it was too much to ask for. He even wondered as a Jackson 5 member if theyâ??d want us if we were regular joes on the street or if it was just because we were famous. Iâ??d do my best to give Michael what I call â??realistic adviceâ?? like, â??Michael you have to take these girls for who they really areâ??they admire what we do but at the end of the day they donâ??t really know US.â?? Then heâ??d say something like they really do love us and do anything. My cop-out would be to tell him not to worry about these kinds of stuff yet. Itâ??s hard for a big brother to crush a little brotherâ??s expectations, so I had trouble explaining to him the differences between the girls I brought back with me and the ones he romanced about. Like I said I wanted â??easyâ?? and he wanted â??true loveâ??. And at the same time he kept nurturing his crush on Dianaâ??I have to say she was his â??perfect womanâ??. *â??A girl has to be as dignified and beautiful as Diana.â? â??Does he still compare girls to Diana?â? Jermaine just shrugs. â??Are you sure Jermaine you donâ??t want anything to eat or drink?â? â??No. I gotta knock this thing out of the park. Michael is still FOURTEEN at this point.â? I just smile with him. â??Maybe later.â? â??Alright.â? â??Yeah, so our private tutor, Rose Fine, helped with our education while on tour. At first glance, youâ??d think Rose was super strict and even unforgiving, but sheâ??s very warm and loving. She could endure Jackson-mania without getting caught up in the audacious things she had to witness.â? Jermaine told me how Rose did her best to keep these five boys speaking proper English, and when Rose around, she had more power than even Berry Gordy. The reason is that her power was invested by the Board of Educationâ??thatâ??s how Jermaine put it. Theyâ??re education was a REQUIREMENT so thatâ??s why. â??Roseâ??s influence on Michael canâ??t be overestimated, Lyric. Because of Rose, Michael is this voracious reader. Sheâ??d invite us into her home as her husband, Sid, would play 1940s music. Not many people know this, but Michael is a *â??bookish nerdâ?. Heâ??d read different materials while learning about life and even brushing up on his vocabâ?¦.Michael told me youâ??re the same way. Your father evidently told him youâ??re a major reader.â? I blushed a little probablyâ??or I at least knew my heart fluttered a little. â??Yeahâ?¦well Iâ??ve always wanted to readâ?¦â? I thought about not going further, but then I remembered what Jermaine said about flattering yourself sometimes. â??Since I was four, I was fasincated at the fact that you could ACTUALLY communicate by looking on printed stuff on paper. So since then, I was determined to learn. Grandma would always say, â??Youâ??ll learn someday.â?? or something like that, but then Iâ??d say â??But I wanna know learn how NOW!â??.â? Jermaine smiles. â??Mrs. Rose Fine really opened Michaelâ??s mind. And at the end of 1972, Walton School closed so Michael spent freshmen year at Montclair School in the Van Nuys. That June he received the only report card that he was willing to pin up on the wall. I remember he got an â??Aâ?? in almost every subject. â??Michael ended up ending his years of school at Cal Prep. In his art classes heâ??d keep drawing different versions of Charlie Chaplin. A classmate of his, Lori Shapiro, would quietly observe my brother, and watch him throw away his drawings. But one time she asked to have one of his drawings of Charlie Chaplin. He gave it to her after signing it. *â??But Michael knew that a favor deserves its return.â? I nod. â??Michael didnâ??t like algebraâ??â? â??I like algebra! It makes more sense than geometry to me.â? then I fold my arms. I donâ??t even wanna go there. Jermaine laughs, â??But he knew Lori was a brainiac, so during math, heâ??d sit near her desk. While the teacher wasnâ??t looking, heâ??s swap his book with her and sheâ??d work out his x+y=z. Because of Lori, thatâ??s PROBABLY why Mike got an â??Aâ?? in math now!â? â??Oh.â? â??But when graduation year came at Cal Prep, they created their own roll of honor. The kids were nominated for â??Whoâ??s Whoâ??. So Michael got some of his earliest awards which were â??Best Dressedâ??, â??Most Creativeâ??, â??Most Artisticâ??, â??Shyestâ??, and â??Most Likely to Succeedâ??. So if you could guess all that, then guess who got â??Biggest Smileâ???â? â??Marlon,â? I say under my breath. â??Yep, youâ??re right!!â? But now I CANâ??T believe we just got past the point where Michael graduated. That had to be 1976. Wowâ?¦now it makes me thinkâ??what do we have left? â??Youâ??re not almost done Jermaine, are you?â? I blurted out. He shook his head real quick then continued. â??Michael talked about God a lot with Rose. He was the only male in our family to go to Kingdom Hall with Mother and our sisters while tour dates permitted him to. The thing is Michael had an interest in different faiths and the type of relationships others had with God. Rose is Jewish. Michael learned, then loved the Jewish Sabbath. And increasingly, Michael remained true to the Kingdom Hall sanctuary. So if you know my brother now, heâ??s pretty stuck in his strict, stiff ways.