Remember the Time

Chapter 26

"Mariah?" Pat replied, befuddled.

"You know who this is."

"Mariah, what's going on?"

"You know what you did! You know that man has a good heart and so you go and use him? He got enough from those vultures and now you? You are not going to wring him dry like you tried to do me!" Mariah shouted.

"Mariah, I-"

"Stay the hell outta my life Pat!"

Mariah slammed down the phone. She paced around the room, trying to calm down. Her mother was a constant source of trouble and now that Mariah and Michael were trying to fix their marriage, she couldn't have Pat coming in trying to destroy it.

When she calmed down a bit, Mariah opened the bedroom door and walked into the kitchen. She searched for her secret wine stash.

Nothing.

Fuck. I wish he'd stay out of my shit.

A quick decision made her rummage through the refrigerator until picking out a bottle of Budweiser from a six pack in the drawer. She chugged it, popped open another, and downed that one until there was nothing left.

April 8th, 1997

Michael received a call from Pat that morning saying that she needed to see him, so he waited for Mariah to go to the studio before heading to guest bungalows. He knocked on the door and Pat quickly opened it, looking nervous.

"Pat, what's wrong?" He asked.

She ushered him in and took a deep breath. "She knows."

"What?"

"Mariah knows you gave me the money." Pat explained.

Fuck!

He started pacing, shaking his head. "This is bad, Pat. She is going to kill me."

"She cursed me out already. If she hasn't got to you by now she's probably gonna let you live." Pat chuckled. "Mariah doesn't play about her money."

"Oh I know." He nodded.

They stood there quiet for a moment before Pat gestured to the couch. "Come and sit, I should probably tell you."

Pat sighed. "We were poor after Alfred left. We'd stay with boyfriends, but you know once the relationship was over, we were on the street. Eventually I got a steady job, but she moved out when she was sixteen and started staying with Gavin Christopher-"

"The songwriter?" Michael was shocked. Gavin Christopher was just as old as Tommy and having your sixteen year old living with a thirty-seven year old was completely inappropriate.

Pat nodded. "She would spend her weekends there and then stayed with Morgan during the week. She wouldn't eat sometimes, other times she didn't have any shoes. That lasted for a while, until the album was almost done and Tommy finally gave her that advance."

"She's afraid of being poor again." He surmised.

Pat nodded. "It's certainly a fear. So she'll definitely be keeping a close eye on your finances."

"Good to know."

April 13th, 1997

Mariah found herself being shaken awake by her over-eager husband.

"Mike, the hell is going on?" She yawned, pushing him away so that she could sit up.

Michael was grinning from ear to ear. "The Jackson Five is getting inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame."