Meeting
Michael
Our Beginning
Unfortunately, a lot of people on Planet Earth don’t know
that Michael had an off-stage life that
consisted of him visiting his Chicago cousins
who lived in Rockwell Gardens. Michael's relatives
Jen and Ren were also my classmates, who happened to live in the same building housing
that my family and I resided in. The housing complex
was located on the Westside of the Chicago, Illinois and our Elementary school was located directly across
the street from our residence. During
the 1960’s and 1970’s, Michael visited our address quite frequently. One of his
nicknames back in the day was Pig - a name that his Chicago relatives called
him, whenever he visited. Later in the early 1970's,
Michael began to go by another nickname Tookie;
his use of that name is one of my reasons
for this memoir.
I thank FATHER
GOD for allowing my memory to come back for so many reasons and one of them is the day that I met Michael.
It was as if our friendship was definitely meant to be. Yes, the day that I met
him was and forever will be cherished. Who would have thought that our casual introduction in 1967 would mark the beginning
of our love for each other? Please allow me to explain; when I speak of
our love, I’m referring to Michael and me
and the Love that we shared, only between us.
How grateful I
am to FATHER GOD for being my HEAVENLY FATHER! The year was 1967, I was in 2nd grade when I first
met Michael through his Chicago cousins. Jen and Ren were also my classmates; we
attended Grant Elementary that was
located across the street from where we lived. That particular year, Michael’s
cousin Jen and I were in the same classroom; however,
in 1966 his cousin Ren was my classmate. No, Jen and Ren are not twins!
Jen's older than Ren; she started Kindergarten late. Nevertheless, I considered
them both as very close friends of mine. It really saddens me to admit that due to my memory loss - head injury, I almost forgot
about our days of hanging out together. The years that I spent with Michael
were of great significance in my life. Great thanks to FATHER GOD because I most
definitely remember it all now!
As I was
leaving Grant school's playground one Friday afternoon between 3:20 – 3:30 pm, I
noticed him standing in front of our apartment building. There were several kids around our age standing with him. I
couldn’t help but to see Michael from a
distance; his well-groomed Afro made him stood out
from the crowd. Even then, when he was very young, Michael was an attention
getter! For those of you, who are not familiar with what an Afro looks like, well
it’s a hairstyle that most Negros sported in the 1960’s and 1970’s’. Yes, I
said Negros! Oh, I can remember when people of color were called Colored People, Negroes, Blacks, Afro Americans and
African Americans. Wow, I must say, what
a list of name changes! If you need to know what an Afro looks like, you can
always visit the Internet and type the
word Afro in the search engine; then
click the box for the results. You can also click on Images to view different
types of Afros.
The closer I
got to our building complex, the more I became amazed at how pleasant he was to
look at. Just as I entered where they were standing, I realized that Ren was
with him, they were talking. Then, she spoke
to me as I walked into the building; I smiled and said, "Hi Ren!" Being somewhat reserved, I continued
walking toward the elevator. As I punched
the button for the elevator to come, Ren exclaimed,
“Hey, Jeannie, wait a minute, I want to introduce you to my cousin!” You know what? Although I was quite shy,
I stopped walking and turned in their direction; then she motioned for me to come over
to where they were standing. As I began to walk toward them, I noticed that he
was smiling, as he observed me. I glanced at him and smiled back; I liked the
way that he looked. In other words,
Michael was a good looking guy!
Ren looked at
him and said, “I’m sorry Cous.” Then she said, “Jeannie, this is my cousin
Pig.” I smiled at him and said, “Hello.” Michael looked at her and said, “Pig?!
Pig?!” Ren began to laugh! Then she said,
“Ok Cous! Ok!” After taking a deep
breath, Ren said,” Jeannie, this is my
cousin Michael and Michael this is my friend Jeannie.” Michael smiled at her said, “Now, that’s more like it,
Renny!” Oh, how I
wanted to laugh about their conversation!
They were too much for me! My main reason for almost laughing was because of his
nickname, but I didn’t. Instead, I shared
with them both, a half of a smile; then Michael smiled and said, “Hello
Jeannie, I’m Michael.” I shyly repeated, "Hello," then I began to walk toward
the elevator again. Yes, that’s how I was back in the day, timid and reserved.
While walking toward the elevator, I couldn’t help
but to think to myself, why was his nicknamed Pig? Nevertheless, as I thought
about that, I noticed that he was walking right next to me. Glancing over to my left, surprisingly our eyes
locked; we began to gaze into each other's eyes.
Michael's eye color appeared to be a beautiful hazel brown. Naturally, his Afro got my attention, but his hazel brown eyes captured my
heart from the very beginning; I remained
intrigued for many years to come! My reason for describing Michael's eyes as a lighter shade of brown is the result of how the sun shined upon his face. You know, as
our friendship grew I noticed, whenever Michael looked at me while the sun was
shining, his eyes appeared to be a beautiful shade of brown. Throughout our
years together, I also observed how Michael’s eye color looked lighter in the winter
months, especially whenever the sun was shining upon him.
