April 6th, 2000
Mariah was laying on the bed feeling absolutely miserable. She'd gone out to dinner with Rachel and Shawntae the night before, and now she felt like she had been hit by two semi trucks.
"I just had to have the oysters." She moaned, rolling over to look at Elizabeth, who laid in her bouncer. The six month old rubbed her eyes--Mariah hoping she'd just fall asleep. Elizabeth looked up at her suffering mother and screeched, the sound seeming ten times louder to Mariah's sensitive ears.
"Lizzie, be quiet baby." Mariah whined, covering her ears.
Elizabeth ignored her, seeming to grow irritated from Mariah's lack of attention. She screamed out again, this time reaching her arms out for her mother.
"Aww mama, really?" Mariah asked.
Elizabeth's irritated whimpers turned into a soft cry.
Mariah rubbed her eyes, forcing herself up onto the bed. She stared at the TV screen before shifting her eyes toward her daughter.
She stood up and went to pick the little girl up out of her bouncer. With every gentle pat on the back, Elizabeth calmed down.
Mariah carried her infant over to the bed. As sick as she felt, she tried to resist giving her child kisses and cuddles.
Elizabeth squirmed around in her mother's arms, trying to get comfortable.
"You sleepy baby?" Mariah asked.
Seemingly on queue, Elizabeth yawned.
Aww, look at my sweetheart.
Elizabeth slowly blinked her eyes closed, falling asleep in Mariah's arms.
April 9th, 2000
Mariah arrived on the set of VH1 Divas with her entourage, pushing Elizabeth in her stroller. Though she was still feeling a little under the weather, she decided to push through and perform.
Mariah could see some of the performers, like Donna Summer and Faith Hill, talking with each other on the side of the stage. Destiny's Child, after recently going through a lineup change, was nearby watching the event. Diana Ross, the night's honoree, was rehearsing with her band.
Diana stopped when she saw her. She got down from the stage and strode over to Mariah, who didn't know exactly how to react the woman.
"How are ya?" Diana anxiously asked once she reached Mariah, though her eyes were focused on Elizabeth.
Mariah forced a smile. "I'm good. How are you?"
"I'm good."
An awkward silence set in, Mariah watching Diana and Diana still focused on Elizabeth.
"She's getting so big." Diana said, almost to herself.
Mariah held an awkward smile. "Yeah she is."
Diana broke her gaze from Elizabeth and cleared her throat. She almost looked like she wanted to say something but was too scared to spit it out.
She took a deep breath. "Well you know you're on first, you should probably go get changed."
Mariah nodded. "Yeah I'll go do that."
Mariah walked out out of her dressing room in a short silver dress. Wayne and Rachel followed behind her, Rachel carrying Elizabeth.
Mariah turned back to Rachel. "I just fed her so she shouldn't be hungry."
Rachel nodded. "Come on Lizzie, we're gonna watch mommy sing."
Mariah watched Rachel and Wayne take their seats before walking onstage. She had decided to perform a mix of Diana's song Love Hangover and her own song Heartbreaker. As she began to perform she noticed Diana had walked over to Rachel and was playing with Elizabeth.
Why is this woman so concerned about my baby?
Mariah continued to sing, but there was something about Diana that was unnerving. The entire situation between Michael and Diana was still a mystery to Mariah, and Diana's interest in Elizabeth creeped her out.
Maybe she just likes kids.
Mariah's first performance ended and Diana got up, winking as she walked past. Mariah shrugged it off and continued over to Rachel.
"What was that about?" Mariah asked.
Rachel squinted at Mariah. "What? Diana?"
Mariah stared at Rachel, her expression condescending. "Who else?"
"Oh she just wanted to play with the baby. Lizzie really likes her though, she was over here laughing and trying to get out her baby words." Rachel said, looking down at Elizabeth. "Weren't you Lizzie?"
Elizabeth giggled at Rachel, reaching for her braids.
Rachel pulled back. "You and Nicole with this hair pulling."
Mariah giggled, giving Elizabeth a kiss. She handed her child back to Rachel. "I gotta go change. I'll be right back."
Mariah exited her dressing room in a black ball gown--accidentally bumping into RuPaul on her way out.
"Uh- I'm sorry." She said.
He nodded. "You good, baby- Uh- Mariah?"
Mariah giggle-smiled. "Hi."
"Very cute, sweetheart. You did your thing, Ms. Thing."
