September 1st, 2000
Ring.
Ring.
Mariah huffed. She sat on the bed writing, annoyed at having to get up to get the house phone off the entertainment center.
She picked up the phone and immediately recognized the New York number before contemplating ignoring the call. She began to chew her nails, and answered anyway.
“Hello?”
“Hey, Mariah.”
She rolled her eyes. “What do you want, Morgan?”
Mariah could just make out an argument in the background.
“Mom and Ms. Katie keep fighting and me and Dad don't know what to do.” Morgan explained.
“And what does that have to do with me?” She asked, looking at at her nails. “You all seemed fine at the wedding.”
“Yeah, but Dad needs help, Mariah. He can't keep trying to break them up.” Morgan said.
Mariah pursed her lips. “What are they fighting about?”
“Mom moved Ms. Katie's brush.”
“Wow.” Mariah noted. She figured the peace between Katherine and Pat wouldn't last, especially with her father in the mix.
Michael shuffled into the bedroom, looking exhausted. He was certainly thinner, considering he hadn't been eating right the past few weeks. He flopped on the bed, pulling the covers around his body.
“Hold on.” Morgan said and proceeded to yell. “Can y'all stop it? It's not that serious.”
“Hello?”
“Yeah...I'm here.” Mariah said, annoyed.
Michael turned around, bunching the cover to his side. “Who's that?”
“Morgan.” Mariah informed him. “He said our moms keep fighting.”
Michael deadpanned. “And did they think that wasn’t gonna happen…?”
Mariah shrugged.
Michael frowned. “Here, give me the phone.”
“Hold on.” Mariah said before handing her husband the phone.
“Hello…? Morgan, yes… What’s going on?” He started.
Mariah figured Morgan was explaining the situation by the way Michael’s eyes rolled.
Michael took a slow breath. “Okay well Mariah can’t deal with this. She’s about to get her back blown out sooo...bye-”
Smack.
“What the hell!” Michael exclaimed, rubbing his arm. “What was that for?”
Mariah snatched the phone out of Michael’s hand, scowling at her husband.
“Hello?” She spoke, her voice clearly annoyed.
“Yeah…” Morgan said. “You should really tell your husband that no one wants to hear that.”
Mariah stared Michael down. “Oh he knows. He was just tryna be funny.”
Michael gritted his teeth.
“God, now they’re yelling about who’s gonna clean up around here… I’m so fucking tired of it.”
Mariah went back to biting her nails. “Well I don’t know what to do.”
“Shit, we should just send Joseph up there. Mother never had this problem when she was living with him.” Michael commented.
“Michael, you hate it when your parents are together.”
“Yeah, but I hate it even more when your dad is all over her.” He retorted.
He leaned back on the bed, a mischievous grin growing on his lips.
Mariah made weary eyes at her husband. “Michael don’t call him-”
“Too late. I’m telling Frank to book him a flight as we speak.” Michael responded, dialing Frank’s number.
Mariah shook her head, turning her attention back to her brother on the phone.
“Morgan!”
“What? Why are you yelling?” He questioned.
“Get your shit ready. Michael’s dad’s coming over there.”
“But-”
Mariah interrupted him. “And remember not to call me for anything because I will be in Toronto not caring.”
“But Mari-”
Mariah grinned.
“Bye Morgan.”
September 7th, 2000
“Hey, man.” Michael said as he walked into Gavin’s room. The boy had just gotten out of surgery and was in the recovery room, waiting to be transferred for post-operation monitoring.
Gavin smiled as wide as he could. He was clearly too weak to speak, so Michael accepted a gentle wave instead.
Janet Arvizo smiled, sipping on her coffee. “Thanks for coming.”
“No problem.” Michael replied.
Janet took another sip of her coffee before placing the cup down on Gavin’s tray table.
“So how did you wanna do this?” She asked.
Michael raised an eyebrow. “Come again?”
“I mean, the whole recovery thing. When would you like us to move our things in?”
Michael cleared his throat. “Well, you should probably get packed first-”
“We’re all done.” Janet replied, moving to show Michael she and Gavin’s suitcases in his recovery room cubby.
Michael gave a nervous laugh. “Wow. You carried all that stuff around from room to room?”
“Yup. Since the moment we got here. I didn’t want to inconvenience you.” She explained.
