Chapter 5
January 10, 1998,
Dad walked inside the house and Grace asked “how did the paghahanap for a school for Alanna go?” He sighed as he took off his sunglasses and sinabi “I am madami concerned the paparazzi waiting outside the school all araw just to get a picture of her!!!” She asked “so what’s your plan B?” He sinabi “I wanted her to be around kids her age but; I guess homeschooling is the only choice.”

I walked into the room and sinabi “hi daddy; am I going to start school soon?” He sinabi “not until susunod taon silly!!!” He looked over at Grace and sinabi “even the teachers didn’t treat me like they would any other parent. They treated me like a superstar….think of how they would be if AJ was in their classroom and all just because she is my daughter!!!” Grace sinabi “yeah; homeschooling seems like the best fit.”

Dad walked up to me and asked “do you want to have school here with me AJ?” I sinabi “I want to have classroom though daddy!” He sinabi “we’ll set up one in a spare room for you and when Prince gets old enough he’ll have school in there too!!” I sinabi “okay then.” He asked “where’s my hug?” I pulled away and sinabi “I don’t want to!!!” I went into another room and he sinabi “I think she’s mad at me!” Grace sinabi “she’ll forget about it sa pamamagitan ng the time kindergarten comes; don’t worry about it Michael!!!” He sinabi “I tried…I really wanted her to go to a real school!!!”

February 13, 1998,

Today is Prince’s 1st birthday and Dad invited my grandparents over. sa pamamagitan ng the time they arrived I was already going crazy because of all the kendi I had eaten. Dad hugged both of them and we all sat down at the table. Dad passed Prince to grandma and she sinabi “hi birthday boy!!!” Dad sinabi “it was so cute, yesterday he walked for the first time!!!” I kissed grandma on the cheek and she sinabi “wow; and AJ will be 4 years old susunod month!!!” He sinabi “that makes me want to cry…4 years old!!!” I hugged him and sinabi “I pag-ibig my daddy!!!” He sinabi “I have to give you your medicine.” Grandma asked “what does she need medicine for?” He put the pill in my hand and sinabi “she has ADHD.” She sinabi “oh wow; I can’t believe that and the behavioral issues!!!” He sinabi “she is defiantly a handful; but I pag-ibig her just the way she is!”
I walked over to Prince and sinabi “I pag-ibig you brother.” Grandpa asked “are you ready to have three kids Mike?” Dad sinabi “it probably won’t sink in that there are three of them for a few weeks.” He lit the candles on Prince’s cake and asked “AJ do you want to blow out the candles for Prince?” I sinabi “yes; because he’s just a baby.”
Afterwards, Dad gave Prince a piece of the cake and he started to eat it. Prince sinabi “Dada” and I stood susunod to his highchair. While dad was trying to take a picture of us Prince smeared his frosting covered hand all over the side of my face. All of us laughed as I jumped back and dad sinabi “good thing you have really short hair AJ, it will be easy to get it out of your hair!!!” He looked at me as I was about to sneeze and sinabi “oh no!!!” I sneezed all over the front of my sando and he sarcastically sinabi “that’s great….frosting mixed with snot!”


April, 3, 1998,

Dad hand just gotten tahanan after my sister Paris’s birth and was feeding her. I walked up to him and sinabi “she’s cute daddy!” He sinabi “I know, look at her tiny toes.” I sat down susunod to him and asked “how come she had blood all over her when you brought her home?” He sinabi “well; I didn’t want anyone to take a picture of her and sell it for money.” I asked “what was it like when I was born?”
He sinabi “I was so happy when I saw you for the first time, I started crying! For a newborn baby you had a lot of hair. When you opened your eyes and I saw that they were the same color as mine it made me so happy.” I asked “who is my mommy?” He paused to think and sinabi “you don’t have a mommy.” I sinabi “oh, okay.” I walked away and he took a sigh of relief. I think Dad knows that there will come a point where that whole you don’t have a mommy thing won’t work anymore and he is going to have to tell me! He stood up and kissed Paris on the forehead.

April, 5, 1998,

I was in my bedroom when Dad yelled “it’s time for hapunan AJ!” I walked downstairs and sat at the table. He put a plate in front of me and I asked “why did you give me potatoes?” He gave Prince a bite from his plate and sinabi “because you need to eat them.” I sinabi “I don’t want too!” He sinabi “you’re going to eat that AJ!” I started to wine and asked “why?” He sinabi “because I sinabi you need to!” I gave him an angry look and he sinabi “go on…eat.” I pushed the plate away and sinabi “I don’t want it daddy!” He took Paris out of Grace’s arms and sinabi “I don’t care Alanna, you’re eating those potatoes!” He took the plate and put it back in front of me.