â? â??Maybe that kind of explain why heâ??s the way he is NOW. Heâ??s pretty stuck to his ways.â? But who can really explain the skinny dipping expedition? Jermaine tells me about the Commodores, which was a six-man group deriving from yours truly, Alabama in 1972. They were the Jackson 5â??s opening act. Also at this time, little Randy, who was either eight or nine, had proven himself to be good enough for the group, so he played bongos with them. Randy was more of an addition at that time than a permanent group member. He even told me that Lionel Ritchieâ??s then-girlfriend, Brenda, would braid Michaelâ??s hair. â??Why havenâ??t I seen a picture like that before! Iâ??ve heard of him having his hair braided in one interview but I STILL havenâ??t seen it yet.â? Jermaine just shrugs. â??Also, Michael began saying things like *â??I feel there are so many songs in my head.â? And right before the tour with the Commodores, Michael spoke up for himself at Motown. The song that started all of this was â??Lookinâ?? Through the Windowsâ??. Michael wanted to take on his own delivery of the song, but the Corporation disagreed. So Michael phoned the boss, and five minutes later, he had his approval. Michael basically improvised as he felt his way through the song. So since 13-year-old Michael witnessed the Commodoresâ??s songwriting helped him even more to trust in his creative instincts.â? Jermaine stretches real quick. â??I know Iâ??ve talked to you a lot and Iâ??m only going to mention us touring in Europe for the first time for one reason.â? â??Okay.â? â??Well all of us were psyched to be in London, everyone except Johnny apparently.â? â??Okay.â? â??We were to perform at the Royal Variety Performance at the London Palladium so we could perform for Queen Elizabeth II.â? â??Whoa!â? â??Yeah, and Johnny always had this sharp wit, so if you think you gotta sharp tongue, then go against Johnny. Iâ??ll PAY you too.â? I laugh, â??Well okay, go on.â? â??While in the Heathrow airport, each one of *â??were asked how long we intended to stay in the country.â? All of us stepped up to and answered politely. So when Johnny stepped up to the stern Customs man, we thought he was going to do the same. But when he was asked *â??And how long are you intending to stay in the country, young man?â?, the moment I witnessed Johnny smirk, I knew there would be trouble for all of us. He said *â??Just long enough to f*** your queen.â? I nearly choked on my own spit as my mouth fell down and my eyes were humongous. I nearly said the F word myself. I wanted to say â??You gotta be bullshitting me!â? I mean Iâ??ll swear off of saying bad words if Jermaine could tell me this wasnâ??t true. He didnâ??t say the actual word, he just said â??effâ? but boy didnâ??t I understand what he meant! â??Yeah, itâ??s true! The world had to stop spinning then. It wasnâ??t just Johnnyâ??s temerity that shocked us so much, but the fact that a member from the J5 sweared. For us, it was as bad as a pastor cussing on Sunday. It was just that bad! And you can say, well that was it. *â??All officialdom hell broke loose, and the Customs officer sent Johnny back on the first plane back. We just stared at him. But with the desperate diplomacy from Suzanne and Joseph persuaded the man to let us perform still. Johnny really got it afterward though. Suzanne said his stupidity almost cost us our performance.â? Jermaine tells me the songs they performed, and how they shared the bill with other people, including Elton John. â??This was one of Michaelâ??s greatest nights in his life, as he put it.â? And he finishes off with that magical night that there was this peep hole in the dressing room where they could see a woman using the bathroom, and subsequently her naked behind. â??Had she known, she wouldâ??ve killed us! But she shall remain, as I put it, nameless.â? â??So Miss Nameless or better yet, Jane Doe.â? â??No. Just nameless.â? He made me laugh with that. â??Even going to the Liverpool Empire and breaking the Beatlesâ??s attendance in their home city couldnâ??t top that for these Indiana boys!!â? Jermaine also told me Mike pointed at his â??assâ? to ask the other brothers and confirm that they had seen the womanâ??s bare bottom. â??And once we got a chance to perform at the mid-South Coliseum in Memphis, we were happy to see Rebbie, but this time weâ??d get a chance to meet her daughter, Stacee. She had to be about 10 months at the time. Rebbie drove from Kentucky while we flew from another state. Saying that we were uncles for the first time wasnâ??t enough. Michael was the most excited out of us. He had to be the perfect uncle.