Michael took a deep breath, nodding his head in acknowledgment.
She seemed to wait for a response for a moment, but when she didn't get one, she spoke again.
“So...when?”
He swallowed. “Umm, I don’t know, really. I’ve been really busy lately with my kids. And I’m going to start working on my next album soon. I’m not sure if there is a when yet.”
Janet furrowed her eyebrows. She sat back down and reached out for Gavin’s hand.
Gavin looked so frail and sad, Michael couldn’t help but feel for the boy.
Michael combed his fingers through the ends of his ponytail.
I need to get my hair done. He thought.
“Michael…” Janet started.
Michael flashed his eyebrows, her words interrupting his internal thought process.
Janet continued. “They want to send Gavin home pretty soon, since they need the space in here for people who can afford it. We don’t have much, you know.”
Michael nodded, his eyes distant and lips almost a pout. “I understand.”
He leaned forward, studying Gavin. He wanted to speak with the doctor for himself to get an update on Gavin’s status, but opted to take Janet’s word instead.
He reached out for Gavin’s hand. The boy felt frozen.
“How about next month? We can have something set up for you guys by then.”
“We don’t have a month.” She replied.
Michael chewed his bottom lip, his eyes unfocused.
“How long can you stay here?”
“Only for another week.” She replied.
Shit.
“You sure? Could you ask the doctor to stay for a little while longer?”
“We already have our bags packed.” She replied, evading the question.
Michael snatched his hand back from Gavin’s crippling grip. He turned to the boy. “Gavin, how are you feeling?”
Gavin shook his head.
Michael almost smirked, before remembering this was supposed to be a sad moment. He couldn't help himself, though, he had an idea.
“I don't think he should even be leaving the hospital yet.” Michael noted. “I mean, look at his condition. The boy can't even use his words.”
Janet didn't respond.
Michael, realizing she wasn't yet convinced, shifted his approach. “Look, how about I get started on clearing a space out for you and then we can get you in around October. I think that would be best.”
Janet flashed her eyebrows in acknowledgement, but her face read upset. Still, Michael took her eyebrow flash as an acceptance of his deal.
“Alright then...we’ll just move you in early October. I'll call my people and let them know what's going on and see what we can do.” Michael explained.
Janet shrugged.
Michael smirked.
“Don't worry, I got you.”
September 18th, 2000
Mariah was in Toronto shooting All That Glitters. The filming was close to wrapping, but she still had a few more scenes, mostly dealing with her character, ‘Billie’'s, rise to fame.
Max Beesley, playing the character 'Dice’, was on one knee in front of her. The two were shooting their engagement scene.
“Billie, I love you and would like to spend the rest of my life-”
“Cut!” Mariah shouted.
Max raised a confused eyebrow, standing up. “Mariah, what-”
She shook her head. “It's not you, hold on.”
“Hey Vondie!” Mariah shouted, approaching the director's chair.
Vondie shot his head up, clearly annoyed. “What's wrong, now?”
“I feel like it's not right. I don't think Dice should propose to Billie.” Mariah said.
Mariah turned back around and walked over to Max. “Let me see your script.”
Max pulled back in surprise. “My script?”
She held out her hand. “Yes! Give it here!”
Max frowned, slowly handing her his copy of the script. Mariah eagerly snatched it and hurried to find a pen. Once she found one, she sat down in her chair and started to edit the scene. Unsatisfied, she proceeded to cross the scene out altogether.
Hmm…
“Hey Max come here!” She shouted.
Max grimaced. “What's up?”
“Okay, so I have an idea: instead of Dice and Billie getting married, Dice gets killed and then Billie finds out he found her mom. So instead the movie ends with her finding her mom.” Mariah explained.
Max nodded, slowly. “Okay... So what about the other scene with the song?”
Mariah paused. “I'll get back to you on that.”
“Alright! Lunch, guys!” Vondie called from the director's chair.
Mariah raised an eyebrow as she noticed some of the ‘caterers’ scoping the set. She knew Tommy would try to sabotage her career, but she didn't think he'd stoop as low as to spy on her.
After Mariah cut off contact with Pat and Katherine, he would have no way of knowing what she was up to.
Or would he?
There was one man in particular that seemed too interested in her set. She got up and slowly approached him.
“Hi.” She said, flashing her teeth. “Can I help you?”
