Streets of Gold - A Michael Jackson Story

Chapter 10 - Falling Hard

Michael

Thursday July 31st, 1986 - Encino, Los Angeles

BUZZ!! BUZZ!! BUZZ!! BUZZ!! BUZZ!! BUZZ!! BUZZ!!

Talk about a rude awakening.

I moan from annoyance at the sound of my alarm clock before turning my head to find out what time it is. I blink my eyes rapidly and furrow them in an attempt to see the big red digits on my nightstand.

06:00.

I lazily reach out my hand to turn it off before sitting upright under my covers. Feeling a yawn coming on, I stretch out my arms before pulling them back to rub my eyes. It's funny to me how I always try to get a good night's sleep, but always seem to feel twice as tired when I wake up. On mornings like this I don't look forward to getting out of bed, because I know I'll be out of energy before the day is over, and that means I won't get enough work done.

I get out of bed and make it up before taking a shower. In roughly thirty minutes I've put on some black jeans, a white shirt and a green and blue plaid shirt. I put on some socks before grabbing my loafers and a baseball cap. I step out of my room and as soon as I hit the hallway, I hear the familiar voice singing the beautiful song she sang yesterday. Smiling to myself, I step to her door and knock softly. The singing pauses before I hear soft footsteps coming towards the door.

"Miya," I smile shyly after she opens the door. "Good morning."

"Morning, Michael," she smiles.

Could you be more gorgeous...?

"How are you?" I ask.

"Alright and you?"

"I'm alright," I flash a cheesy smile, quickly taking a look at her outfit – simple blue jeans and white sneakers, with an oversized white button down shirt. Her hair isn't braided anymore, and the soft curls that remain are tied into a simple up-do. She isn't the slimmest of girls, but her body has curves in all the right places. Anything she wears looks good on her. I need a few moments to take it all in.

Talk, Michael!

"You look really pretty today."

She giggles, making me chuckle. "Thank you."

"You ready for breakfast?" I ask before she nods with that cute smile. "Alright, come on."

I wait for her as she closes her door, then we start our way down the hall and downstairs to the kitchen. The walk is quiet, but not awkward at all. Every now and then we just glance at one another, letting out a smile or a chuckle and making each other blush. I take advantage of every moment I have when I'm not down in the studio to just be with her, to make sure she's happy. We've been like this all week, and we're aware of our smiles when we reach Mother.

But maybe they're a little too wide.

"Look at you two lovebi---" Janet cuts herself short when she realizes that Mother is listening. "I mean... good morning, Michael and Yonela." She turns away cheekily before digging back into her cornflakes.

"Good morning, kids," Mother greets us, smiling as she places milk on the countertop. "Janet must have too much sugar in her cereal today."

"Good morning, Katherine," Miya says sweetly.

"Good morning, Mom," I greet her as Miya takes a seat next to Janet. I sit down on the other side of Janet before Mother puts two bowls in front of us, then we pick our choice of cereal for the day. Janet stays still – too still, and too quiet. I sneakily move my eyes to Miya, who catches my gaze before raising an eyebrow as if to say let's make her crack. Knowing exactly what she's thinking, I use my fingers to count us down so that Mother can see, but Janet can't, and then...