Dad went upstairs to put the mga sanggol to kama while I sat at the mesa staring at the food. Then he sat down susunod to me and asked “why don’t you want them?” I didn’t say anything and he sinabi “it tastes just like French fries.” He fed me a bite and sinabi “see it isn’t bad!!!” I asked “do I have to eat all of that”?” He sinabi “I’ll make a deal with you; three madami bites and you can be finished.” I reluctantly ate my last few bites and he brought over a cookie. I sinabi “they did kind of taste like fries!” He smiled and sinabi “it’s time for bed, let’s go.”

April, 12, 1998,

Dad had just come downstairs after taking a nap and was surprised that it was calm. He walked into the living room and saw that my face was pale. He asked “Grace; what’s wrong with AJ?” She sinabi “I’m not sure!” He picked me up and asked “what’s a matter Alanna?” I looked at him and gave him a hug. Grace sinabi “maybe she needs to go to the bathroom!” I shook my head no and he sinabi “you have to tell me what’s wrong so I can help you.”
Before I had the chance to answer, I threw up all over him. Grace ran to grab some paper towels and Dad started to gag. He took off his sando and sinabi “it’s okay Alanna; we’ll clean it up!!!” I sinabi “daddy I want to take a nap!” He sinabi “you have to take a bath first.” I sinabi “okay…I don’t feel good!!!” He sinabi “I know honey; just go upstairs and wait for me.” I sinabi “I want you to carry me up there daddy!” He picked me up and took me upstairs. I sinabi “I’m sorry that I threw up daddy!” He sinabi “don’t be sorry, it’s not a big deal!!!” I asked “then why were you going to puke?” He sinabi “it’s been a long time since I’ve had to clean that up.”

April 13, 1998,

It was 9 o'clock in the morning and dad came in my room to wake me up. I was still fast asleep when he walked up to my kama and sat down. My eyes opened and he asked "how do you feel? Do you still feel sick?" I sinabi "yeah; but I don't want to throw up again." He sinabi "I know you don't, I want you to get better soon!" I sinabi "I wish you would let me eat something because I'm really hungry daddy!" He sighed and sinabi "if I give you something other than sopas to eat you are going to get sick again." He kissed the tuktok of my head and walked out of the room.

I sat in my room watching pelikula and drifting in and out of sleep while dad was downstairs with my brother and sister. Every once in a while he would come up to my room to check on me but, I really started to feel lonely. I must have watched 20 Disney pelikula over the course of two days. Grace spent most of her time doing laundry and washing dishes. I know that I was sick but I started to feel as if they had forgotten about me and I started to wonder if I would ever get better. I am only four years old and to me two days fell like an eternity!

April 16, 1990

I'm feeling much better than I have been these last few days and I was definitely getting back to my old ways. In a way, I think dad liked having a break from my usual antics. I was up in my room for so long that when I was allowed to come back downstairs it was like someone had pumped me full of sugar because of all the energy I had. Between the two of them; Grace and dad wanted to rip their hair out because of me.

I was sitting on the sopa just as dad was carrying Prince downstairs after his nap and he put him on the ground susunod to my pile of Legos. I saw him starting to play with them and I decided that I would play with him too. I started to build a house and all the sudden Prince took the blocks that I was about to use and wouldn't let me have them back. Dad was looking the other way so I hit Prince over the head with one of the large red Legos that I had in my hands. Dad looked over to see what was going on and took the block away from me. He sinabi "you know that's not nice, he's just a baby, he doesn't know any better!" I sinabi "but I had it first daddy!"

He picked me up and put me back on the couch. He sinabi "I'll read you a book while Prince plays with the Legos. I sinabi "you mean while he plays with my Legos!" He sinabi "things aren't just yours anymore you have to share with you brother and sister when she gets old enough! Don't call things just yours because nothing is just yours anymore!" I sinabi "but you bought those before Prince was even born so; they are mine if you think about it!" He sinabi as he sat down "I'm not going to argue with you about sharing, that's just how it's going to be and that's that!" I started jumping up and down and accidentally kicked dad in the back of the head. He looked at me and sinabi "listen; I realize that you've been up in your room for a long time and that you are excited to be out but… You need to call down!"

