Book 5- 1969 (Michael Jackson)

Chapter 29 - A New Life

Chapter 29 - A New Life

Date: Wednesday, December 31, 1969

Time: 8:47PM

MICHAEL'S POV

"Hey man, what time is it?" Jackie peered up from his magazine, most likely speaking to me. "Do you know what time it is?"

"Er... 8:47 at night," I answered. "The clock's right there, just so you know." My finger pointed toward the wall, where a cherry-wood grandfather clock stood, proud and tall.

"Don't need the smart-alec remark there, buddy," he steamed. "Hey, where's Kayla?"

"I dunno, she said she'd be over tonight. I wonder if she forgot that it was the last day of the year." Scratching my head, I added, "I was thinking about goin' over to see what she was up to."

"Do you think Mom would allow that, really? I doubt she would." He kicked off his slippers, bringing his feet on the couch and curling them underneath himself.

"I don't think," I admitted. "And I bet Elijah wouldn't like me over much, either."

"You sure about that? He always seems pretty indifferent about the whole situation."

I pondered on this for a moment. I had only been over to Kayla's house back in Gary about, say, twelve times. Considering that we were next-door neighbors and practically spent all of our time together, I did find it strange that I never came over very much. However, Jackie did have a point; Elijah never bickered when I was over, much less actually come in to see what Kayla and I were doing.

"... Maybe you're right. I guess he really doesn't mind if I'm over or not, huh?"

Flipping through a page in his magazine, he responded, "I don't think so. Hey, uh, Mike, what's up with your hair? It's lookin'... sloppy."

"It's getting bigger, that's what's happening." I patted my unbrushed Afro, which stuck out in various places. "I didn't wanna do it today, because no-one was going out or doing anything, ya know?"

Jackie never came back to me with something to say. Mostly, all I could hear were sounds of what I assumed was merely a lack of attention. "Mmm... Mhm, mm."

I frowned, perturbed that he instigated the conversation, yet was not carrying through. As I scrutinized the cover of the magazine he was apparently so indulged in, I realized why he wasn't paying me any mind at all. Either way, though, I didn't find the situation to be very nice.

He was holding November's copy of one of those hot girl magazines. As he absent-mindedly flipped through pages, whistling a random, melodic tune, I instantly grew both disgusted and intrigued. What was he looking at in there? It must be good, whatever it is. I had previously scanned through the pages of that type of tabloid before, but never really took the time to notice any of the pictures of captions.

Out of pure wonder, I leaned over to get a better view of what Jackie was ogling. What I saw on the next page, I found quite interesting. Like something I had seen before, there was a woman with her customary fluffy bunny tail. She seemed to be taking a rather strange-looking pose that I could not describe. In all honesty, the lady appeared to be trying to sleep on the marbled floor.

Out of curiosity, I found myself asking, "What's she doing on the floor like that? Isn't that uncomfortable or something?"

Suppressing a frustrated huff, Jackie scowled in my direction. "That's not the point, Mike."

"Well, what is the point, then?"

"Just read the caption," he suggested, irritation tinging his voice. "That's all you gotta do, Mike."