Book 3- 1967 (Michael Jackson)

Chapter 12- Now You've Done It!

                                               *****

                Chapter 12- Now You've Done It!

                Date: Wednesday, June 14, 1967

                Time: 5:43PM

                JACKIE'S POV

"Janet, get off," I scolded, attempting to pull her off of the leg of the loveseat. She giggled and giggled as I tried prying her chubby fingers away from the wobbling support. "You're just like a little baby Squirrel, aren't you? A little squirrel, that's what you are. C'mon, c'mon..."

I situated Janet on my lap and rested one hand over her, in hopes of keeping her in place. She picked her nose with one hand and wrapped her other hand around my finger, pulling on it. I thought it was cute until I realized that she just wanted away from me. I threw my old baby blanket over her, trying to coax her into staying.

She crawled out of my arms and onto the floor as swiftly as she possibly could. When she reached the coffee table, she stood on her trembling legs, took three baby steps, fell on top of our Backgammon set, and crawled away... into Mom's bedroom. It was obvious that, within time, she would not be contained in one place, not at all. She was not like La Toya or Rebbie.

In fact, little Janet may turn out just like Michael. She was already like him, when he was a baby. He was all over the place, always running or crawling or wriggling here and there. He could be in the bedroom at one second, and the next, he'd be outside, running to the nearby Ball Park for some bubblegum. He's still like that.

The more and more I thought about it, the more I realized that Janet was a miniature, female version of Michael, with a little mix of Randy. My Lord, I thought, my eyes widening with realization, Michael is Janet, as Janet is Michael.

"Soooo," I heard Rebbie drawl, "are you using this anytime soon?" She held the television dial in her right hand. "I was planning on watching something tonight."

I juped upo hearing her voice, but attempted to keep my cool. "Oh, you're not with Nathaniel?" I joked nervously, rolling my eyes. "Aren't you, ya know, with him every night?"

Rebbie narrowed her eyes. "He's out of town with extended family...," she said, holding my gaze until she sashayed to the remaining spot on the couch. "Now, I asked you a question: are you going to watch some television?" She plopped her butt on the already-sagging seat.

I started feeling a little more comfortable with her around me. "Yeah," I replied, snatching the dial from her grasp, "I was going to watch some sports." I switched the channel to the recap of Monday Night Football. I tossed the dial between Rebbie and I, in the couch's crevasse.

"Ummm... I think I may just take this little dial here... and change the channel," she murmured, quickly switching the channel to Rebecca. I grimaced as I exclaimed, "Rebecca? One of the sappiest romance flicks ever invented?!"

I heard a sigh of satisfaction come from Rebbie and the TV almost simulltaneously. "Yep," she responded dreamily. "It sure is."

I glared, my nostrils flaring. "Pardon me," I said irritably, "but I was watching that."

"Oh, come on, Jackie! I never watch television. Can't I just enjoy myself this one time?! This one little time?" She made a pouty face. "Please?"

I didn't take the bait. "No, I wanna watch sports!" I changed the channel back. When I heard the cheer of fans, I tossed the dial on the coffee table. "There! That's much better than your dumb romance films!"

"But I want to watch a fantastic love movie!" she reached for the dial. I smacked her hand, reaching for the dial. I shouted, "You aren't changing it back!"

"Oh, yes I am!" She exclaimed, turning the dial back to her dumb lovey-dovey romance. "Now hush! I'm watching TV."

I frowned, taking the dial back. She lurched forward, grabbing it from my hands. I turned it back while she had grasp of it. She angrily smacked my cheek and switched back to Rebecca. I took the dial once again and the cycle continued.

About three minutes of fighting later, she finally took the dial from me and pranced into another room. I charged towards Mom's room, ready to pounce on her. She pushed on the dial... and I heard a very large CLICK.

Both Rebbie and I stopped in our tracks. Rebbie gazed down at the dial- or should I say, what used to be the dial. It had been... ruined. The switch moved with too much ease, and there was a crackling noise when Rebbie touched it. We had killed the dial.

Rebbie and I exchanged glances several times. We had no idea whether to laugh or cry or get mad with each other all over again. All that I knew was that Joseph couldn't find out.

"Now you've done it!" Rebbie repulsed, glaring. "I can't believe you! No we're all going to get our butts kicked! I swear, Jackie, you're the most reckless kid I've ever seen! Absolutely, positively reck-"

"Shh, shh!" I whispered. "Just, ah, Rebbie! This is your fault, as well!" I felt my blood pressure rise every couple seconds. I couldn't believe Rebbie, blaming me for a mistake that she had equal blame for.

Then again, what else could I expect from Rebbie? She always portrayed herself as the perfect mother figure in front of everyone except for me! It was as if the claws came out, just for me. I must have really done something awful for her to treat me the way she does. What I could have done, I don't know. I suppose I'll never know.

I attempted to calm myself down a notch. I took about five deep breaths, and tried to reason with Rebbie. "Just go tell Mom what happened. After all, she'll be much more understanding than Joseph." I sounded much more confident than I had felt. "We all know that. You can't argue with that. Just-" 

"But she will be mad at us!" Rebbie whined. 

Shut UP!" I shouted, feeling the rage getting in the way again. I stopped myself and took a few more breaths before I carried on. Just calm down, Jackie, I told myself. Just calm... calm down. You're cool as a cucumber, cool as a cucumber... 

"Just say that, that we walked in to a broken dial. Don't say that we did it. Alright?"

Rebbie grimaced at the steaming dial, bobbing her head back and forth a few times. It was almost as if she were considering the consequences. It had me thinking, as well. Could we get in trouble if we told Mom what happened? Would she smack us? 

"Oh... alright, alright. Just- fine. I'll tell her only if you do my chores tomorrow. Deal?"

"Fine, fine!" I exclaimed. "Deal!"

Rebbie smirked before heading out of the bedroom. Once she left me to myself, my eyes widened to the size of golfballs. I kicked the floor, feeling idiotic. She did it, not me! And I'M supposedly the one who's getting all of the blame... 

Nothing was in my favor today. Nothing at all.