Forever│Michael Jackson

5. The Pact

"I didn't know you were coming over, Grammie," I smiled before pulling from our embrace.

"I'm here to drop off some towels that Dad asked for," she replied, glancing for a moment at the paper bag that she held.

"Thanks, Mom," Dad spoke. He stood up from sitting on the couch chair to walk over to her. "I'll take 'em, thanks," he added as he began to take the bag from her.

"You're welcome," Grammie said, handing them to him.

As Dad slipped out of the room to place the towels elsewhere, I was no longer able to hold my excitement in. "Hey, Grammie, guess what?" I asked, eyes widened.

She looked back down at me. "What?" she asked, matching my excitement.

"Mike and I are having a sleepover tonight!" I beamed. "We're gonna have the best time ever!"

"Oh!" she voiced, smiling. "How fun!" She then leaned a bit lower to get closer to me. "Hey, have you tried out that trick I told you both about, yet?" she asked me.

I grinned as I recalled the conversation that she'd recently had with me and Mike. "We're planning on testing that out tonight," I said.

As he walked back into the room, Dad chuckled. "What are you teaching them now..." he asked.

"Oh, just a little trick. You replace an Oreo's stuffing with toothpaste," she said as Dad sat back onto his chair. She let out a laugh. "Oh, you should've seen Hilda's face when she took a bite of that cookie!" she said, referencing one of her friends that she'd schemed. She looked back at her son nonchalantly. "It's harmless."

An amused smile shaped his lips as he raised the newspaper back up to resume reading. "You'll get my child into trouble one of these days, you know," he commented. 

"Hush," she returned. She looked back down to me, and she winked. I winked back at her. Then, she wrapped a finger around a single small curl of her short, permed, salt-and-pepper hair. "Oh, you know, I wanted to tell you about something that caught my eye on my way over here,"

"Yeah?" I asked.

She nodded. "I was driving along Ventura, and a particular billboard stuck out to me because... Well, Michael was up there with his brothers! I couldn't believe what I was seeing."

I smiled, as I'd wondered when she'd realize that Mike wasn't like other kids. "Oh, yeah," I responded. "You ever heard of the group 'The Jackson 5'? You know the songs 'I Want You Back' or 'ABC' o-or 'The Love You Save'?"

"Of course I have," she nodded. "I hear them all the time on the radio."

"Well..." I smiled, glancing at Dad who had momentarily lowered his newspaper. "Mike and his brothers are the Jackson 5, and those are their songs," I revealed. "A-And Mike is the lead singer!"

Realization caused her mouth to drop agape a bit. "Wow..." she contemplated. She looked at Dad. "Did you know this, James?"

As the spread-out newspaper covered his face, he turned from one page to another. "Yes," he replied.

"Huh..." she breathed, and she met my eyes again. "How wonderful."

Smiling, I nodded. However, I soon became serious. "But Grammie, you can't tell anybody about this. Privacy is real important to Mike." I let out a breath. "Gee, you'd be surprised by how crazy some people get just to get close to him," I added. "I've heard stories."

Grammie smiled, chuckling. "Oh, I can imagine," she said. "But I won't tell anybody, sweetheart. Your secret is safe with me."

"Promise?" I asked her.