Chapter 8

January 7, 2001,

Grace came back today and dad was so relieved. Don't get me wrong; dad loves being with us sa pamamagitan ng himself but; I think sometimes he gets a little bit overwhelmed. It's almost been a buwan and a half since dad has had any help with us and he really needs to focus on finishing the "invincible" album because it's supposed to be released in October of this taon and he still needs to write one madami song.

He's been too busy, pagbaba books, dealing with disciplining us, making sure we get out of the house without getting attacked sa pamamagitan ng fans or paparazzi, and helping me with my school work, obviously because of that; working on the CD was put aside for a while. On tuktok of all that; Paris has become so attached to dad. He can't go anywhere without her following him or wanting him to pick her up. She's even started to pretend that she is a baby because she wants dad's attention all the time.

Grace walked through the door and sat at the table. Dad was just bringing Paris down from her nap and she sinabi "hi!" Grace took her from dad and sinabi "hello sweetheart!" I walked up to Grace and gave her a hug. Prince followed behind me and did the same thing. Grace looked at Paris and asked "were you a good girl for your daddy?" Dad sinabi "for the most part yes; but there are some things that you could help me with!" Grace sinabi "whatever you need help with." He sinabi "I'll probably be in the studio here because I have to work on the album so it will be finished on time! Let me explain to you what's been going on here since you've been gone for a while. AJ is pretty self-sufficient now, of course you still need to tell her 1000 times to do something before she actually does it. The tutor comes here about once a buwan to work with Prince on his colors, numbers, and letters because I want him to be ready when kindergarten comes in a few years. Now on to Paris, surprisingly I've been having the most trouble with her. It's not that she is misbehaving but; she kind of has been moving backwards instead of forwards. I think it's because she didn't have you here all day. Grace asked "what do you mean sa pamamagitan ng moving backwards?" He sinabi "well; as you can probably tell sa pamamagitan ng now she has that pacifier back in her mouth. She won't let me put her down anywhere and obviously it's not easy to do anything with a two-year-old on your hip! Then about a week after you left; she stopped telling me when Prince wasn't being nice and started to hit him!"

Dad ran down to his recording studio and I stood there as grace rolled her eyes and sinabi "Paris, Paris, Paris! What has gotten into you?" Paris mumbled something and Grace sinabi "I can't understand you with that pacifier in your mouth!" Grace took it out of her mouth and Paris sinabi "no; I need it!" Grace looked at me and asked "where did she find this pacifier anyway? I thought we through them all away!" I sinabi "she was crying like crazy and daddy found it in one of the drawers. He didn't want to give in to her but; he was so tired! That's the very last one though." Grace walked over to the trashcan and tossed the pacifier inside. That's when all hell broke loose.

Paris started screaming at the tuktok of her lungs "I need it!!!" Grace responded sa pamamagitan ng saying "I don't know why daddy would give you that. We got rid of those a long time ago; you know that!" I quickly ran into the other room to avoid the whole situation because it was getting very awkward. Paris was getting so upset that I thought she might throw up because she was crying so much. Grace finally came into the living room and put her on the couch. She looked Paris in the eyes and sinabi "the pacifier is gone, no more, all done!" Grace has had a lot of experience with taking things away. Prince was a dream child compared to me because he never caused too much of a fuss over giving things up. With me the pacifier and the bottle wasn't that big of a deal but; when it came to giving up my security blanket I freaked out. It wasn't that dad didn't want me to have it back; I wouldn't even give it to him so he could clean it and it obviously started you get very disgusting. Grace was able to pry out of my hands and unfortunately it had to be thrown away. I remember being so upset because it was a security blanket with a teddy madala head attached to the end of it. Dad ended up buying me the exact same one but; somehow I knew it wasn't the original. Afterwards dad felt terrible because I had trouble sleeping for about a month!

January 10, 2001,

Today dad is having a child with cancer come visit him at the ranch. The boy's name is Gavin Arvzio and the Make-A-Wish foundation set up this meeting for him because nobody knows if he will survive. Dad is always doing stuff like this for other people, so I didn't think too much of it.

It was around 2 o'clock and the security guards at Neverland let Gavin and his brother bituin inside and dad walked up to them. Gavin was in a wheelchair and very weak. He was so skinny and pale that I almost wanted to cry. Dad knelt down and sinabi "hi I'm Michael; it's nice to meet you!" Gavin coughed and sinabi "wow I never thought this araw would come! I've loved your music for such a long time. Most days it's the only thing that gives me the will to fight!" I walked over and hugged him. He looked shocked and I sinabi "sorry about that! I just had to hug you, I'm his daughter!" Gavin sinabi "that's all right; how old are you?" I sinabi "I’m almost seven! How old are you?" He sinabi "I just turned 11 at couple days ago. This is my brother Star, he's 13." Dad asked Gavin "what would you like to do first?" He sinabi "I don't know; can you just ipakita me around?" Dad sinabi "of course we can!"

