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Mike spent the rest of the afternoon, after Lisa left, making phone calls, studiously avoiding the green folder on the floor, next to his chair, and thinking about that morning. Poor Faith� caught in the middle of the turmoil his life had become; and that was just at home. �I wanna go�� she had whined. Huh, to be seen in public with him was a death sentence. An invitation to every paparazzi for miles to throw her life and the life of everyone she knew into the fire. They would have been there too, as quiet as his morning had been, somehow, if she had been along they would have known. He had never quite figured out how they always seemed to know when there would be an opportunity, but they did. He was always surprised when he got away with something� Like Lisa this morning� They fed on her too, now more than ever. Maybe they had just overslept that morning. Getting up from the chair, he prepared to walk downs to the back of the building that held the warehouse. The truck would be there soon to pick-up. Janet would be leaving soon too, a tour of the south, to promote her newly released album. Such a little business woman that one was� unlike himself who had spent the first half of his childhood surrounded by poverty inspite of his extremely hard-working parents. And then the second half working so hard to break the chains of poverty for his family that he hadn�t really had time to enjoy the newfound wealth and prosperity they were acquiring. Janet, and to a large extent even Randy, had reaped the benefits of growing up a Jackson. The best schools, beautiful clothes, luxurious homes, and it showed in her very continence. Nothing ever made her waver, she was as strong an individual as he had ever known, she knew exactly what she wanted and nothing, or no one, EVER got in her way. Walking out of the elevator, Mike stopped briefly at the door that led to the back storage warehouse. He braced himself for the smell, he hated the aroma of dust, mildew, and diesel oil that seemed to forever permeate the enormous enclosure.

Walking quickly through the maze of cartons and boxes, bundles of electrical cords that would have stretched for miles if un-wound, heavily padded crates that held the various lighting systems. Even heavy boxes marked �HAZMAT� that contained explosives used on stage� he loved the pyrotechniques, he respected them too, enough to give them a wide berth as he passed. He�d had enough of an experience with being too close to an explosive device when it went off at the wrong time.

Reaching the loading ramp, just as the first of three semi�s began to back it�s way to dock, he signaled the driver a quiet �hello�. He wondered where Carl was. The dock foreman should have been there to meet the trucks and prepare the load� Then out of the corner of his eye he saw a forklift round a corner of boxes with the first of many loads held up in the air on a wooden pallet. Okay, everything was set then. She�d be gone by Monday. It always seemed to work that way, he had just arrived back home and a couple of days later she left. When she returned, no doubt, he�d be just about ready to leave for something somewhere. He got precious little time to spend with his baby sister anymore. He missed the late night talks and endless pillow fights,,, (when Joe wasn�t around). Ever since they had both moved out of their parents home they hardly saw each other. Even on �family days�� they had one almost every Sunday, and whom ever was in town, was EXPECTED to be there. Very few excuses were acceptable. But even on those days, fast and full of commotion, rarely was there time to sit back and really talk, much less have a pillow fight.

Maybe he�d take Faith with him Sunday, if she wanted to go. None of the glory seekers would follow him there. Nobody messed with Joe, and when he was around, nobody messed with his kids, either. Joe may have been tough on them all as they grew up, hell, he supposed if he ever had nine kids to worry about, he�d have to get a lot tougher too. But no one was allowed to be tough on his kids, but him. He could be fiercely protective. And Mike had always known he had cared� sometimes he was to hard on Joseph, resenting the long hours of work he had to endure as a child� he wondered if he wouldn�t have done the same if his little family were in the same situation and he had seen the chance to improve their lives� after all� didn�t he know have a life most men would die for? Well, not the reputation� but he had money, power� where exactly would he have been now if it werent� for the long hours spent on stage and in studios, and all the rest? Hard to imagine himself as a steel mill worker, and he wasn�t sure he liked the sound of �would you like fries with that?� His grin widened into a full blown smile. Yeah� maybe he would have been a pilot! Some kids could dream such dreams and even know they had a decent shot at it. But a poor, black kid from a huge family where even an average income was spread thin to provide even the basics� come from a steel mill ghetto, yeah a pilot� sure, that could happen. Besides, every one had thought Joe was the tough one� because he�s who they saw all the time, pushing them to do more, to be better, to behave� (no small feat getting five boys to behave when they�d been on the road for weeks, not to mention having everyone tell them just how great they were, how special they were, all the time. If fell to Joe to make sure they remembered who they were, and that in-spite of how great, and how special, they may be, they still had to obey� or else)

But few people knew it was Kate who was the tough one. After all, Joe was big and strong and when his hand made contact with your butt, boy, you knew it. But given even the slightest warning, you could at least have a 50/50 chance of out-running, or out-maneuvering Joe. Kate on the other hand, when they were home, it fell to her to keep nine kids under control. Joe may have been strong, but Katherine Jackson could whip a shoe faster, farther, and harder than any human being on earth. And you had precious little chance of out-running a flying shoe. He huffed a small grunting laugh. She could even round a corner with it if she had to. But at the same time, there was no one else on earth he or any of his brothers or sisters could talk to like they could talk to her. What ever their troubles, worries, she�d be there. Even if it was just to hold a hand, or give a hug� He had never really felt comfortable confiding in Joe. He knew he could have, but Joe�s attitude had always been one of a �get over it� type, he didn�t commiserate well, and �damn it� sometimes you just needed a little sympathy.