"Thank you." She replied. "I love your hair! And your dress!"
"Yes you do. You love it." He said, mimicking vogue poses.
Mariah giggled. "How do you know Diana?"
"Oh honey, I don't! But she is a Kween! The original Kween!"
"Wow." She mouthed.
RuPaul giggled. "Yes: Wow. Fifty-six and will still take your man!"
Mariah's face quickly dissolved into a grimace. "What?"
RuPaul furrowed his eyebrows. "Oh- Ohh...Honey I don't mean that literally."
Her expression stayed stale.
RuPaul let out a nervous laugh. "You know old Hollywood though. They're freakier than us."
Mariah cocked her head to the side. She didn't know whether to ask him what he meant or leave it alone before hearing something she didn't want to know. "What do you mean?"
"Well- You know Studio 54? Where all the icons did their dirt?"
"Their dirt?"
"Yes, honey, their dirt." He replied.
"Sure." Mariah started. "But I'm not sure what you're-"
"Between me and you-," he interrupted his voice lowered to a whisper, "I hear that's where she lured them in. Hooked them up with a dealer and sent them to another planet. And that's where they got their little virginities ripped away in the most torturous ways possible. And don't let them be cute little starlets at that. That's the kinda shit Old Hollywood is into."
Mariah jumped back in disgust. She wasn't quite sure exactly what he was talking about, and clearly RuPaul was on something. But, in Mariah's mind, he might've also been onto something.
April 19th, 2000
Michael was sitting on the couch reading a book while the TV played in the background for white noise. With Mariah on tour, Janet out working, and the twins asleep, his house was nearly silent for the first time since he bought it. He turned the page in his book, hoping for some stimulation.
The jangling of the front door lock soon caught Michael's attention. He sat his book on the coffee table and stood in the middle of the living room, waiting. The front door swung open and Michael was greeted with silence.
"Dunk? Is that you?" He called out.
There was a pause. "No, it's me."
"Mother?"
Michael raised an eyebrow as he sat back down on the couch. He hadn't seen much of his mother since she started seeing Alfred, and since she moved out it was almost like he didn't exist to her. He wondered what made her decide to come back so suddenly.
Katherine gradually made her way into the room sporting a creme pantsuit with a matching hobo bag and penny loafers.
Katherine smiled. "How you doing, baby?"
Michael frowned. "I'm managing."
"Well you seem better..."
He bit the inside of his cheek. "Like I said, I'm managing."
Katherine dropped her head down.
She glided through the room, stopping momentarily to look at the portraits on the piano.
"So how are the girls?"
"They're fine." He replied, hastily.
She poked her lips out in discomfort.
"Mother?" Michael started.
She turned toward him.
"Why are you here?"
Her eyes blinked a million miles a minute. "Just stopping by. Wanted to say h-"
"You have no reason to be in Santa Barbara, why are you here?" He pushed.
"I was trying to tell you. I wanted to say hi. I missed you."
"You wouldn't've missed me if you'd've just stayed here." He said.
She turned her head away from him, choosing to focus on the decor instead.
Michael folded his arms. He grew impatient with his mother's nonchalance.
"Janet around?" She asked.
"No, she's filming. But you would've known that if-"
"Stop that, Michael!" Katherine commanded.
The man lowered his head in shame.
"You can't talk to me like that. I am your mother."
"Well, she's at work." He muttered.
The air between the two was thick with tension. Michael couldn't find the cojones to say anything to his mother.
It's not like you didn't see it coming. He thought. And he did. His mother started drifting away from him the moment she began to date Mariah's father.
Katherine pulled a tissue out of her purse and blew her nose.
"Look, I'm sorry I left like that. But you know how that makes me feel."
Michael shrugged. "Sure."
She pursed her lips--looking at her son like this was all his fault.
"No, Mother, I'm-"
"Daddy..." A soft voice called from the foyer.
"Noni?" Michael questioned as his daughter revealed herself. "What are you doing up, baby, you're supposed to be taking a nap."
Noelle rubbed her eyes--the tired globes darting back and forth between Michael and Katherine.
She toddled over to her father, her pull up dropping down low from her t-shirt.
Michael cocked his head to the side. "Noni, what daddy tell you?"
She just looked at him.
"Huh?" He asked. "If you have to use the bathroom, you need to come tell me. Don't just go."
"I hadda use it."