â? Once again Iâ??m beaming on the inside, and this time Iâ??m trying to not let it show. â??He spent more time making Stacee happy than with anyone else. To be honest, I didnâ??t know who was entertaining who because of the fact BOTH were crawling around. We decided to leave Michael dangling a black, white, and red transistor radio, which was shaped up like a globe, over Staceeâ??s crib. We were probably catching up from the last time with Rebbie, but then an hour later, we started thinking *â??Is Michael still in there?â? â??Rebbie checked and waved us over, but had a finger to her lips. We crept to the doorway and witnessed the funniest, cutest sight. Guess why?â? â??Umâ?¦Michael was rocking her to sleep?â? â??Nice try. But it was actually more angelic. He had actually climbed into the crib, while he was cuddled with Stacee and had fallen asleep. He was only 13 at the time. But that gentles he has with kids is one of those innocent parts OF Michael.â? By now I had fallen off the couch. â??Are you okay?â? â??Yeahâ?¦I think so.â? And I think I fallen off the bed and bumped my head to Mr. RIGHT-eous ness. One time though, Joseph did something really incredible and diplomatic, when Jermaine told me how when the boys went to Australia, a group of people, the Aboriginals, were prevented from seeing them perform, but Joseph was able to mix them with the white that lived in Australia. A few days later, they were invited to attend time with the Aboriginals. I only know a little about the Aboriginals from Australia, but I challenge YOU to look them up. â??You know Michael had seen most of the world before he was even 18.â? â??I know. OH I know.â? But his tale this time WASNâ??T to be glorified. It was actually terrifying a bit. They were to perform in São Paolo, the largest city in Brazil. Their second plane had their wardrobe and equipment, but it had been delayed, so someone came up with the bright idea to talk to the fans and tell them what was going on. Basically the boys walked out there in the jeans and t-shirtsâ??the same clothes they worn on the plane ride thereâ??to tell the fans. Jackie tried, but they started getting booed, and even the â??heartthrobâ? or the cutie front man couldnâ??t calm the crowd, and things got thrown at them, so Jackie ordered them to get off the stage. They even left Rose in the hoopla, but once she joined them, things got even worse when a BRICK was thrown in their bus. While the people kept throwing, Randy, Michael, and even Jermaine started crying. They couldnâ??t protect each other since bricks were being thrown at them. Joseph was going to let them go back to America that next morning, but when they attempted to go, they were greeted by a few military men who were holding machine guns, and an official was forcefully explaining that they couldnâ??t get out of their performance because of their contract. Jermaine said there was serious talk about it, which they didnâ??t hear, and I KNOW there was. He said they had no choice but go back to the hotel so they could wait another 24 hours for their stuff to show up. He said it felt strange for them to force into performing, but they still had to turn on the magic. Plus they got their fans back. â??By the time we got our own cartoon, Michael was fine with that, and felt he was on the level of Mickey Mouse since he ADORES Disney so much. But later on, he began to wonder if the cartoon would forever keep us in the â??child groupâ?? zone, and Michael was beginning to develop, at least as an artist. Jermaine began looking around again. â??Maybe I COULD get a glass of something to drink. Do you mind telling me?â? â??Oh no. Let me go see in the fridge.â? I grab my crutches and go over there. â??Well thereâ??s water of courseâ?¦and some sodas. Want any? I think we have some tea tooâ??for the singing throat.â? â??Not any tea since you have to make it.â? â??Itâ??s already-made tea.â? â??Then tea it IS.â? â??Want any cookies or anything?â? â??Since you insist, do you have any sugar cookies, snicker doodles?â? â??Weâ??ve got both! Want both?â? â??Sure. But hey, let me take care of it; youâ??re standing on crutches.â? â??Thank you.â? and I hobble over to the kitchen table while I wait. This time I tell him to fix me milk while he was at it. Once Jermaine was done, he went over to the ottoman again so I followed. It was kind of like crickets as we ate our snack in silence. â??Guess I kind of needed a break from all that talking.â? â??Yeah, youâ??ve been talking up a STORM! You deserve it.â? Once we finished, Jermaine took a breath, then started up again. â??You know puberty is ALWAYS a threat to a child star. You got SO used to them being perfect, so when nature takes its course, you donâ??t know what to do about it. Michael, Marlon, and I had acne. Mine was still stubborn and even raging at 18, while Michaelâ??s was becoming new at 14. I guess you can say all those sodas and fried foods in those dressing rooms finally caught up with us.â? So does that meanâ?