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( CHAPTER TWO: 2300 JACKSON STREET ) January, 1992
❝I just met tito! ❞
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"Oh hellno," Devon immediately said, swivelling his body around the second the daunting realisation sunk into his head. Just the pure sight of this mansion—no correction, the infamous Neverlandmansion—standing right in front of him made Devon want to sink deep into the ground. There was no way in hellhe was meeting the Jackson family here today, he wasn't going to let that happen, not when he was covered in layers of dried sweat and dressed in the cheapest set of clothes that he owned.
"Where are you going?" Janet yelped while yanking his arm back, which made the male tumble towards the woman clumsily. "Far from here," Devon said with no hesitation in his voice. The male attempted yet again to walk away and escape from the jaws of Janet's vile grip. Unfortunately, the minute he twisted around and planted one foot in the other direction, her hold around his wrist grew even tighter.
"Dev, you said you'd come with me to the party!" The young woman pleaded, pulling him back so hard that he thought for a moment his arm popped out of its socket. "That was before I knew you were taking me to your fucking familyparty!" Devon raged, his eyes bulging with terrible dread. Nothing could make him walk through that door and meet with the biggest family in American pop history—nothing at all—not even Janet herself.
And how did she expect him too, knowing how agitated Devon got around fame. She had to know that the second she takes him in there, there's a possibility he'll combust from the dangerous mixture of anxiety, fear and unhinged excitement swirling around in his body. So, when the young man tried to yank his arm away, he was adamant on returning to his hotel room so that he could remove himself from this fearful situation.
Unfortunately, whenever Devon pulled away, Janet's clear, pedicured nails dug deeper into his sleeve. "I mean it girl, I ain't goin' in there!" The young man exclaimed, staring at the woman with a stern pair of deep, cocoa eyes. "Why? My family isn't that bad," Janet pleaded, the tone of her voice saturated in waves of desperation. "Then why don't you go by yourself?" The young man replied, the two now engaged in this strange, discombobulating game of tug-a-war with Devon's jacket sleeve.
As they circled around the enormous fountain that sat in the front garden, Janet's hands fastened around his skin, and Devon tried perilously to claw himself free. To his dismay, the woman was strong as hell. "I haven't seen them in awhile, so I wanted to go with someone to make me feel more comfortable," Janet explained, the sincerity in her voice almost drowning out the fact that they were wrestling over Devon's limb.
"You're the one of the few people I feel comfortable with," she grunted yet again, wrenching him over to her, but Devon still pulled himself in the other direction. "So please, just come in." The young man shook his head, glancing over his shoulder to stare at the house like it was a giant monster, waiting to devour him at any second.
