Book 3- 1967 (Michael Jackson)

Chapter 20- Another Secret From Mom

                Chapter 20- Another Secret From Mom

                Date: Thursday, November 15, 1967

                Time: 1:38AM

                KAYLA'S POV

"Oh darlin', darlin', DARLIN', stand by me! Oh, stand by me..." Michael's voice reverberated off of the walls, and back behind the curtain to me. Grinning widely, I played with more passion and force. Just like he knew what I was doing, he raised his voice just enough to be heard over my thundering organ. 

I chuckled. I could never mess Michael up! But boy, could he get me off track! Just last week, when we began recording at Steeltown, Michael was throwing me these strange faces as I attempted creating a decent beat for 'Under the Boardwalk.' We had to go over that song at least forty times in order for me to get it right. Needless to say, the horn players and backup singers were not exactly all that overjoyed to be working with me. 

When the song ended, the audience gave several rounds of applause. The brothers scooted to the center of the stage, taking everything in. Boisterous hoots and claps could be heard from blocks away. Men, women, and children were throwing coins to the stage. Babies were screaming, and little kids were laughing contagiously.

Wow, I thought, observing the scene, look at the impact these boys have. And me, too! We're all causing this joy and laughter. Look at what we did... We put all of those smiles on the people's faces!

Michael instantly dropped to his knees and scrambled to snatch all of the extra change in sight. Jermaine and Tito proceeded to do the same, almost greedily clutching the pennies as if they were pieces of the Lord's treasure. The other two shuffled away, into the shadow of the curtain.

By the time the boys stood up, Michael had to hold his pants up by the beltloops. The change was sagging his pants down, even with his tiny belt on. He smirked, waddling to the back with me. "Kayla, did you see that?! Someone threw a Canadian coin at me!" He proudly held one hand up, revealing a yellowy coin.. The left side of his pants fell to the bottom of his boxers. Embarrassed, he dropped the money and picked his pants back up.

I lifted the change for him. "Hey, do you want me to help you with that? I have a pocket." I held my hand out, as if I were making an offer. 

"Oh, but... Please?" He shot me a cutesy grin. I nodded in response, slowly digging my hands through his bulging pockets. I took about half of his change and dumped it noisily into my own pockets, the coins clanging against each other.

It was then that I realized my pants, too, were starting to droop. Now panicking, I pinched the ends of my pants and hoisted them up as high as they could go. I nervously peered over at Michael, squeaking, "I'm ready."

He wore a quizzical expression, but did not question my current state. We both slowly hobbled along behind the other brothers, exchanging glances every few seconds. Usually, the expressions were amusing. We eventually made a game out of our walk, trying to get each other to laugh. I crossed my eyes when he formed his lips into a goofy... way, I suppose. There was no other way to explain his facial expression. 

At one point, Michael sucked as much air into his lungs as he could and held it in his cheeks. After a few seconds, I burst out laughing so hard that I dropped to the floor, bringing the extra cash with me. 

I immediately rebounded, not wanting anyone to see me in the state I was in. I hurriedly crammed everything back in the pockets before carrying on, not directly looking in Michael's direction. However, every twenty seconds, I snuck a glance at Michael to stick my tongue out or say something silly. 

I opened the door leading outside, seeing that I had an extra hand. Michael passed out, mouthing 'thank you' and proceeding to stick his tongue out. I giggled, careful not to let go of my uniform pants.

I started thinking about just how kind Kattie was to sew these for us. About three months ago, I got my own uniform pair of pants and a shirt with 'J5' emblazoned on the front. Those would definitely be something I would cherish forever. It made me feel like part of the family.

I wondered if there was a way that I could give back to Mrs. Jackson... That would b a nice thing to do.

I walked in sync with Michael's footsteps, basically mirroring them. We could see the other boys pretty close up ahead, so we picked the pace up from a lazy stroll to a speed walk. We both clutched on to our pants as tightly as we could, hoping that we wouldn't fall over and drop everything.

Suddenly, we heard a vociferous roar come from Tito. We stopped in our tracks. Michael's eyes widened to the size of baseballs, if not larger. My hands went limp for a moment, and my pants nearly fell off.

"Kayl! Michael! Come quick!" It was Jackie, and he sounded like he was about to scream. His shallow breaths were loud and echoed down the seemingly endless alley of dull, grey block buildings. Marlon's thumping footsteps could be heard from a ways away.

Michael and I bolted around the corner to find a horrific sight. Joseph was laying on the ground, heavily breathing. His band equipment was sprawled out all around him, and one of the drums had broken. There were clots of blood stains on the pavement, as well as his jeans. He had a couple mini gashes on his arms and knees, and one under his chin. He closed his eyes, as if he were trying to imagine all of the pain.

"Joseph! Are you alright?!" I threw myself to the ground, pushing the drum to the side to take a closer examination to his wounds. They weren't that deep, of course; but whatever happened, it definitely injured him. He didn't just fall and end up like this.

"Daddy...! What happened?!" Michael proceeded to do the same thing. He whipped out an Ace Bandage and attempted tying it around his arm. Joseph swatted it away, shaking his head vigorously.

"Since when did you have an Ace Bandage just lying around?" I asked him, raising one eyebrow.

"I saw it on the coffee table at home. It was stretchy, and I thought it was fun to play with," he replied indignantly. "Marlon woulda thought so, too!"

"It's-- it's Joseph," Joseph coughed, sitting up. "Michael... Joseph."

Michael slumped his shoulders, instantly getting what he meant. "Fine... Joseph."

"Are you alright?" Jermaine leaned in, checking over Joseph for any potentially dangerous wounds. "Do you feel alright?"

"Look," Joseph explained slowly, "I was... What was I doing? I was, I was carrying the instruments out, and then someone mobbed me..."

"I think Tito and I established that before anyone else," Jackie stated blankly. "Our question is, do you feel alright?"

"I'll be fine, I will... Just as long as you don't tell Kattie that I got beat up. Got it?" Joseph scanned each of us from head to toe.

I didn't want to, but when I saw everyone else shake their heads, I followed the crowd. I shook my head obediently, knowing that 'no' was the only answer Joseph would accept. If Kattie finds out, I thought anxiously, we're all going to get it. 

He pressed his hands together. "Good," he replied. "Now, that wasn't so bad, right? We had a busy day, packed with recording and shows, and gangs, but we're all good now... Right?"

"... Right." I rolled my eyes as he averted his attention to the Buick nearby. I guess.