Human Nature

Chapter 47

April 25th, 1993

There was a heavy feeling in the pit of his stomach as he drove through Harlem. The further he drove, the more eerie the neighborhood began to look with boarded up apartment buildings, graffiti marking a few as the territory of one gang or another. 

Normally, Harlem was one of his favorite places to visit when he came to New York, but as he glanced over at Mariah he began to reconsider his decisions.  She was looking out of a window, dressed in a hoodie that was three sizes too big to hide her growing bump. She was carrying their son, and Michael hated to have her in a potentially dangerous situation in her condition.

He had only met Alison once, when she barged into Mariah's apartment and attacked her for  twenty dollars. He would hate to put his hands on a woman, but if Alison tried anything with Mariah, he would.

"Babe, are we close?" He asked.

She pointed ahead. "Keep down this block, then turn right."

He followed her instructions and she pointed again. "That one."

Alison's house looked better than he expected it to; the grass was neatly cut in the front yard behind a tall iron gate. 

He glanced over to Mariah and squeezed her hand. "Alright, we're going to do this."

"I think you're more nervous than I am, honey." She said.

Michael nodded. "That's what scares me."

"Let's go." She undid her seatbelt and started towards the door.

He sighed and followed her, keeping his hands in his pockets. He prayed that Alison was sober.

Mariah rang the doorbell and Michael noticed the blinds part slightly, making his heartbeat faster once the door opened.

He inwardly breathed a sigh of relief when a curly-haired teenage boy answered the door. "Auntie Mariah!"

He hugged her and Mariah laughed. "Shawn! I haven't seen you in forever, I'm sorry."

"I know why." He said grimly.

He glanced to Michael. "You brought Michael Jackson? You're forgiven."

"That's Uncle Michael." Michael corrected.

Shawn laughed. "Oh, right. I forgot, ya'll still getting married."

"Yes, we are. Now where's your mom?" Mariah asked.

Shawn shrugged. "I haven't seen her in a week."

Mariah's eyes flew open. "A week? What have you been eating? How have you been getting to school?"

"I take the subway and eat at school." Shawn said.

Mariah groaned. "So there's no food?"

"Nah, she said she was going shopping, but you know how that goes." Shawn rolled his eyes.

Mariah sighed again. "You want us to drop you off at grandma's?"

"Please." He replied.

Mariah looked past him into the house. "Where's your brother?"

"He's upstairs asleep." 

Mariah nodded. "Can we come in?"

"Yeah, my bad." Shawn moved out of the way.

Inside the house, Michael could tell that Shawn had tried to straighten up the house, causing the faint scent of alcohol and cigarettes mingled with bleach.