Michael Jackson_ The Magic, the Madness, the Whole Story, 1958-2009 Part 29

I had a discussion with Michael along those same lines in 1991, after the original publication of my biography of him. I saw him and LaToya at a Record Collectors' Convention in the parking lot of Capitol Records in Hollywood. He was wearing a bright red s.h.i.+rt, black satin pants... and a black surgical mask. When LaToya went off in search of records by The Partridge Family, Michael and I began talking about the music of our youth and, somehow, we began talking about his childhood. 'I missed my childhood,' he said, sadly.

Having personally witnessed just a bit of Michael's childhood in Encino, I offered the opinion that perhaps his childhood wasn't as bad as he remembered it. The biggest misconception about him is that he has lived his life sheltered from 'the real world', and that this is why he has practically withdrawn from society. In fact, Michael has had more life encounters than most people. An immensely gifted performer, he has travelled the world many times over, entertaining people of all colours, races and religions. He is intimate with the exhilaration of a thunderous ovation, of a standing-room-only crowd. He knows what it is to be 'special', to be able to make demands and expect them to be met because of who he is. He knows what it's like to have great wealth, to be able to give his mother a million dollars so she won't have to work. He has experienced the pleasure of giving, of being charitable, of seeing the faces of deathly ill children light up just because he is who he is.

'A lot of kids starve, Michael,' I reminded him. 'A lot of kids are poor, they become addicted to drugs. A lot of kids don't live in mansions with servants. A lot of kids have it a lot worse that you did. In fact,' I said, maybe feeling a little too self-confident, 'I think you had a pretty good childhood. You travelled. You had friends. You did what you wanted to do, didn't you? You performed. You entertained. It was fun. I think you miss your childhood, yes. But I don't think you missed out on it.'

Michael stared at me, angrily. 'No, it was horrible,' he countered. 'I had a terrible childhood. All of that performing. All that recording. The fans took over my life,' he said, pointing at me. 'I never got to play,' he complained. 'It was awful.'

'See you 'round,' he said, turning his back on me. 'I'm going to find 'Toya.'

The memory of that brief exchange has stayed with me over the years, especially when the common explanation to Michael's increasingly unusual behaviour became that he had 'missed out' on his youth.

'A place where boys have rights'

A week after meeting him, Michael Jackson telephoned Jordie Chandler. As the two discussed their lives and hobbies, Jordie expressed an interest in playing video games. Michael then invited the boy to his 'hide-out', an apartment he maintained in Century City, California, which most of Michael's family and staff members had only heard about, but had never actually seen. Michael explained that he had an arcade at the apartment and felt sure that Jordie would have fun there. Of course, Jordie wanted to go. However when he asked his mother for permission, she denied it citing upcoming school tests for which the youngster needed to study. But in the weeks to come, Michael continued telephoning Jordie; the two became fast friends.

On 27 June 1992, Michael embarked on his Dangerous concert extravaganza, the first of thirty-nine performances on the first leg of the tour taking place in Munich, Germany, at the Olympic Stadium. It was a complex production with the expected bombastic special effects and lighting, dancers, musicians and others involved in the fantastic multimillion-dollar presentation. In all, Michael would perform eighteen numbers including hits such as 'Wanna Be Startin' Something', 'Thriller', 'Billie Jean' and 'Beat it' and four from the current Dangerous Dangerous alb.u.m. At the end of the show, in front of nearly 75,000 people, Michael appeared to strap on a jet and rocket right out of the stadium. (Actually, a stunt double did the trick, which was orchestrated by illusionist, David Copperfield.) Even without John Branca at the helm, Michael was making winning decisions; he sold the rights of his Dangerous tour to HBO for twenty million dollars, the highest sum ever paid for a live concert. When the network broadcast the final show of the first leg of Michael's tour, HBO gained its highest rating up until that time. alb.u.m. At the end of the show, in front of nearly 75,000 people, Michael appeared to strap on a jet and rocket right out of the stadium. (Actually, a stunt double did the trick, which was orchestrated by illusionist, David Copperfield.) Even without John Branca at the helm, Michael was making winning decisions; he sold the rights of his Dangerous tour to HBO for twenty million dollars, the highest sum ever paid for a live concert. When the network broadcast the final show of the first leg of Michael's tour, HBO gained its highest rating up until that time.

Because Michael was involved in every aspect of the show, from sound to lighting to costumes all the way down to ticket sales, it demanded all of his focus. How he managed to even give Jordie Chandler a second thought during this time is remarkable, yet he did just that. For the next nine months while on the road, Michael telephoned his new friend on a weekly basis. For Michael, it was as if Jordie had become his lifeline to the real world, to his home, as he performed in front of hundreds of thousands of adoring strangers. In fact, Michael also had eleven-year-old Brett Barnes with him from Australia, as well as nine-year-old Prince Albert von Thurn und Taxis, son of Gloria von Thurn und Taxis of Bavaria and already one of the richest kids in the world. His staff was used to having to accommodate children while on the road with Michael, no one ever questioned it. However, even though he had other youngsters with him, Michael's thoughts were of Jordie. According to what Jordie later recalled of his late-night, long-distance conversations with him, Michael told him about Neverland. 'It's a place where boys have rights,' Michael said, promising to take Jordie there as soon as the Dangerous tour was completed.