May 22, 1998,

Earlier today dad asked me to come with him somewhere, so we got in the car and one of the bodyguards drove us to a lake. Dad helped me get out of the car and we sat down at the water's edge. I asked "what are we doing here?" He sinabi "I know I haven't been able to spend a lot of time with you since Paris has been born so, I thought we could just come here and talk for a little while."

I still haven't made the connection between us talking and why going to the lake was so significant. He looked over at me and asked "so how's life?" I sinabi "okay I guess, I pag-ibig my brother and sister but sometimes, I just wish it was me and you again. He sinabi "you know one thing you'll always have that your brother and sister won't?" I looked at him puzzled and asked "what?" He sinabi "you'll always be my first born! The first one I ever fed, the first diaper I ever changed, and the first one I ever send to until they fell asleep." I sinabi "I pag-ibig you so much daddy!" He sinabi "I'll always pag-ibig you more!"

April 20, 1998,

Today is Easter Sunday and we had already gotten up. I was looking through my Easter basket when dad sinabi "I want you to go out into the backyard and see what's out there for you!" I walked up to the sliding glass door and couldn't believe what I was looking at. There was a giant blowup bouncy kastilyo held up sa pamamagitan ng stakes in the ground. I looked up at him and sinabi "that's so cool! Can I go jump in it?" He opened up the door and sinabi "go-ahead!"

I ran outside and climbed inside the bouncy Castle. There were pink, blue, and yellow plastic Easter eggs scattered all over. I started to open them up and every once in a while I would come across an egg with quarters or one dollar bills inside them instead of pieces of candy.

While I was jumping around inside the bouncy house dad walked up to the doorway and took his shoes off. He asked "do you mind if I come in?" I sinabi "come on daddy!!!" He climbed in and took off his fedora hat. I sinabi "hey; your socks don't match." He sinabi "yeah I know, I did that on purpose!" There was a basketbol hoop hanging on the pader and dad tossed foam basketballs into it. He picked me up and asked "do you want to slamdunk one of them?" I sinabi "of course I do… That's awesome!" After I threw the ball in I hung on to the hoop suspended in midair for a few seconds.

May 1, 1998,

Ever since Prince has been able to walk he has been getting on my nerves. Before then I didn't have to worry about sharing any of my toys with anyone but; now Prince is always getting into everything. I try to be as patient as possible with him but after a while of him taking toys away from me I start to get irritated. Unfortunately every time I start to get mad dad shows up at the wrong time, which of course makes me look bad.

I was in the play room with Prince watching a movie and playing with my action figures. Prince wanted to grab one of them and that just so happened to be my paborito one. I sinabi "here Prince you play with this one instead!" I passed it to him and he threw it across the room. He insisted on having the one that I was playing with but I refuse to give it to him and that's when dad showed up. Dad asked as he knelt down to my level "why aren't you sharing with him?" I sinabi "I was trying to buy a he didn't want to use any of them besides the one I was playing with already!" He looked down at the Batman figure I was holding and sinabi "if you let him play with it for a little while you can have it back because he has to take a nap soon!"

After he had brought Prince upstairs to take a nap, he came back down and sat in the living room with me. He sinabi "listen I know you don't like to share with Prince but, he's still a baby and he just wants to be like you because you're the older sister!" I sinabi "but he doesn't know anything about bituin Wars, Batman, and Spiderman because he's too little so; I can't really play action figures with him." He sinabi "yeah but you could teach him about all that stuff! That's the cool thing about having a little brother. I asked "can I watch the bituin Wars, Batman, and Spiderman pelikula with him?" He sinabi "maybe susunod year; I think he's too young right now… It might scare him." I asked "you mean the bad guys, like the Joker?" He sinabi "yeah; you used to be scared of him too!"


May 6, 1998,

I went looking for dad because I couldn't find him. Grace was busy trying to get Prince to go to sleep and trying to make sure that he didn't wake up Paris. First I ended up checking in dad's bedroom to see if he was watching TV but; he wasn't in there. Then it dawned on me check the recording studio that dad had installed on the ranch. I normally wasn't allowed to go down there without asking but, I really missed him and wanted to see him.

I walked down the paved pathway and into the recording studio. I knocked on the door before I walked in and he told me that it was okay to come in. I sat down on a swivel office chair and he asked "what's up AJ?" I sinabi "I'm really bored; I want something to do!" He sinabi "well; you could clean your room, like I have been asking you to do for weeks now!" I sinabi "I have too many toys and my room is too big! I can’t clean all that up sa pamamagitan ng myself!" Dad asked "so you're going to leave me to clean up your mess, like you always do?" I didn't answer him but I think he knew asking me to clean my room was almost like mission impossible because of my oppositional defiance disorder and ADHD!"

