He Saved Me

Chp 64

Mia's POV
     I don't even know what I did wrong. I asked a simple question. Daddy always said that if I don't know what a word means, I'm allowed to ask him. I don't understand why he got so angry. I quickly washed my plate, and went into the living. I wanted to stay away from Daddy at the moment. I didn't want to say anything that would get him even angrier.
     I was lost in my show when I heard someone clearing their throat. I looked to my side, and found Daddy standing at the doorway. He gave me his usual smile, as if nothing happened. "What are you watching sweetheart?" he asked nicely. Before I could answer, he quickly made his way over to me and sat down.
     "I'm watching High School Musical," I mumbled. I didn't trust myself to speak to Daddy right now. It seemed as if, everything that came out of my mouth made him angry.
     "Oh your sister LOVED that movie when it first came out," he chuckled. His smile then quickly faded. The thought of Paris probably upset him.
     "Daddy... where did Paris really go? I know she's not working," I said matter-of-factly. Daddy gave me a warm smile and pulled me into his embrace. I rested my head on his chest, while he rested his chin on the top of my head.
     "Well aren't you observant?" he laughed. I simply nodded my head, acknowledging his claim. "Baby, Paris needed to take a break. It's hard being a grown up sometimes, especially in the beginning. It gets easier when you get to my age," he said as he poked the tip of my nose. That brought out a giggle from within, and a sense of calmness. So Paris was okay after all. I knew she wasn't working, but she was okay. That's all I needed to know right now.
     "Will she come back?" I asked.
     "Of course babygirl! She just needed some time to herself," he reassured me. "She'll be back very soon, I promise." I felt better knowing that nothing was seriously wrong. Everything will fall into its usual place very soon. But there was one more thing bothering me.
     "Daddy?" I called out without looking at him. He was running his fingers through my curls, which instantly relaxed me.
     "Yes mama?" he answered.
     "Are you still mad at me? About... you know... the word," I asked in almost a whisper. I felt Daddy's chest rise and go down, as he took a deep breath.
     "Look at me Mia," he said. I looked up hesitantly, not knowing if I got him angry again. "I'm not mad. I will never be mad at you for asking questions. I'm sorry I raised my voice earlier. There's a lot we have to talk about. I was just hoping we could wait to have this talk when you're a little bit older," he said.
     "What do you mean?" I asked utterly confused. I had no idea where this conversation was going.
     "First tell me where you read that word. I promise I won't get mad," he said calmly.
     "Well, Grandma sometimes lets me use her phone to play games and stuff. And I decided to google you on her phone, since it never works when I do it on the laptop at home. So when I googled you, I looked through almost every picture and and article possible. Daddy did you know that you're one of the most significant cultural figures of the 20th century?" I shared excitedly. "I read that on Wikipedia!" Daddy laughed before kissing my forehead.
     "Is that what it said?" he asked with a smile. I nodded my head and filled him in on everything else that I read. I told him all about the moonwalk, Thriller, the glove, vitiligo, Lisa Marie and Debbie.... I was telling him as if this wasn't his life. But I didn't realize since I was so excited to share everything I learned. "You read about a lot sweetheart," he said with a smile. Thank God. I really thought he was going to be mad at me. I know he doesn't like me looking him up. I never understood why. He's a legend!
     "But you do know that not everything you read on the internet is true right? A lot of the times, these articles write lies so they can sell and make money," he informed me.
     "Wait so none of that is true?" I questioned.
     "Mmm most of it is. But there is a lot written about me, that just isn't true," he said in his serious tone.
     "Like what?" I asked.
     "Well for example, there are articles written about me that say that I bleached my skin. But that's not true. I have a skin disease that made my skin change its color. Remember, you mentioned vitiligo?" he asked. I nodded my head yes. "Well that's what vitiligo is."
     "Why would they lie about you?" I asked genuinely concerned.
     "Because sometimes people can be mean. Sometimes writing lies and printing them can make them a lot of money. There are a lot of greedy people in this world babygirl, so you need to be careful about who you trust," he said.
     "I'll be careful Daddy," I said as I tried absorbing all this information. "So... why did you get so angry about the word?" I asked. Daddy took another deep breath before speaking.
     "Ok baby, I'm going to try to explain something to you that you might not understand yet. But please listen carefully ok?" he said.
     "Okay Daddy," I confirmed.
     "Mia, pedophile is a terrible word, because it describes someone terrible. A pedophile is someone who maliciously hurts children," he explained.
     "Why did they call you that then?" I asked. Daddy couldn't even hurt a fly, let alone children.
     "Because some greedy people I knew a long time ago, lied about me. They wanted money. And the media wrote articles about this. Most of the time, they would add more lies to it. I was an easy target because... well, because I was different. I didn't live a life like many other people. I was famous since I was your age. I always had to work and rehearse. I didn't get to do all the fun things you and your siblings do. So when I got older, I enjoyed doing simple things. Like going to amusement parks and watching movies. That was fun to me. I've been in the adult world since I was little, nothing about it was fun to me," he explained.
     "Why would that make people angry at you?" I asked.
     "They weren't exactly angry. They just didn't understand it. They didn't understand my generosity and pure love for children. They wanted to believe lies instead, because it was juicy. Like gossip," he said.
     "I'm sorry I said that word Daddy, I didn't know it was so mean," I said sadly. I don't why anyone would ever claim Daddy did such horrible things. I know he would never. It's not in him to be evil. It makes me sad that so many people went against him.
     "I know, it's not your fault. But babygirl, there's a reason why I don't want you looking me up. I don't want you to read these lies and get your feelings hurt," he said as he continued to run his fingers through my hair.
     "Ok I'm sorry," I apologized. "Um... Daddy?"
     "Yes?" he answered.
     "Are you happy?" I genuinely asked. "People made up so many lies and mean things about you. They made your life hard. Are you sad or happy now?" Daddy let out a soft laugh before answering.
     "Sweetheart, I'm very happy. I have you and your siblings, that's all I ever really wanted. I used to be sad, when people said those lies about me. I fought back and stood my ground, because I knew I was innocent. Some people still choose to believe the lies, but I can't change everybody's minds. I just have to continue to be good and do good. So yes mama, I'm happy," he said with a big smile.
     I was glad to know that Daddy wasn't sad. If anyone had ever made up lies about me, I'd be very sad. But I know Daddy's strong. He would never let anything bring him down. Not even stupid lies. I stayed in Daddy's arms, talking about random things after that. And as usual, he was more than happy to listen to all my girly talk. I have the best Daddy in the whole world.

Michael's POV
     My talk with Mia went better than I thought it would. I have a hard time talking about it. My older 3 never had to sit down and speak about it. As they got older, they did their own research. Prince and Paris still remember the trial. Blanket was too young back then. It's such a sensitive topic for me. It's hard to process something that no one else in the world has ever gone through. Imagine the whole world hating you for something you'd never even imagine of doing.
     I'm happy Mia was mature enough to understand. I'm not sure how much of it she actually understood, I didn't want to get into too many details. I'll save that conversation for when she's older. Things have been quite hectic around here, and I really thought that this information would set her off. She's already confused with everything that's going on with Paris. I keep telling myself to take one day at a time. I can't control everything. All I can do is, hope for the best, and be the best for my babies right now.