Slipping Away

Chapter11

November 10th, 1993

Mariah ran into the bedroom with Michael hot on her heels. She had taken his fedora as he helped bring her suitcase to their suite.

"Stop, leave me alone." She giggled.

Michael laughed. "Give it back, Mimi."

She put it on her head and stuck her tongue out at him.

"You gotta catch me first." She started running again until she tripped over one of Michael's bags. She could hear Michael laughing on the other side of the room.

"It's not funny, Leopard." She muttered.

He walked over and took his hat off of her head and put it on his own. "See what happens when you take my stuff without permission?"

Mariah rolled her eyes. "Fuck that."

He laughed. "Whatever." He offered a hand to help her up.

Mariah accepted and her foot hit his bag again, and she could faintly hear a rattling sound. "What's in that bag?"

"Nothing." He said quickly and moved it out of the way.

Mariah eyed Michael closely and realized that he was much thinner than she remembered. "Michael, have you been eating?"

He nodded. "Yeah."

Mariah crossed her arms. "You're lying."

"No I'm not." He said harshly.

Mariah reached for the bag.

"Don't touch that!"

Mariah raised an eyebrow. "Why not?"

He rubbed the back of his neck. "No reason. There's nothing really-"

"If there's nothing in it, why did you bring it? I see this same bag next to the bed in every hotel we've stayed at since the allegations started." Mariah said. She peered closely at his eyes and could make out the red veins in them. Looking him up and down, he looked unhealthy and she chided herself for not noticing before.

Michael didn't respond and she reached for the bag again.

"Mariah, don't" He said, pulling her away.

She pushed him and unzipped the bag, only to find it filled with dozens of prescription bottles. She dropped the bag and she turned to see him looking at the floor.

Mariah shook her head. "No, no, Michael please don't...no Michael..."

She could feel the tears welling in her eyes. "Please don't tell me you're doing what I think you're doing."

"Mariah..." He murmured. "I'm not-"

She punched him in his chest. "How could you? After everything with Alison and...you're doing this? Why would you do this to me? To yourself? To us?"

She could feel the tears racing down her cheeks while Michael continued to look down at his feet.

"Look, you don't understand-"

"I don't understand? No, Michael you don't understand what you're doing to me. You're an addict. You're a fucking addict."

"I needed them to sleep." He shot back. "All I wanted was to sleep."

Mariah didn't respond. Instead, she grabbed the bag and ran towards the bathroom. She could hear Michael following her, but she managed to make it to the bathroom and locked the door. She slid down the door onto the floor and bunched her legs up against her chest.