I asked while trying to change the subject "what are you doing in here anyways?" He sinabi "I'm working on some new music." I got up from the chair that I was sitting in and went over to the soundboard. I was about to touch one of the buttons when he sinabi "oh no you don't want to touch that because it could mess up all the work I've been doing!" I sinabi "I hope it'll be a while before the CD comes out because I want you to stay tahanan for a long time and not go anywhere!" He sinabi "don't worry; I don't have any plans of going anywhere soon!"

About 20 minutos later; Grace frantically swung the door open and sinabi "there you are… I've been looking everywhere for you AJ, you should've told me you were going to come down here! I had no idea where you were!" Dad looked at me disappointed and sinabi "this is a big place; you could've gotten lost! You need to tell us before you go anywhere! I want you to go to your room and think about what you've done!" As I walked away with my head slumped down dad sinabi "I'm sorry Grace, I had no idea she didn't ask you to come down here!" She sinabi "it's all right; I figured you didn't know. I came downstairs and was going to make her lunch but, I couldn't find her anywhere! She has never gone anywhere without asking for permission and none of the other staff members had seen her! I was only upstairs for about 15 minutos before she disappeared! That really scared me; this place is really big she could have been anywhere. I could of been searching for hours and still not have found her!" He nodded his head and sinabi "next time I'll make sure that you know where she is!"

June 7, 1998,

Dad was sitting in his study pagbaba a book when there is a knock at the door. He looked through the peephole in the door and was shocked to see Joseph standing on the other side. He slowly opened the door and asked "why are you here? I didn't invite you!" He sinabi "I thought I would come to visit you guys because I haven't seen you in a while!" Dad reluctantly let him inside and they sat at the breakfast table. I didn't know that my grandfather was here and ran up to dad to ask him a question.

I remember Joseph looking down at my short haircut and saying "why is she dressed like a boy Michael?" I looked up at him and dad sinabi "she's a tomboy; that's what she likes to wear! You don't have a problem with that do you? I asked "can I please have something to eat?" He sinabi "in a little while okay? Dinners going to be ready soon and I don't want you to ruin your appetite." I ran off to play in the other room and Joseph sinabi something that I'll never forget! He asked "she's the bad one; right?" Dad got very defensive and sinabi "first of all she not a bad kid, segundo of all… Don't you ever talk that way my one of my children again!"

Joseph got up from his chair and arrogantly asked "why; what are you going to do about it Michael? You're the one setting your kid up to be gay!" Dad bit his lip and sinabi "just because she likes boy’s things and dresses like a boy; doesn't mean she's going to end up being gay and even if she was… I would be supportive, I will be there for her and I would pag-ibig her for who she is! You shouldn't be talking about being able to pag-ibig your kids because all you ever did my entire childhood was use me for money and work me until I couldn't handle it anymore!" Joseph sinabi "I was a good father to you, if it wasn't for me you wouldn't be where you are today! If you ask me; all that kid of yours needs is a good beating just like I used to give you. If she was my kid I would have put her in her place a long time ago! Instead you raise her to be out of control and spoiled! She's going to end up just like you… an ungrateful child!"

I looked around the corner and all of the sudden dad had punched Joseph as hard as possible he could; knocking him to the ground! I knew he had punched him hard because you could hear the sound of dad's fist hit Joseph's face! The look on Joseph's face was priceless. I don't think he could comprehend how hard dad had actually hit him. I didn't even think dad had that in him. I know dad wouldn't have done that if it hadn't had anything to do with one of us!

Then dad looked down at Joseph and sinabi "I'll be proud if my kids end up like me because I'm a good person and I put people before myself. As for any of my children turning out spoiled; I teach them that money is not important! I teach them to pag-ibig people, for who they are, not what they have or what they could take from them! I know AJ may not be the most well behaved kid out there but; I will pag-ibig her for who she is and I will never stop loving her because she's my child and you should pag-ibig your children unconditionally no matter what they do! I don't have to nor will I ever lay one single finger on any of my children other than in a loving way! I don't ever want any of my children to be scared of me in any way because I know exactly how it feels to be scared of your father… And get the hell out of my house before I ipakita you what a real beating feels like!"

