Bestfriend's Brother (Michael Jackson)

chapter nineteen: the departure talk

8th December 1984 ~ L.A, United States Neveah's pov.

so, it's been like 5 months since the karate kid premiere. michael and i flew back to the states and continued to perform on the victory tour.
i have had two singles out since july. Joan Of Arc and as of recently, Rendezvous. the media tried making it seem like Rendezvous was SOMEHOW about ralph. i don't understand how and why it would be. Joan of Arc was released at the beginning of september and shot straight to number one in america and the u.k. the music video was very bad ass. heavy choreography and a lot of fire involved in the music video.
halo is going to be the next single on the album, but isn't going to be released until march. when my debut tour kicks off, which i will be announcing tomorrow during the show and at a press conference. so as you can tell, i'm really excited for my OWN tour!

"veah... you know how you're going to be announcing that you're going on your own tour?" michael spoke up softly from the bed.
"yeah." i turned to him, snapping out of my day dream, and continue to pack clothes.
"i think i'm going to announce that i will no longer tour with my brothers" he spike ever so softly.
"isn't there supposed to be a european leg of the tour??" i asked michael, that leg of the tour i wasn't going to be joining if it went ahead.
michael shook his head "no."
i frowned at him and he rephrased his sentence "well yes, there is. but i never signed that contract last year. i didn't sign and agree to a european leg of the tour, my brothers did, they want it because they need the money. me?? i don't want to do the next leg of the tour, nor do i need the money from it. i don't need the money from the leg of the tour we have just done." michael said breaking eye contact with me.

"why? what has made you do this?" i asked him standing up so i can go sit beside him on the bed.
"i just can't be around them no more, veah." he breathed out softly, shaking his head. "it's so stressful... it's toxic. joseph wanted all this," michael told me "i didn't want to tour with my brothers, joseph forced us to do it. i wanted my OWN tour. i want OUT of this. out of all of it."

"michael..." i whispered softly as i frowned at him

"nothing is going to change my mind neveah," he said standing up "tomorrow, at the end of the show, i'm announcing that this is going to be the last time we perform together. meaning their is no european or australian tour." he walked off into the bathroom of the hotel. i rolled my eyes at him. he's been taking shit out on me a lot recently. i carried on with packing our belongings while he felt sorry for himself in the bathroom of our hotel room.

as the victory tour progressed, tension between the jackson brothers increased. it led to a lot of toxicity, a lot of arguments and fights.
michael was forced into this with his brothers, he didn't want this, he never wanted it from the beginning. the rest of the jackson brothers wanted it, michael felt obliged as THOSE are his brothers.. they're family. because when it comes down to it, everyone knows that this tour wouldn't be as successful if michael wasn't here. he's the star of the family. they're all really talented, they're all stars. but michael is the STAR of the family, and he always has been. the brothers don't really like that, they don't like the fact that michael doesn't need them. they don't like the fact that michael has created his own name for himself and isn't living off the 'jackson 5/ the jackson's' name and legacy. now, michael is living off his own legacy that he is creating with his OWN name and music.

as the tour progressed, the tension got so thick and toxic michael and i had to take separate flights to the rest of them. we rode in private jets while the rest of the brothers took normal commercial flights. we stayed in different hotels to the brothers too, and if we DID end up staying in the same hotel as the rest of them, we was on separate floors.
it's safe to say that my friendship with randy has deteriorated during this tour too. he's really distant. i think that's because of the clear elephant in the room with the brothers and michael, ESPECIALLY jermaine and michael. jermaine hasn't exactly been the NICEST person to tour with. he's made horrible horrible remarks to me in front of michael and behind closed doors when michael isn't around. and obviously because i am michael's fiancée, he isn't having any of it.
i don't want to break the brothers apart, but it seems as though michael has already made that decision in taking himself out of a toxic situation and not touring with his brothers anymore.

michael walked back out from the bathroom and leant up against the door frame and watched me "i'm sorry." he said gently "i didn't mean to snap earlier."
"it's okay... it's just-" i breathed out softly "are you sure about this michael? are you sure you want this to be the end of you and your brothers?" i asked him.
he nodded immediately answering me, without missing a beat, "yes."
"i want to do this on my own now. just me. i do not want to be tied to them anymore." he shook his head

"okay..." i nodded "do your brothers know??" i asked him. he made a face and shook his head "i feel like they kind of know.. they have to be at least expecting  this news to come" he told me
"so you're going to announce it without consulting them first?" i raised a brow at my fiancé.
he nodded looking into my eyes "yes." i gaped at him. "yes i am, what's the point in telling them? nothing they can do or say will stop me from going forward with this"

"but michael - they're your brothers" i gasped lightly.
"i don't have any work loyalties to them, yes they're my brothers, but just because we're brothers doesn't mean i should hold myself back for them just because they can't make it without me.. because they need me." he made a face "i've been wanting to do this for a while. the success of thriller made me really really want to be a proper solo artist... no ties with my brothers." he shook his head at me. "and with the success of your debut album, we have huge things ahead of us. we really do. why should i hold myself back for them, when we could become two of the biggest solo artists on the planet??"

i sigh shakily "aren't you scared?"

he shook his head "no. i have you. you're all i need. i want to leave my brothers... it's just us two now, baby." he smiled walking closer to me. he embraced me in a hug and then we began to get ready for our second to last show of the victory tour!