The man shook his head. “No, you've just got a really interesting set here. That's all.”
Mariah glanced over her shoulder. “Okay, should you guys even be up here? The caterers aren't usually allowed on set.”
He looked caught off guard. “I don't mean any harm, Ms. Carey.”
She narrowed her eyes. “Never said you did. I was just wondering how you got in here, this is a closed set.”
He took a step back from her. “I-”
“I want you to leave. Now.”
Mariah gripped the clipboard on the table next to her, staring the man down. When he didn't move she picked up the clipboard and-
Swat!
September 18th, 2000
Shawntae dropped her donut and ran over to grab Mariah. “Girl! What the hell?”
“He's a spy.” Mariah snapped.
Shawntae frowned and pulled Mariah into a corner. “Girl, what are you talking about?”
“Tommy is spying on me. He's trying to sabotage me.” Mariah explained.
Shawntae looked lost for words. “He's what?”
“Spying.”
Shawntae snickered. “Girl, I don't think he cares that much-”
“But he does! After Michael beat his ass he's been trying to destroy our careers. I had to fuck him just so Michael could do his album and-”
Shawntae, noticing people starting to stare, covered Mariah’s mouth. She gripped the other woman’s arm and brought her in close. “Wait, wait, wait. What happened now?”
Mariah shook her head, holding back tears. “He is trying to ruin my life.”
“So let me get this straight...you fucked him recently?” Shawntae whispered.
Mariah laughed in spite of herself. “I can't even tell you who Elizabeth's daddy is.”
Shawntae was genuinely speechless.
Mariah took a deep breath, a smile growing on her face. “You don’t know how good that felt, girl.” She gave Shawntae a kiss. “Thank you.”
Oh my gawd.
Shawntae pulled back in disbelief. She couldn’t believe her eyes and ears. Her best friend was losing her wits right in front of her.
This bitch is crazy...
September 29th, 2000
“Dada!” Elizabeth shouted for the 27th time, trying to get her father’s attention.
Michael flew his head around--his eyebrows fixed at the top of his forehead. “Yes, Donut?”
The two were sitting at the dining room table enjoying a slice of double chocolate cake. Marlon was over with his family, along with Latoya, Janet, Jermaine, and many of Michael’s nephews, neices, and cousins. It was Elizabeth’s first birthday and Michael was in the middle of a deep conversation with Marlon about the upcoming election. He wasn’t particularly political, but he wasn’t the biggest fan of the republican candidate, George W. Bush. At any rate, he was supposed to be helping Elizabeth eat her cake, and heard her yelling at him, but he couldn’t resist a good discussion.
Elizabeth grabbed her father’s cheek, smushing it up and down.
Michael giggled, trying to balance his attention between his Donut and Marlon.
“I’m still voting for Gore, but there’s no question that both are still white men who don’t care about nobody other than other white men.” Marlon explained.
Michael spooned a piece of cake into Elizabeth’s mouth. “You right. But I just wanted to make sure you were still going to actually vote.”
Marlon fluttered his eyes in shock, and held his heart, dramatically. “I am...disgusted…”
Michael howled. “So damn dramatic.” He glanced at Elizabeth. “You see that, Donut? Your uncle is crazy.”
Swoosh.
“Okay guys, they’re in there!” Janet’s voice called out from the other room.
Michael raised an eyebrow. He held onto Elizabeth’s stomach while she continued on without him, attempting to feed herself. He leaned in toward Marlon, who waited in anticipation for Janet to enter the room.
As Michael stared at the entryway, three people in spacesuits whooshed past the door.
“Nooo! They’re in there!” Janet shouted, clearly frustrated at the spacepeoples’ lack of attention to direction.
Soon, the three spacepeople came darting into the dining room--Janet close behind.
“Janet, what’s going on?” Michael asked.
Elizabeth seemed affixed to the spacepeople.
“Janet!” Mariah shouted, running in from the next room. “What-”
Mariah pulled back, watching as the spacepeople seemed to examine the dining room. Noelle went running up behind her, laughing at the scene.
Marlon shot up from his chair. “What the hell is going on?”
“Okay guys, wait!” Janet ordered. The spacepeople halted, suddenly realizing they were in the same room as Michael Jackson.
One of the spacepeople lifted her hazmat hood.
