Remember the Time

Chapter 99

“Leave?” Wayne raised an eyebrow. “Mariah, what are you talking about?”

“I said we have to leave, now.” She snapped.

Wayne frowned. “And go where?”

Mariah grew exasperated. “I don't care! I just need to get the hell up out of here.”

Elizabeth was crying even louder and Wayne shook his head. “Will you calm down? You're scaring your kid.”

He took the baby out of Mariah's arms and attempted to soothe her. “What's going on? Why are we leaving?”

Mariah was close to tears, her arms shaking uncontrollably. “Don't question me! I said we have to go.”

“Okay, okay, okay. Just go sit down and I'll tell them to get the car ready.” He promised as he pulled out his walkie talkie.

Mariah reached for Elizabeth, but Wayne pulled away. “I got her. You just sit here and relax.”

She sat down in Wayne's chair with her arms folded. She forced herself to take deep breaths while Wayne got the rest of her security together.

Louise, Mariah's manager, came out of one of the bedrooms looking confused. “What's going on?”

“We’re leaving.” Wayne announced.

Louise's head jerked back. “What? We booked this hotel for the next three days. Mariah, you can't just up and leave like this. You need to have plans-”

“I don't care! I can’t stay here.” Mariah shrieked. “I'll sleep on the bus if I have to.”

Louise huffed. “Alright, fine. We can go.”

Mariah watched her go back to her room, muttering under her breath. Wayne was still directing the security team as they packed and stacked Mariah’s belongings.

“Are you calm now?” Wayne asked.

Mariah nodded slowly. “I think so.”

“Good. Then would you please explain to me why you're so adamant about changing hotels?”

She was quiet for a moment, trying to decide on her words. “I received a threat.”

“From who?” He demanded.

Mariah shushed him. “It was from Tommy.”

Wayne raised an eyebrow. “Why?”

“Can we just get the hell out of here?” Mariah retorted.

He shook his head and handed her back Elizabeth. “I'm gonna go make sure everything's loaded up and then we can go, okay?”

Mariah nodded, exasperated.

“Okay.”

February 27th, 2000

“First we gonna unsnap the baby!” Mariah sang, as she’d begun to change Elizabeth’s diaper. She was five shows into her Rainbow Tour and on her bus to her next stop in Madrid, Spain, when she decided to make a stop after Elizabeth’s diaper gained five pounds. The woman had tried to keep the mood light ever since her call from Tommy, unable to truly talk to anyone about her problem. And she didn’t want any sort of nonsense about Elizabeth’s paternity to get inside the child’s mind. She didn’t want Elizabeth to turn out like she did--growing up not being accepted by her father’s family over speculation that she didn’t belong to him.

“Then we gonna wipe the baby booty-” She sang. Elizabeth always had a shining smile on her face, but especially when her mother would sing to her.