It's 1972 and Theresa is reunited with her old childhood friends, The Jacksons. With rekindling their friendship, they realize things aren't the same as they once were. Will their relationship last newfound fame and feelings or will it blossom into...
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Gary, Indiana 1968
It's a sunny spring afternoon in rural Gary, Indiana. The sun is shining bright and a gentle breeze is coursing its way through the neighborhood. The air is tainted by the smell of burning metal from the local steel mill. In the middle of this community, stands a park where all the local kids meet. A particular group of kids stand on the basketball court in congregation.
"Wait so lemme get this straight. Berry Gordy wants y'all to go to California and sign y'all to Motown", Clarence asked, his eyes wide with disbelief. "You got it brotha", Jackie said, dawning a smile. The group of kids laugh and chatter with excitement. "That's outta sight. Y'all gonna become superstars", Theresa beamed, flashing her metallic smile.
The bony 14 year old girl stood there with 2 badly braided pigtails, being the only girl in the group. Theresa was a tomboy at heart who enjoyed following her older brother, Clarence, everywhere he went. Including to go play basketball with the Jackson boys.
"You bet and when we do, all of those California girls are gon' come flocking to me", Jackie said cheekily. Theresa rolled her eyes. "Don't nobody want your scrawny big nosed ass", she shot back, resulting in laughs from the boys. Jackie brushed off Theresa's statement with a wave of his hand. "Whatever ugly, I just know we gonna be big."
"Yea, y'all gonna be like the Temps", Clarence agreed. "Hopefully we're bigger than the Temps", Jermaine retorted. The youngest Jackson stepped forward. "I don't know about these fools but I'm gon' be like Jackie Wilson and James Brown", Michael interjected grinning. The Jackson boys all chuckle at their bright eyed little brother's ambitious statement.
"All of y'all need to calm down, we ain't even signed anything yet and y'all already got us a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame", Tito joked. Clarence clapped his hand on Tito's shoulder. "Come on, man. I mean this is MOTOWN. Y'all can only go up from here." "I don't care, I just want our new house in California to have a pool", Marlon added.
Realization finally hits Theresa. Her closest friends are gonna be leaving soon. "You guys are really gonna move to California, huh?", Theresa asked sheepishly. The group's faces now have gone somber at the thought of leaving one another. "I mean, we're gonna have to. We can't be signed to Motown out there and still live here in Gary", Jermaine pointed out. "I know but it's just gon' be weird without you guys here", Theresa replied. "Well the girls and Randy will still be out here until Joseph can find us a house and plus we'll still visit", Tito reassured. "Yea plus Rebbie's wedding is coming up soon. I know Joseph is gonna have us come back for that", Jackie said.
"Or you guys can come visit us in California and we can all go to Disneyland or to the beach. ", Michael added with a hopeful smile. Clarence scoffed. "Yea like we ever gon' be able to go to California", Clarence said sarcastically. "Maybe one day", Marlon said hopefully. "Yea maybe", Theresa said unconvinced. A sly grin spread across Clarence's face. "All I know is, y'all better not get to Hollywood and forget about y'all favorite people", Clarence said as he playfully punched Jackie in the arm. The two start play fighting which elicits laughs from the group.
"We could never forget about y'all", Jackie says as he gets one last hit in. "Yea you two are like another brother and sister to us", Michael added. All of the Jacksons murmur in agreement. "Aw, we feel the same way, giblets," Theresa replied as she hugged Michel from the side. "Yea, we love y'all funny looking niggas", Clarence joked which earns heavy laughter from the kids.
As the laughter dies down, Tito interrupts "Alright enough of the mushy shit. Can we finally play ball now." The group agrees with Tito and they start spreading out. Theresa held back as the boys started taking off in separate directions of the court. She couldn't shake the sinking feeling that things would not be the same. She watched them run around laughing hoping to savor the moment when Jackie noticed the pensive look on her face. "Hey Teri, you playing or what?", he yelled as he made his way over to block Tito from making a basket. Theresa was broken from her trance and she shook her head of the thoughts. "Yea and I'm gonna whoop y'all ass too", she yelled back as she took off on the court.
