Michael shielded his eyes with his hands as the sunlight whipped at his skin. He was tired of the island already. He sighed heavily as he jogged up to his brothers who were trying to get a taxi to the Sheraton Hotel further down in Kingston.
Michael knew of Bob Marley, the young Rastafarian who took pride in peace, of course he did, the fellow was taking the world by storm. But he didn't know much about the island that he lived on. So he did his research, and he was shocked to find out how much violence haunted the small island. Most magazines and travel guides shielded the island, calling it a home of sweet paradise. So it was quite a surprise when Michael found out about all the stories they left out. The stories of gangs, murders and corruption.
To be frank, Michael felt a little uneasy.. especially with the destination he was headed for at Hope Road where political tensions were high.
Finally, his brothers managed to hitch a taxi. The driver was blacker than tar and looked at the group of five like daggers were shooting out of his eyes. He held a roll of ganja between his fingers, and Michael caught a glimpse of the multiple gold teeth in his mouth.
Michael watched as his sisters were accompanied by a nicer looking man, he felt a little bit envious of them. He took a deep breath and hopped in the car with the rest of his brothers.
The smell of the burning ganja made him want to regurgitate, but he held his distain in, not wanting to offend the driver. Mostly out of blind fear. He didn't mean to be so hard on the island and the people on it, he was sure that the violence wasn't going to reach him, and that there was more to the beautiful island than that.. but he was a very cautious person by nature, so he proceeded following his intuition.
"Ay, wha bring unno to Jamaica?" The driver asked, turning down the radio.
"Bob Marley invited us. We're supposed to perform at his concert." Marlon spoke up with a friendly smile. Marlon was definitely the most excited to be on the island, he looked over all the bad things going on and seemed genuinely happy to get away from the rest of the world. Michael should've shared his mindset, yet he found himself too worried to do so. Deep down Michael knew he needed the rest and relaxation in the sunshine for a while, especially with everything going on with Motown. "The Jackson 5" was on a deep decline, and Michael wasn't feeling good about it.
"Big up unno selves." The driver replied with the nod of his head, he turned up the radio once more.
Michael had no idea what he just said but said 'thank you' nonetheless.
꧁
The hotel was small and cozy, he did wish that they used air conditioning instead of the numerous fans bombarded all over the lobby. But he didn't mind.
"I can't wait to go to the beach." Jermaine spoke up as he handed his luggage away, the others agreed.
"Do you think people know we're here?" Michael asked LaToya who was gazing out the window at a group of guys playing basketball. "Huh?" She blindly asked, redirecting her vision to Michael.
"I asked if you think people know we're here." He repeated.
"What do you mean, Mike? You guys are all over the newspapers. You're lucky that they don't know we're staying here yet." She said, looking back out the window.
"Oh." Michael muttered solemnly. He left LaToya to the window and found his way back over to his brothers who had already made hundreds of plans for their short stay.