Well, as I looked into his beautiful brown eyes, he said, “Jeannie, that’s only my nickname, and that's when I began to giggle! I
couldn’t help myself! I had to laugh! Though, deep down inside I wasn’t really laughing
at Michael's nickname; I was actually giggling because of the look that he gave
Ren! Michael stared at her for a few moments, then shook his head and once
again said, “Pig!?” Then, he looked at me and smiled; my laughter must have
amazed him because in a pleasant tone of voice he said to me, “Um, Jeannie, do
you mind if I stand here with you until
the elevator comes?” You know what, I was somewhat thrown off a bit when he said that;
at my very young age, a guy had never walked me to the elevator before,
nor had one ever asked to stand there with me until it actually came. You know,
I smiled at the thought him standing there with me as I waited for the elevator
to come, then I said,“I don’t mind Michael.”
Our building
had thirteen floors and two elevators; the one located on the West side of the
building stopped on the ground floor, and
all even numbered floors 2 to 12. While the elevator located on the East side stopped
on the basement level, ground level, all odd numbered floors 1 to 13, and the rooftop.
As I punched for the elevator, Ren shouted out, "Where are you going Cous?!" Michael responded that he wasn’t going anywhere. Well, I guess Michael must have
enjoyed our short conversation, while we were waiting for the elevator to come because
as the door opened, he decided to ride up to the 9th floor with me.
When the
elevator door opened for us to get on, I heard Ren yelled out, “Hey Pig!! Um, I mean Michael, hold that
elevator! I’m getting on it too!” I smiled, as I got on the elevator. However,
the look on Michael’s face, as he got on was one of disbelief. Michael just shook
his head because Ren kept referring to him as Pig. Once we got on the elevator, Michael pressed the button that allowed the
elevator door to remain open for Ren to get on. I could hear her breathing
loudly, as she ran to get on the elevator
so that she could ride up with us.
You know, I’ve always considered Ren to be an outspoken
person, even when we were very young. After getting on the elevator, she said,
“I’m glad that you decided to hold the elevator for me, Pig!” Michael shook his
head as he stared at her for a few seconds; then he smiled at me. I could imagine how Michael felt; it seemed as if
Ren was persistent when it came to calling him by his nickname. Michael's reaction was as if she had just broadcasted his aka to the entire world! As the elevator door closed, Ren pushed the button for the 3rd floor, and I pressed
the button for the 9th floor.
We all remained silent for about 10 seconds; then
she looked at Michael and said, “I’m sorry Cous’! It’s not like I’m doing it on
purpose; I’ll try not to do it again, okay Cous’?” Michael shared with her a solemn look; then he asked me, did I like
listening to music? Before I could answer him, the elevator stopped and then opened
on the 3rd floor; Ren held the button for Michael to get off the elevator with
her. However, Michael looked at her and said that he was going to ride up to
the 9th floor with me. Ren didn’t appear to be too pleased with that answer.
Then Michael told her that he wanted to see how the ground looked from the 9th
floor down.
Well, the suspicious
look that Ren shared with Michael indicated to me, that she didn’t want him to
ride up to the 9th floor with me. Then Michael shared with her a solemn look, as he told her in a firm tone of voice, "Renny, I'm a big
boy now; I know how to come back down on the elevator to the 3rd floor, all by myself!"
I think that made Ren sad because her tone of voice changed quite a bit, as she
got off the elevator. She said, “Michael, you know that I can ride up there
with you and we can ride back down to the 3rd floor together.”
Michael didn't say a word; he just stared at her for a few seconds. Then, in
somewhat of a frustrated tone of voice Ren said, "Well…just don’t forget that we live on the third floor in
apartment 301!" Michael smiled at her, and then said, “Ren, I’m a big boy;
I won’t get lost, I promise!” As Ren got off the elevator, Michael continued to
smile; he waved at her, as the elevator door closed.
I kind of felt
sorry for Ren as she got off the elevator,
however, as the elevator door closed, we heard her say “If you’re not
back in 30 minutes, I’m going to come up there to get you, Michael!” Michael and
I looked at each other and began to laugh a bit, as we heard her say that. Then he shook his head and said, “I promised
her that we would play a game of one-on-one in basketball today and we will!”
Michael had me cracking up from the 3rd floor to the 9th floor. He asked me, did I want to know why his
cousins called him Pig? I smiled at him,
but I didn’t reply; then, Michael stated that the reason why they called him
‘Pig’ was because whenever he came to visit them, he’d raided their
refrigerator!