I was so surprised see this side of my father; he is a lover not a fighter. All I thought about him in that moment was that he was a real-life Superman and I'll never forget that! I don't think dad ever knew that I saw him manuntok Joseph. If he knew that I was standing right there I know he wouldn't have done it!

June, 30, 1998
Today's been a good day; I haven't gotten in trouble once. These days are few and far between but, as you can imagine dad is relieved! It shocked him this morning because he didn't have to wake me up this morning like he normally does! Even though I'm four years old I like to sleep in and if someone wakes me up before I'm ready it throws off my whole day!

I was outside near all the amusement park rides and dad was fixing the laces on Prince's shoes. Dad sinabi "come here Alanna please." I walked over to him and he sinabi "I can't believe how good you are being today! Do you want to go swimming?" I sinabi "no; I wish we to go to the movie theater!" Dad sinabi "will have to make a plan susunod week to go see a movie. I asked "why can't we go now?" He sinabi "because if we leave now all the fans will block the streets and it will be dangerous. I don't want you to get hurt!" I sinabi "I just want to do something fun!" He sinabi "we can do something fun; we just have to do it here… at least for now. I'm really sorry; I wish it was that easy to go out but; you could always go to the pelikula with Grace!"

My father's famous and that has always been hard on me. There are madami days when I just wish that I could go out in public with him without wearing a mask! I think after I turned four years old I started to realize that even though he tries his best, we don't have a normal life and we'll never have normal life! I know it's not his fault so I never complain about it but; I always wonder what it would be like if he wasn't Michael Jackson the superstar! Don't get me wrong; I pag-ibig my life, sometimes I just wish he wasn't as popular as he is! Even if he was still a superstar, we could still somewhat enjoy doing things that most parents do with their children! I do pag-ibig my life though because let's face it; what kids wouldn't want a zoo in their backyard?

September 5, 1998,

I woke up this morning and dad was in my room. He asked "are you excited because tomorrow is your first araw of school?" I sinabi "yeah; I still kind of wish that I could go to school with other kids instead of staying home!" He picked me up and sinabi "I know that but; it safer if you stay home. It will be fun; I promise you that!" He put me down and sinabi "I got you something; hanging on it me go get it in my room."

He came back and passed me a plastic bag. He sinabi "go-ahead; open it!" I looked inside and pulled out a Spiderman backpack. I sinabi "this is the one that we saw at the store that I asked you for!" I opened it up and inside was a whole bunch of notebooks, with a pencil case and folders. I hugged him and sinabi "thank you so much!" He sinabi "you're welcome; does that help makes the idea of school here at the house a little madami fun?" I sinabi "just a little bit, but it is cool!"


September 6, 1998

The teacher that dad hired to homeschool me showed up a few hours nakaraan and she was testing me on different skills. Then she opened the door and told me that we were finished. She looked at dad shocked and sinabi "I can't believe it; that's so unreal!" He looked at her and sinabi "why; what happened?" She sinabi "I know that you've been teaching her to read early; but I didn't expect that! I passed her a book that she'd never read before and she tested at a segundo grade pagbaba level! In my opinion; she is actually better than most segundo graders!" Dad sinabi "I knew she could read but; I didn't think she could read books made for an eight-year-old! She's only a few months away from being five… That's crazy!"

I looked up at dad and asked "did I do good?" He smiled and sinabi "better than good!" The tutor's name is Mary and she sinabi "I guess I'm going to have to buy some bigger books for her to read! I didn't come as prepared as I thought I did!" Dad sinabi "I guess having her sound all those words out when I would read her book paid off! How did the other tests turn out?" She sinabi "she is average when it comes to math and I was surprised to see that she knew the names of all the planets. She doesn't know which name belongs to which planet but half the time I don't even remember myself!" Dad looked stunned and sinabi "I knew she was advanced for her age but; I didn't know she was that far ahead!" She sinabi "I think it would be better if she did this thing called "self-taught teaching" because she can read so well!" He asked "what's that?" She sinabi "basically; you give her one of these workbooks and she fills them out sa pamamagitan ng herself. It will help her learn the information better if someone isn't teaching it to her because she's teaching it to herself!" He asked "so are you telling me that in all reality she doesn't technically need a teacher?" She shook her head yes and sinabi "just as long as there's someone here to help her if she has a question. I really don't think she needs me here; plus with her ADHD it will help her learn to focus!" He sinabi "well; okay then, I guess I'll call you when my other two kids are old enough for school!"

After Mary had left dad looked down at me and sinabi "you're such a smarty-pants! I have to go find out where to get those workbooks from?"