Michael huffed. "Baby-"
"Uh oh, Grandma baby had to use it?" Katherine said.
Noelle shot her eyes toward her grandmother, her head nodding.
"Awww, it's okay baby. We all make mistakes."
Michael suppressed an eyeroll.
"Here, let grandma change your pull up, okay?"
Noelle nodded. "K."
Katherine flashed a smile at Michael as if to call a truce.
"Mother, I-"
"Oh it's okay, baby. Grandma has got it." Katherine assured.
Michael huffed. He didn't understand why his mother chose now, of all times, to pop up. Her presence was more of an added source of stress than a stress reliever--and Michael was at the point where he'd wanted her to just go away altogether.
April 28th, 2000
"Go play Destin!" Chris called out, shooing away his two-year-old son, Destin Tucker who wore blue jeans, a graphic t-shirt, and baby-sized Timberlands. The two were at Neverland, along with the Arvizo kids, Frank Cascio, and the Jacksons, for a playdate.
Destin peered at his dad, coyly.
"Des-tin! Go play, man! Play!" Chris shouted.
Destin wiped his nose with the back of his hand, Noelle approaching him in her long-sleeved shirt, jeans, and rain boots.
Michael watched as his baby helped Destin come out of his shell.
"Aww, look at that." Chris noted. He glanced at Michael. "Yo kids are saints, Mike!"
Michael chuckled. "Yeah, that's how Noni is--she has a way of making people feel calm."
Noelle ran out into the field with Destin toddling behind her. The two made it over to Nicki who, wearing an identical outfit to her sister's, squatted down to examine the squishiness of a muddy area. Noelle readied the pails and shovels for scooping.
"They over there playing in dirt." Michael commented, a smirk on his face. "Nicki thinks it's clay. She go, 'daddy! Look at this,' making castles in the dirt."
Chris grinned. "That's some hood shit, Mike. Won't you take them kids to the beach to make some sandcastles so they ain't gotta make mud-crackhouses?"
Michael nearly fell out laughing. His fit causing his eyes to water. He looked over at Chris. "You a fool, man."
Soon, Michael noticed Gavin and Star walking near the cows--Frank watching over them. Davellin had already been over there, petting the gentle creatures.
He shot his eyes back and forth between his own children and the Arvizos. "I'm still tryna figure out what kind of mother would want her son, who needs surgery, out here runnin' around outside?"
Chris shrugged, shaking his head.
Michael continued. "I mean, wouldn't you want him in isolation, getting ready to have a potentially life-saving surgery?"
"To be quite honest with you, I don't think she telling the whole truth." Chris noted.
Michael raised his eyebrows in curiosity. "What do you mean?"
"I mean...Stage IV Cancer? Incurable? Terminal? Now, suddenly, 'surgery that might fix it'? I just have a hard time believing this."
"Yeah, I thought about that too. But at the same time, I don't think anyone would lie about their child dying. I just think she's a bad mother." Michael replied.
Chris nodded, slowly, seemingly examining Michael's words. In an instant, Michael noticed Chris' eyebrows rise, his eyes widening as he peered at the cow ranch.
"What?" Michael said, glancing back and forth between Chris in the Arvizos.
"Look." Chris instructed, pointing at Star. "What he doing?"
Suddenly, a cow went running out of the gate, galloping in circles around the area.
"Shit!" Michael shouted. He and Chris took off running toward their kids.
"Nicki, Noni! Move!" Michael instructed. Nicole quickly took notice of the loose cow and ran like hell toward her dad. It took Noelle a moment before she caught on, running toward him all the same.
Michael could vaguely hear Chris in the background yelling at his son, who simply wouldn't move. The boy just stared at the cow in awe.
Michael raised worried eyebrows. "Destin! Come on man!"
Chris quickly made it over to his son--scooping him up in his arms--as Michael did the same with Nicole and Noelle.
"Frank!" Michael shouted, watching Frank run after the cow. Frank stopped in his tracks, looking up at his boss.
"Did you lock the gate?"
Frank nodded, eagerly, and sprinted toward the cow.
With Nicole and Noelle shouting in his ears, Michael ran over to Chris to drop them off. He then made his way over to the cow.
The sight was something out of a Tom and Jerry episode. Every time Michael caught up with the cow, it changed directions. Michael was starting to run out of breath. His side started pounding and he hunched over.
"Frank!" He shouted in a harsh tone. "Lure it over to you!"