We walked out to the arcade with Gavin being pushed in his wheelchair sa pamamagitan ng his brother. Dad helped Gavin reached the various classic video games so he could play them and I watched as Gavin struggled to even stand. I remember looking over at bituin and he looked mad, for a reason I can't figure out. He chewed on a piece of gum and looked down at me. He seemed like he was waiting for something. As soon as he saw that I was staring I looked away. I started messing around with the air hockey mesa and Gavin asked "can I play with you?" I sinabi "yeah" and turned the power on. Dad, Gavin, and I laughed as I struggled to get the hockey puck past him. I and is up losing but; I was okay with that!

When Gavin was bored we went back to the house and dad gave him a tour of where we live. Gavin sinabi "your kids have really big bedrooms!" When we got to my bedroom Gavin stared at my life-size Spiderman that was built completely out of Legos. I asked "it's cool; isn't it?" Gavin sinabi "that's an understatement!" Gavin coughed again, this time a lot harder than before and I sinabi "here, you can have it!" Gavin hesitated and sinabi "that's okay, you don't have to give it to me!" I sinabi as dad smiled down at me "you can enjoy it madami than I ever did! I want you to have it!"

A few minutos later we went back downstairs because Gavin's mother and sister were here to pick them up. His mother Janet shook dad's hand and sinabi "thank you for letting them come here! He really enjoys your music!" Dad sinabi "it's no problem at all! In fact at like to invite you guys to come back anytime you want to. My tahanan is your tahanan and I want to see Gavin here healthy again." Gavin looked up at dad in shock and asked "really? We can come back here anytime we want to?" Dad sinabi "of course you can! If you guys ever need help with anything let me know!" The each hugged dad and I right before they left.

I thought it was weird because Gavin's mother Janet was looking around the house instead of looking dad in the eyes while she was talking to him. His sister Catherine was staring off into puwang almost like she didn't care where she was. I know if I was her and was meeting a celebrity I would be beyond excited about the whole experience. Something is not right here! At least it seems that way to me!

March 1, 2001,

Dad invited Gavin and his family to the ranch again, so they could focus on something other than Gavin's health." Dad was busy setting up the guesthouse when came running in screaming at the tuktok of my lungs. Dad sinabi "I don't have time to deal with this right now! You need to go back to the house and Behave!" I started jumping on one of the beds and he sinabi "seriously; go back to the house." I got off the kama and ran all the way up to the main house.

A few minutos later dad came back to the house and Gavin had just arrived with his brother Star. Gavin looked little bit healthier today and he sinabi "my mom got word from the doctors that my cancer is going away because of the chemotherapy!" Dad sinabi excited "that's great; where's your mom and sister?" Gavin responded sa pamamagitan ng saying "she told me she has to work and my sister isn't doing very well in school so my mom is forcing her to study all vacation long. She's kind of falling into the bad crowd!" Dad sinabi "oh well; I'm sure she'll turn herself around before it's too late, she's young!"

I don't know why but; after the three of them went outside I started to feel really jealous of Gavin. Dad helped him climb his special puno that he writes songs in. Before then, I was the only one with ever been up there besides dad himself. I think I was also mad because I was stuck inside the house doing school work while they were getting attention from my dad.

After I was done my school work; I went outside and dad was just hoping Gavin down from the tree. Once again, bituin was giving me a very rude look and I just turned my back to him. I liked having Gavin around because he treated me almost like a little sister. His brothers the whole different story though and I think he is having a bad influence on Gavin. I would only see him whispering something in his ear instead of saying it out loud. I heard him saying "asked Michael if you can have that! It looks really expensive! My mga kaibigan would be so jealous of me if I have that and they didn't! Asked Michael if you can have it! Asked Michael if you can have it!" I could tell that Gavin really in want to ask dad for stuff but; bituin was pressuring him to!"

March 2, 2001,

Gavin's mom showed up today and sinabi "the cancer's gone! You beat it Gavin!" He sinabi "my here is finally going to grow back!" I hugged Gavin and then he looked like he was about to cry! I asked "what's wrong you should be happy?" Gavin sinabi "I guess this means now that I'm all better I won't see you as much Michael!" Dad looked shocked and sinabi "when I sinabi you could visit anytime; I meant it! It doesn't matter if you're healthy or not! Our tahanan is your home!" It kind of bothered me that Gavin's mother Janet; wasn't thankful to dad at all for all that he has done for their family. He paid off all their medical bills because because they didn't have any health insurance, he made sure that Gavin always has everything he ever wanted or needed, and paid to have college funds set up for Gavin and his siblings. I thought she was at least appreciate him but; she didn't even mention anything.
I'm kind of hoping that now that Gavin is healthier he won't be around so much. I like having him around most of the time but; something feels weird and I can't put my finger on it! I think there's some arterial motives here! I don't think dad can see it but; I can definitely tell that something's not right!