“Mr. Jackson!” She shouted. “It’s a pleasure to finally meet you. My name is Rey.”
Michael took a good look at the woman’s suit. It was white and inflatable like the Michelin man, with a badge containing the icon of the movie Ghostbusters. She had a large portable vacuum cleaner on her back that beared the same logo.
“Are you- Are you guys...Ghostbusters?” Michael questioned. And he was genuinely curious, though his tone seemed jovial.
Rey grinned widely--her two partners finally lifting their caps.
The blonde-haired man to the left of Rey spoke, a cheesing grin on his face. “Yes we are, sir. I’m Brad.” He stretched out his hand for a handshake.
Michael gave a confused smile and shook the man’s hand--still gripping onto his baby while she buried her face in cake.
“What’s going on Janet?” Michael asked. “Are they here for Lizzie?” He figured Janet probably invited the Ghostbusters to entertain the kids.
“There!” Janet shouted, pointing at Nicole through the doorway to the prep room. The child was in there with Latoya, who was still serving cake to other children. Ironically, Nicole wasn’t playing with the other children--instead, she was talking to she and Noelle’s “imaginary friends” again.
“Y’all see that?” Janet exclaimed. “She in there talking to ghosts! Go get ‘em!”
Michael cocked his head to the side, simultaneously pulling back from his sister. “What?”
The Ghostbusters threw her puzzling looks.
“What are y’all waiting on? Don’t y’all see that little girl in there getting haunted by ghosts and shit?”
Marlon scrunched his face. “Janet, what the hell are you talking about?”
Michael chuckled at his sister’s antics. “Janet...baby...these aren’t real ‘Ghostbusters’.”
Janet’s jaw slowly drooped.
Mariah smirked.
“These are party performers…”
Janet looked appalled. “Then what’s the equipment for?”
Rey took a deep breath. “It’s a part of the act.”
Janet turned her head toward Mariah, deeply offended at the admission, then back to the ‘Ghostbusters’.
“Y’all saw me thinking y’all was some real Ghostbusters and y’all pull this shit?”
Michael started cackling--clapping his hands at his sister’s cluelessness. Marlon did too.
“Janet, can you read, sis? They got little tags on their costumes with disclaimers that it’s all props.” Marlon explained.
Janet huffed, plopping herself down in a chair. “I can’t believe y’all played me like that.”
“I can’t believe you played yourself like that.” Michael replied. “What were you thinking anyway? You thought you was gonna bring these nice people in here and they were gonna suck up all the ghost souls so the twins wouldn’t have friends anymore?”
Janet rolled her eyes. “You tryna make me sound crazy…”
“No, you making yourself sound crazy.” Marlon joked.
Latoya slowly walked into the room, interrupting the conversation. “Uhh...I don’t know what’s going on in here, but Nicki doing that thing again.”
Michael crossed his eyes, Elizabeth fighting to get down on the floor. He looked down at her, raising his eyebrow. “What, mama? You wanna go down?”
Elizabeth, with her head turned around toward Michael, nodded and pulled his hand away from her stomach. Michael lowered her onto the floor where she took a few steps before falling on her butt.
Mariah grinned, picking up her child off the ground and doting on her.
“Helloooo!” Latoya shouted. “Can anybody hear me?”
Michael shrugged. “We know, Latoya.”
Mariah glanced over at the Ghostbusters. “Well, I think it’s about time you all went home. Thank you so much for coming, though!”
“Wait, I wanna bust some ghosts!” Janet exclaimed.
“Janet...how many times do we have to go through this?” Marlon started. “They are not real Ghostbusters. Chill.”
Janet folded her arms as Mariah escorted the Ghostbusters out the house, shaking hands with Michael on their way out.
Nicole suddenly started cracking up laughing. Her laugh was so loud, it drew the attention of everyone in the dining room. Latoya walked back through the propped open door of the prep room, Mariah making her way back into the dining room with Elizabeth in her arms.
“Nicki, what’s going on?” Latoya asked, squatting down to Nicole’s level. “Tell Toy-Toy what’s happening.”
Nicole shied away from her aunt, tilting her head down toward the ground.
Michael, Mariah, and the rest of the room watched intently.
“Nicki?” Latoya pressed, gripping her niece's shoulder.
Nicole placed her finger over her lip, shaking her head.