Oh, my
goodness gracious! I tried my very best not to laugh,
but I just couldn’t help myself! At that very moment in time, I could only imagine him standing there, in their
refrigerator door stuffing his face full of food! You know what? I just bust out laughing at the thought of seeing him do that! He began to
laugh as well; it was probably because of
my unstoppable laughter! Then, Michael leaned over toward me, as he stated that
I should visit his cousins, whenever he was in town because that was the only
way I’d get a chance to catch him in action! Yes, Michael had me laughing so
hard on our way to the 9th floor! He started naming off all the different
types of food that he had eaten out of his cousins’ refrigerator and how good
they were!
You know what?
I fell for Michael right then and there! Yes, it was mainly because he made me feel
so very comfortable as if we had known
each other all of our young lives. Then he extended his left arm and placed his
hand on the elevator wall, directly above where I was standing. Then all of a sudden, with a warm, delightful smile on his face, Michael
said, “You really don’t know who I am, do you?” After Michael said that,
I couldn’t help but take a real good look
at him and smile as well. Even though I really
enjoyed his company, I honestly didn’t
know who he was, other than Jen and Ren’s cousin; the cousin that Ren called
Pig.
After looking him over I said, “Well, I know that you are Jen and Ren’s cousin from
out of town and Ren calls you, Pig.”
Michael lowered his left hand from the elevator wall and began to casually pull
at the neck of his t-shirt, as he said in a voice filled with so much
excitement, “I’m Michael Jackson in the flesh!” You know what? I laughed so
hard! Oh, I wasn’t laughing at who he indicated
that he was; I was laughing at his actions! Michael’s gestures reminded me of
someone, who thought that he was ‘The Stuff’! Yes! Mr. Big Stuff himself! Now,
that was one of the most hilarious moments
of my life!
Sorry to say at
that point, I honestly had no idea that
Michael was a lead singer in a group. I also didn’t know that they had a single
out entitled I’m A Big Boy [Now]. Nevertheless, I could tell just
by the sound of his speaking voice that he could sing. Indeed, he owned some gifted pipes! Learning who the Jackson Five /
Family were wasn’t of great importance in my world, especially during that time
period. All I knew was that I loved listening to Michael speak. I also cherished
the fact that he could make me laugh! As we got off of the elevator on the 9th
floor, something extraordinary happened
between us. I felt the beginning of our
friendship as it began to grow and with time, it
turned into Our Forever Love!
Yes, that
occurred in 1967; I was only in second
grade when I first met Michael. Such a beautiful
Friday afternoon, one of the most comical days of my young life! As our
friendship grew, there were times, when Michael would hum a few notes or sing a
few lyrics of an unfamiliar tune to my ears, right before we’d get off into a deep conversation. I loved hearing his voice. I thank FATHER GOD wholeheartedly for allowing us to spend that time together because it was definitely a Blessing. I loved every second
that we shared; regardless, if we were all up under each other or bickering. I
believe wholeheartedly that FATHER GOD gave us to each other.
Growing Up In A Religious Household
You know, growing up in a religious family was cool
with me; I grew up learning about FATHER GOD, HIS only begotten Son – Christ
Jesus, the Holy Scriptures, the Holy Spirit and the Trinity. Yes, I grew
up in a Christian household, and that was all right by me! Being a part of the Church
was always the primary focus in our family. Thanks to my Great Uncle - Minister Bayley, I officially became a member of the
Bayley family. Yes, my Great Uncle Bayley spoke up for me to live there with
him, his wife, and six kids. With me included, seven
children were living with him and his wife in a three bedroom apartment!
Growing up, I considered myself to be a pretty good child; I always did my best to follow the rules and regulations
of the Bayley household.
Oh, there
were times, when Mother Bayley would say that there were too many kids living
in that apartment; you know what, I silently
agreed with her on that statement several times. Unfortunately, I didn't feel as if my presence there was of any
great worth to her; in fact, no one other than my Great Uncle actually paid any particular attention to me. You
know, as time went by, I began to understand why with seven kids living in that apartment. Although, there was one time during the Headcount that I was almost missing in action
and not one family member seemed to be alarmed, not one! Of course, that made
me feel so very weird, mainly because I was the youngest of the girls in the
Bayley household.
Of the three girls and
four boys of the Bayley family, Rhonda and I were pretty close; even though,
she was older than I was by a few years. Hey, did you know that in a household of seven kids, there
are times when someone is more likely to get bullied than others? Well, it all
came to an end whenever my Great Uncle
stepped foot inside the door. He did not
believe in acts of violence, such as arguing or
fighting; no, not at all! Nevertheless, what my Great Uncle didn’t know
was that, while he was at work or at church meetings, his household was
sometimes in an uproar! That was one of the reasons why I was so glad that
Michael and I became good friends! Being with Michael gave me a sense of peace
and security; I thank FATHER GOD for allowing us to be together, especially
during that time period! Thank you, FATHER! Thank you!
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