May 16, 2001,

Gavin and his family haven't been around for a while and I'm definitely enjoying a little time with dad that I have because he's always in the studio working on his album. Thankfully the album is almost done and I can't wait to have dad's full attention back. I think dad can definitely tell that it's taking a toll on me not having him there all the time!

I was sitting in the dining room waiting for Grace to bring hapunan to the table. I found it weird that dad wasn't tahanan yet because he always made a point to be home, so he could have hapunan with us. As she was bringing the pagkain to the mesa I heard the front door shut and ran into dad's arms. He asked "were you well behaved today AJ?" I sinabi "yes daddy!" He sinabi "I'm glad hapunan is ready because I have a huge announcement to make!" I looked at him puzzled and sinabi "okay daddy!"

We ran into the dining room and all of us sat at the table. As I started to cut my pagkain dad asked "AJ; what would you think if I decided I wanted to have another baby?" I sinabi shocked "it would be cool to have two boys and two girls!" He sinabi "because I'm thinking about giving you guys another brother or sister!" Paris sinabi "daddy I want to be a big sister!" He asked "so I guess you all are okay with it?" I sinabi "yeah; just as long as you have enough pag-ibig to go around for all of us!" He sinabi "of course I will silly!" Dad looked at all of us and sinabi "I can't guarantee that it will be another boy but; no matter what the child is I'll pag-ibig you all equally, no matter what!"

June 13, 2001,

The album is officially finished, it won't be released until October though! Dad stayed up till midnight putting the finishing touches on the last few tracks so; he still asleep. I was downstairs with my brother and sister watching TV while Grace was doing dishes in the kitchen. I was bored out of my mind because there was nothing to do.

Dad came downstairs carrying his cell phone and looking down at it. He sinabi "Gavin is coming over without his brother this time." I sinabi "I don't want this to sound mean; but I don't like his brother that much!" Dad asked "why do you say that?" I sinabi "well he is always looking at me weird and I don't like it!" Dad sinabi "I haven't seen him look at you in a weird way; I'm sure he doesn't mean to!" I asked "what time is Gavin going to get here?" Dad sinabi "in about 45 minutes." I sinabi "I hope we are going to go do something because I'm really bored here! I'm glad your CD is done because I want to spend some time with you!" He hugged me and sinabi "yeah I know; I want to spend some time with you too!"

Gavin came into the ranch a little while later and he looked like a totally different person! He wasn't pale anymore, wasn't too skinny, and his head was covered with short black hair!" He walked over and gave dad a hug. Dad sinabi "I'm so glad you're not sick anymore!" Gavin sinabi "thank you for letting me come here Michael!" Dad sinabi "you don't have to thank me! As I sinabi before; our tahanan is your home." Gavin sinabi "I really want to go on some of the rides!" Dad sinabi "I would let you go on them but; this is the one week out of the taon that the staff is dealing with maintenance and safety checks." Gavin looked disappointed and sinabi "that's okay." Dad sinabi "but we can do anything else that you would like." Gavin asked "can we go shopping?" Dad sinabi "I don't see why not." I asked "can I go with you guys daddy?" Dad whispered "yes; just as long as you don't say anything to your brother or sister because I can't handle all of you without bringing Grace with us." I sinabi "I won't tell them, I promise!"
A few minutos later the three of us got into the car and one of the bodyguards drove us to one of the local toy stores. When we arrived; I jumped out of the car and waited for them to get out. Dad sinabi "AJ; you can buy only one toy so; make sure it's one that you really want." I sinabi "okay I will!"

We walked into the store and I carefully went down every shelf. I was careful not to pick the first thing that I saw because I knew that was the only thing I was going to be able to get. At one point I looked over and Gavin was putting everything that he had any interest in inside his cart. I remember looking up at dad and we both had the same look on our faces. We were both shocked sa pamamagitan ng the amount of things that Gavin had picked out. I think dad wanted to say something to stop him from grabbing anything else but; I think he still feels bad about all that he has had to go through. When we got to the checkout counter, Gavin placed toy after toy on the countertop. I looked over at dad as if to say "are you going to do anything? You're not going to pay for all that are you?" Dad looked at everything laid out in front of him and reached into his pocket. I gave him a worried look as the cashier sinabi "your total is $1576. Dad pulled out his credit card and had a guilty look on his face as the cashier put the total amount of the bill on the credit card.