"How?" Frank called back.
"Rub cheese all over yourself!" Davellin shouted.
This child is not too bright... Michael thought.
Frank shrugged and started making incoherent noises to get the cow back to the gate. Michael couldn't help but laugh, watching Frank make an idiot of himself.
In that moment, the cow decided she wasn't playing around with these fools anymore. The farm animal went for the big escape--running up a steep hill.
"Aw shit!" Michael shouted. "Frank!" He pointed at the cow. "Frank! She gon die!"
Frank, distressed, ran after it--Michael trailed not too far behind. As he approached the cow, running like an Olympic track star, Michael noticed the cow start to stumble a bit. In no time, the animal went tumbling down the hill. It was like watching a ten-car collision on the busiest intersection.
"Daaaaaaaamn!" Michael, Chris, and Frank called out in unison.
Michael slowed as he approached the falling cow, who ultimately landed at the base of the hill near the cow ranch.
Everyone, sans Chris and the little kids, came running over to the cow.
Star puffed up his cheeks--he knew he messed up.
Frank shook his head, placing his hat on the cow's twitching hind leg.
"Shit!" Michael shouted.
Gavin shot his head up to Michael in complete shock. "What did you say, Mr. Jackson?"
Aw hell...
Michael's eyes widened. "I said- 'hit', as in 'oh wow, that cow look like it got hit!'" He lied.
Gavin nodded unsuspectingly.
Frank slowly closed his eyes. "Mike, let's have a moment of silence for our fallen brother-"
Michael hit Frank in the back of his head. "You knucklehead!"
Frank chuckled.
Michael squatted down to the cow, rubbing it's huge stomach. He shook his head. "Frank, call the park to come and get this big girl up. And call the rancher too--so he can let us know what we can do so this won't happen again."
Frank nodded, pulling out his cell phone.
Michael looked up at the Arvizo kids. He rose from the ground and pointed at Star.
"You-" He started. "Come here." He glanced at the other two. "You guys, go over there with Mr. Tucker."
Gavin and Davellin ran off, leaving Michael to speak with Star.
Michael took a deep breath. He'd never really had to discipline a kid before. All the children around him were extremely well-mannered and cultured--they'd never cause a disaster like this.
"Star, I want you to know that you are in trouble." Michael said. "There is no excuse for what you did. You're not a little kid anymore-"
"Mr. Jackson, I didn't know that would happen."
Michael looked at him with a face of skepticism.
"I swear to God!" Star exclaimed.
Michael pulled back. "Don't swear on God. I know you're lying. You did that on purpose."
Star looked every which way but at Michael.
"No, no, no." Michael started. "Look at me." He took a deep breath. "First, you do exactly what I told you not to do. Then, you lie to me. That's twice you're being disrespectful."
Star grimaced. "Yeah, but you cursed at us. I could tell my mom."
Did he just-
Michael's eyes widened in irritation. "I did not curse at you. I cursed in frustration and I apologize for that. Tell your mom what you want, you still need to do what adults tell you to do."
Star folded his arms, pouting at his failed attempt at blackmail.
"And now what you just did was you tried to blackmail me, which is also very wrong and very nasty. You can't do stuff like that." Michael explained.
Star looked on despondently.
"Do I make myself clear?" Michael asked.
Star shrugged.
Michael placed his hands on his hips. "Star."
Star clicked his mouth.
"Yeah."
Michael clenched his jaw.
"Alright, I'm gonna tell your mother what you've done-"
"I didn't even do anything!" Star shouted.
Michael clenched his eyes shut. He softened his voice and pointed toward Chris. "Star, go over there with your brother and sister."
"Are you gonna tell my mom?"
"Star." Michael said, a finality in his tone. "Go. Over. There."
Star scowled, storming his way over to his siblings.
"Fix your gotdamn face." Michael said under his breath, part wanting Star to hear, part wanting to keep it to himself.
Star didn't turn around.
"What was that about?" Frank asked, closing his cell phone.
Michael shook his head. "Nothing. He just wanted to get an attitude."
Frank nodded, knowingly.
"Exactly." Michael commented.
Michael glanced down at the cow. "Look, why don't we get her to a butcher? No sense wasting it."
"Sure, I'll tell the team when they get here." Frank assured.
"Alright. But we should go back with Chris. I see now I'ma have to keep a close eye on these kids."