¦that Michael WASNâ??T a vegetarian back then or what? Is he now? â??Marlon, like me, accepted our break outs, so I was thinking would be the same. The only things we as brothers talked about was tour madness, or album sells, basketball plans to girls, or choreography ideas, and we were unwilling to talk about things like that because it seemed uncool. Itâ??s ironic that we were taught things like performance, pride, and respect, but not how to communicate, so Michael suffered quietly while his skin flared with pimples and his features began to change. He never talked about it unless he was expressing his pain to Mother on an occasion. â??But you know his voice turned out to be of his advantage. His pitch was still the same ; and along with that he learned how to use his other voices, which unmistakably gave Michael an INFINITE range to work with. And then he has that unique timbre.â? â??Wow Jermaine.â? â??But it wasnâ??t his VOICE that gave Michael his most trouble; it was his acne.â? Jermaine begins to bite his lip a lot. â??Was there something else that gave him trouble?â? I was trying to sense what was wrong now. â??Was it his earsâ?¦um the length of his neck, or could it been his nose? A lot of people have trouble with their noses.â? â??Skip the nose thing.â? I sharply look at him. Jermaine gave himself away when he did that. I just stare at him for a few more seconds as I could tell there was something seriously wrong. â??Okay,â? and I look off to the side. â??But the rest of us brothers could take the joking. It was just a brotherhood initiation.â? â??What would be yâ??all nick names?â? â??I was *â??Bumpy Faceâ? or *â??Map Faceâ?. Thatâ??s what Michael called me when I first got them. I was also called *â??Big Headâ?â??â? â??Oh we ALL know that ONE!â? â??because apparently my head was too big for my body.â? â??Donâ??t you just think it was the afro Jermaine?â? â??Just tell my BROTHERS that and see what THEY say. But then Marlon was *â??Liver Lipsâ?.â? I burst out laughing. And I knew better to not ask about Michael. â??The only time Michael didnâ??t THINK about the bumps was when he was on stage. Then Michael would be given these spectacular compliments. â??To show our diversity Berry Gordy had me and Michael do our own solo albums. We always knew the group was our base, and always came first. These solo projects were only adventures, and we felt any success weâ??d have would just strengthen us as a brand. Michael first had â??Got to be Thereâ??, â??Rockinâ?? Robinâ??, and â??Benâ??. And I did well with Shep and the Limelites cover of â??Daddyâ??s Homeâ??. Yâ??know about that one, donâ??t you Lyric?â? He nudges me, as I remember when we were at the Jacksonsâ??s place after the â??Dating Gameâ?. â??But after we released singles for our future albums, they didnâ??t hit the Top 10. â??The media did their best to detect jealousy or even a rivalry. Theyâ??d ask us questions like *â??Jermaine, Michael went No. 1, do you wish you had, too?â? But weâ??re familyâ??BROTHERS first, artists second. Michael and I were RAISED the same way, and cheered the other on like was always have. So there were no rivalry. â??But as a group, four more albums were released: â??Skywriterâ??, â??Get it Togetherâ??, â??Dancing Machineâ??, and â??Moving Violationâ??. We grew up from that bubblegum soul sound and tried putting more funk into it, with a pop edge. Our worldwide sales for our albums hovered over two million, but our record sales werenâ??t SMASHING anymore. We were beginning to struggle to get our ALBUMS in the Top 50. This was a beginning of our decline! And about mid-1973, there were little murmurs that Motown, our team, wasnâ??t bringing it anymore. Michaelâ??with his creativityâ??talked about us having more creative freedom to write our own stuff. And even Joseph was now paying attention. People views were simple: we were the hit-makers, but werenâ??t releasing enough of them; and second, Motown wasnâ??t supporting us with enough aggression. â??My opinion on the other hand was I didnâ??t understand all of the complaints. I was like, why complain about things if theyâ??re going right? We still had our torus in demand. Plus at the time, I realized Hazel Joy Gordy was the only person I wanted more than ANYTHING. Therefore I proposed to her when she came along with us during an East Coast leg while on tour; and as you know she said yes. â??Since the Jacksons came to California, we became â??oneâ?? with the Gordys. Now though, you can say we were cementing the deal. And now itâ??ll be like thatâ?¦forever.â? Њ∞â?¢ Њ∞â?¢ Њ∞â?¢ Њ∞â?¢ Њ∞â?¢ Њ∞â?¢ Њ∞â?¢ Њ∞â?¢ Њ∞â?¢ Њ∞â?¢ Њ∞â?¢ Њ∞â?¢ Њ∞â?¢ Њ∞â?¢ Њ∞â?¢ Њ∞â?¢ Њ∞â?¢ Since these parts can get extremely long, Iâ??m kind of forced to break them up more than I would want to :-/, so I went on ahead and posted this one. Itâ??ll make more sense in the next few parts of WHY I wanted the parts to be separated in a very specific way. Until next time, Happy Reading! And thank you for the votes so far :)!!
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