When we got home, I went up to my room without even saying a word. Dad followed me upstairs and asked "do you like your new action figure set?" I didn't say anything to him as I carefully took each of them out of the box. Dad sinabi as he sat down on the floor "I know what you're thinking; and I wasn't planning on letting him spend that much money!" I asked "then why did you?" He sighed and sinabi "he had already picked everything out and I didn't want to tell him that he couldn't have all of it! He was so excited already." I asked "did you notice that he didn't even thank you for any of the stuff that you bought him?" Dad sinabi "I'm sure he appreciates it; he just doesn't ipakita it." I sinabi "if that's what you want to think then go-ahead!" He sinabi "listen; I didn't mean to make you jealous but; he is the guest."

I'm worried that dad is in denial about Gavin and his intentions but; I'm not going to say anything because there is a chance that I'm wrong! I’ll have to see as time goes on if dad says anything to him. I don't think dad had the puso to tell him no but; I feel it needs to be done before things get too out of hand!

June 29, 2001,

Gavin got off school for the summer a few days nakaraan and his entire family is here for a couple of days. His sister is upset because she doesn't want to be here. We were all sitting in the kusina and dad was cooking breakfast. He made waffles and casually put them on the counter. Gavin had disappeared and nobody seemed concerned besides me. I asked "daddy; I'm she worried about where Gavin is?" Dad sinabi "I'm sure he will be down in a minuto once he realizes breakfast is ready."

A half-hour later; we were done eating and there was no sign of Gavin anywhere. I went upstairs to investigate and searched everywhere for him. I was shocked when I found him standing in my room. As soon as he saw me there he stopped looking through the drawers and I asked "what are you doing in my room?" He sinabi "nothing! You better not tell your dad I was in here either!" I sinabi as I ran down the stairs "of course I'm going to tell him! You didn't ask to be my room and I didn't tell you you could!" He chased me down the stairs and pulled me aside before got the chance to get dad's attention. He sinabi angry "don't you dare say anything! Do you honestly think your dad will listen to you anyway! I didn't say anything but; if I wasn't half his age I would have put him in his place!

The two of us casually walked into the living room and Gavin sinabi "sorry; I was distracted sa pamamagitan ng the TV in one of the upstairs guest rooms. I didn't say anything but; I really wanted to. I don't know for what reason but; Gavin had convinced me that dad wouldn't believe me if I had sinabi something. I went to kama that night thinking about what Gavin had sinabi and whether or not I should bring it to dad's attention!"

October 17, 2001,

Dad's album "invincible" was released today and he is really upset because his record label didn't give him enough money to properly promote the album. The head of the record division, dad thinks he's a racist. He actually protest any purchase of any other album from the company because he doesn't feel their reasons are okay.

Dad's friend Frank Cassio is here for support because dad is really, really mad. I came downstairs and sat down at the mesa so I could be breakfast. Dad came over and sat susunod to me with his hands covering his face in disbelief. I looked up at him and he sinabi "everything is okay; I'm just disappointed." Frank sat down and sinabi "there's always a positive side to everything. You have to look at it that way Michael!" He sinabi "well; because of all the things that have happened in New York; I wrote a new song called what madami can I give and I collaborated with the whole bunch of other famous artist and all the proceeds from the downloads and purchases will go to 9/11 relief." Frank sinabi "see, you always know how to turn a bad situation into a good one."






October 23, 2001,

Dad was getting ready to perform at Madison Square Garden for his 30th anniversary konsiyerto special. I can tell that he's really nervous because this will be the first time he's performed with his brothers since 1984. He let me come along with him so I could watch him from the TV backstage. Prince and Paris are at tahanan because they have an earlier bedtime than I do. I'm excited to see him perform but; at the same time I want everything to be done with! I know that dad is in much needed the break and the surrogate mother carrying my new baby brother is due in a few months.

I was sitting backstage watching dad performed a few songs when grandma walked up to me. I was surprised to see her there and sinabi "I missed you!" She sinabi as she hugged me. "I missed you to AJ." I was worried that she wouldn't ipakita up because dad and grandpa got in a huge fight over the phone last night. Dad was mad because grandpa was trying to convince him to sumali back into the group with my uncles. Dad knew he was just saying that because he wanted money and he is getting sick of being asked to give money to them.

Dad came backstage a few minutos before the konsiyerto was over and asked his friend Frank Cassio to watch me. He went back on stage and sang "you walk my world" as I watched completely fascinated sa pamamagitan ng what he was doing! He came back to get me and asked "did you like the show?" I sinabi "that was so awesome! I can't wait to be like you someday!" He asked "did you have fun seeing grandma?" I sinabi "yeah; how come she doesn't come over to Neverland as much as she used to?" He asked as he searched for the right answer "what do you mean?" I sinabi "I remember when I was three and we used to have cookouts all the time. Everyone would come over and we would fun!" He sinabi "trust me, I wish it was still like that, but; there are some things that I don't want to tell you yet and that's the reason we don't come over as often as they used to!" I stayed quiet. After that because I figured dad obviously didn't want to go into too much detail about what was going on between him and the family members!" I'm assuming it has something to do with money though! It always does!