Kinda like now�

Mike watched as Carl loaded the truck and shouted orders to some of the other dock workers that had appeared out of nowhere to help load the trucks. He didn�t need to be there, but he didn�t really want to leave, either. To leave meant to go home� and face Faith, and Mona, oh joy.

As soon as Michael had left the room, Faith jumped from the bed, ran to the door, and slammed it with all her might. The sound echoed through the room as she waited, listening, hoping for the sound of returning footsteps. She wasn�t sure what his reaction would be if he returned, but she desperately hoped for something, anything. A sign that he cared, angry or not, if he came back, maybe he cared that she was so upset. As the reverberation ended and silence fell upon the room, her hopes faded. Slowly she made her way to the bathroom. Turning on the light in the spacious master-bath, she felt small and miserably alone. She opened the medicine chest and studied it�s contents. Shaving creame, a razor, a half used bottle of aspirin, three prescription bottles that had been pushed to the sides next to a jar of Vick�s. A rolled up tube of toothpaste, and a slightly battered toothbrush. She picked up the toothbrush and examined it, not looking for anything, just looking at it, imagining him stroking his teeth with it. She put the thin plastic brush back on it�s shelf, and picked up the comb on the sink, played with it�s teeth and walked over to the tub, sitting down on it�s edge she felt the tears start to flow. Huge gasping sobs escaped her. �What was she doing here? In a house where absolutely no body wanted her? Hundreds of miles from her home and family. Why had she come with him?�

It had seemed so perfect, he was a different man those three-weeks she had spent on the road with him. Night after night, day after day, different cities, different hotels� it had been glamorous and exciting. He had been thoughtful and even carefree. He had been fine yesterday when they arrived �home� too. Friday had been Mona�s day off and she and Mike were alone that whole first day� He had been wonderful. Then this morning he had changed completely. He had been cold, indifferent. �This is my destiny�.� He had said, yeah� but it wasn�t what Faith had imagined it to be, rather, it seemed his destiny was to live his life trapped by an image where he couldn�t be human� then to spend his private time, proving he was.

She sobbed silently, alone in the white tiled bathroom, surrounded by his personal items that were a constant reminder of his presence, or lack thereof� Down the stairs she heard the doorbell once again. No way was she gonna chase down to get it. Let Mona trot her heavy-set butt to the door. For Pete�s sake, that was her job wasn�t it? She seemed to be more the house-matron, rather than the house-keeper, as far as Faith could see. She heard the footsteps ringing out across the foyer, and heard the sound of mumbled speech. She didn�t bother to try to hear, she didn�t care who was there, as long as they didn�t pick on her.

She started to cry again, this time, harder� she hadn�t a clue as to what she would do now, how she would get home� lost in thought she didn�t even hear the bedroom door open or see the visitor until she saw the black sandals on the floor in front of her. Looking up she couldn�t believe her eyes! She was speechless.

Mike had spent the entire day, well almost, feeling like a complete heel. He had been miserable to Faith, he didn�t know exactly why that bothered him, but it did. But he was feeling damn good about himself right then and there, as he pulled into the driveway.

He had a plan, as he parked the car and turned off the engine, he grabbed the bouquet of yellow roses he had picked up on the way home. He would walk in, ignore Mona, if possible, present Faith with the flowers and beg her forgiveness, on his knees if he had too� yeah, as if� maybe not on his knees, but he would beg. He�d put it off to being shoved back into the clothes of reality once again� it WAS a tight fit sometimes� He�d play with the kids for a couple of hours, and then, after he put them to bed. He get Jake, Marlin, and Brant, his bodyguards and he�d take Faith out to dinner, maybe a movie� or if she insisted, dancing. Dancing wouldn�t be his first choice, but he�d do whatever she wanted tonight. He�d make it up to her for being the creep he had been earlier. He walked up to the house and swung open the door with a smile, and was greeted by Mona. �Great��

Standing there with her arms folded and one foot tapping she looked at him, and then at the flowers.

�For me?�

�No, not for you, don�t be silly. Where�s Faith?� He tried to look past the wall of a woman standing in front of him, but she moved to block his every attempt.

�She�s gone.�

�Mona, you didn�t��

�No, I didn�t� Don�t start with me� I should have, when you left her here after I told you to take her with you.�

He decided not to start an argument about whether or not she had the right to tell him to do anything, besides, he knew he wouldn�t win�

�Then where did she go?�

�Out�

�Just out?�

�Out with Lisa.�

�LISA!!! Holy mother of God, this wasn�t good.