“What’s wrong, honey? Where’s your friend? Show me your friend.” Latoya said.
Nicole, silent, pointed up in the air.
Michael pulled back.
A befuddled Latoya rubbed Nicole’s shoulder, making her voice more stern. “Nicole, sweetheart, how big is this person?”
Nicole spoke up with a face reddened in embarrassment. “Big!”
Latoya glanced back at Michael as if to warn him. She turned back to her niece. “How big, sweetie?”
“Uhmmm, this big!” Nicole replied, throwing her hand all the way up in the air.
“Okay, honey, is this person an adult?” Latoya asked.
Nicole shot her eyes up in thought. “Ummmm, no!”
“So, it’s a child?”
Nicole shook her head.
Latoya turned back around, looking to her brother for help.
Michael shrugged, not knowing what to do, but decided to press his daughter further. “Nicki, is this person a boy or a girl?”
“Iss girl!” Noelle chimed in.
“So...it’s a girl who isn’t a kid but isn’t an adult…” Latoya noted.
“Maybe it’s like a teenager or something.” Janet suggested. “You know--someone not old enough to be their parent but not young enough to be their peer.”
Michael nodded, slowly. His heart raced as his he began to search his thoughts for explanations other than the one he’d tried to avoid.
“Noni, what does she look like?” Mariah questioned, Elizabeth playing in her hair.
“She’s big!” Noelle noted.
“Okay, but what else?”
“Uhmmmm, her eyes-” Nicole started. She looked up at the ‘girl’ again before finishing her explanation. Nicole covered her eyes with her hands, as if to try to demonstrate what the girl’s eyes looked like.
“Like this!” Nicole shouted.
Michael lifted his chin. He grew noticeably uncomfortable.
“Pretty!” Noelle added.
Mariah nodded. “Do you think you’ve seen her somewhere else?”
Noelle gave a swift head shake. But then, she did something curious; She pointed at the cabinet that stood next to the fireplace in the dining room. “There!”
Michael caught the confused look on Mariah’s face. It washed over Latoya’s face as well. But he himself began to understand what was going on. He knew what was in that cabinet. And he knew Marlon did too.
“What’s in there, baby?” Mariah asked.
Before Noelle could respond, Michael jumped in. “Nothing!”
Mariah pulled back, almost scowling at her husband. “What?”
Noelle spoke up again. “Thas Jelly Bean!”
How the fuck does she know that?
“What’s Jelly Bean?” Mariah questioned.
Noelle pointed back at the area where the imaginary friend was supposed to be standing.
“Her name is Jelly Bean?”
“No!” Michael shouted.
Mariah threw her head back around to her husband. “What do you mean ‘no’? Michael, what’s going on?”
“Oh god.” Janet commented, her face knowing. She finally put it together. She exchanged a look with her brother, whose eyes read: ‘zip it’.
“What the hell is going on?” Mariah asked.
“It’s Jelly Bean!” Nicole exclaimed. “Daddy, it’s Jelly-”
“Nicole, stop it.” Michael shouted, jumping up from the table. “Don’t say that!”
Soon, everyone in attendance gathered in the large dining room.
His face was bloodshot, a small vein throbbing in his neck. He grew warmer and warmer by the second but tried his hardest to control himself.
Mariah stood by, shocked, but also curious. “Michael, what the hell is in that thing?”
“I said nothing. It’s nothing. Stop asking me all these fucking questions!” He roared.
“Michael!” Mariah shouted. “You need to calm down!”
He gritted his teeth at her comment.
She started back up. “I’m just asking you what they’re talking about!”
He clenched his jaw. “I don’t know!...I- They’re- I feel like they’re just making this a joke now.” He explained. He knew the twins weren’t knowingly doing anything wrong, but he couldn’t help but feel frustrated and searched for any possible explanation.
“Daddy, I scared!” Nicole exclaimed.
“Daddy, you scare Jelly…” Noelle commented, almost like she was tattling on him to him.
Michael wiped his face and took a deep breath. “I’m sorry.”
He glanced up at everyone in the room--some faces more sympathetic than others. He turned his head until he landed on Nicole standing next to their friend.
He lowered his voice to an inaudible whisper.
“Daddy’s sorry.”
He clenched his eyes shut, his shame catching up with him.
“Jelly.”