Michael also told Jordie about his charity work, how he had raised funds for needy children's organizations round the world with his Heal the World Foundation, and his plans for a World Congress of Children to bring together youngsters from one hundred nations. 'Children,' Michael explained, 'are the hope of the world.' Sometimes, Michael said, he sent his staff members to a toy store in one of his pick-up trucks. The employees fill the truck with toys until 'there's not a single inch left' in the pick-up bed, and bring them to Neverland. Then, 'as they gather all around me, smiling and laughing,' Michael distributed the toys to all the needy children. He promised to introduce Jordie to Elizabeth Taylor one day, telling him, 'she's really old, but she's still cool. She's won, like, fifteen Oscars!' (Taylor has actually won two.) When Michael returned home from the final stop on the tour's first leg, j.a.pan, on 31 December, he found that Elizabeth Taylor had decked out Neverland for the Christmas holidays, with hundreds of thousands of dollars' worth of elaborate decorations. Though Michael, raised a Jehovah's Witness, never celebrated Christmas, he was still overwhelmed by Elizabeth's kind gesture. He called Jordie to tell him about it. 'You should see it,' he said, the youngster later recalled. 'It's like a Winter Wonderland. The only thing that would make it better would be having you here. Then, it would be absolutely perfect.'

Michael was too busy in January, however, to entertain any guests at Neverland. On his agenda was the NAACP [National a.s.sociation for the Advancement of Colored People] Image Awards on 16 January, President Clinton's Inaugural Ball on the 19th and then the American Music Awards on the 25th each performance requiring days of rehearsal time. Then, he had the Superbowl on the 31st, where he performed with a 750-member choir and a 98,000-person flashcard stunt to promote the Heal the World Foundation. At the end of the show, 3,500 children joined Michael on stage for 'Heal the World'. 120 million people watched Michael's performance.

On 10 February 1993, Michael gave an internationally televised interview to Oprah Winfrey. During it, Michael and Oprah gave the world a nighttime tour of Neverland and Michael then revealed, for the first time, he suffers from Vitiligo. He also spoke of his 'girlfriend' Brooke s.h.i.+elds. When Oprah pushed to learn if Michael was still a virgin, he clarified that he was 'a gentleman. You can call me old-fas.h.i.+oned, if you want.' When asked about plastic surgery, he said he had 'very little. You can count it on two fingers.' Elizabeth Taylor made a surprise appearance, as if just pa.s.sing through, to declare that Michael 'is the least weird man I have ever known.' (Michael later presented her with a $250,000 diamond necklace to thank her for the compliment.) It was a terrific, ratings-winning broadcast, drawing an audience of more than ninety million; the fourth most-watched entertainment show in US TV history.

The next day, Michael called June Chandler to invite her, Jordie and his half-sister Lily, to his estate for the weekend. With Michael so much in the headlines as a result of the interview with Oprah, it must have seemed surreal to June that he had invited her and her family to the same place she had just seen displayed on television, even offering to put them up for the night. June accepted Michael's invitation.

June and the children arrived at Neverland Ranch early on Friday afternoon. The servant who greeted them suggested that they be seated in the parlour and wait for 'Mr Jackson' as he scurried off to fetch soft drinks. June, Jordie and Lily sat side by side on one of the couches and looked at their surroundings, their mouths agape. Simply put, they could not believe their eyes. Was it possible that they knew a person who lived here? here?

Though the twenty-five-room, mock-Tudor mansion's living room was large-scale and packed with opulent furnis.h.i.+ngs, there was also a sense of warmth and elegance about it, with pine-panelled walls, fine Italian antiques (a little over-done but, of course, for Michael excess is never enough), and big, over-stuffed furniture, the kind into which one would sink six inches upon being seated. Here and there, were eccentric treasures: life-size mannequins of senior citizens and youngsters having tea; giant oil paintings of Elizabeth Taylor hanging in elaborate, carved and gilded frames; the white, bugle-beaded gown Diana Ross wore in the final scene of Lady Sings the Blues Lady Sings the Blues encased in a large gla.s.s box with pink lights glowing around it. There were pictures of children, everywhere, both boys and girls. The house was perfectly still; nothing stirred. It was quiet as a tomb, no music, not a sound. encased in a large gla.s.s box with pink lights glowing around it. There were pictures of children, everywhere, both boys and girls. The house was perfectly still; nothing stirred. It was quiet as a tomb, no music, not a sound.

Outside, as far as the eye could see, were more than 2,000 verdant acres of bucolic landscape, reminiscent of the English countryside. It was impossible to imagine that anyone owned owned this place, it was so expansive, with its deep blue four-acre lake way off in the distance. Statues paid homage to Scottish author J. M. Barrie and his creation Peter Pan. From more than a hundred speakers, disguised as rocks in the flowerbeds, emanated Disney music (never Michael's own music, to which he rarely listens). There was a zoo with a menagerie of alligators, giraffes, lions, a twelve-foot albino python and a seventy-thousand-pound elephant named Gypsy (a present from Elizabeth Taylor). There was also 'Cricket', the thirty-four-inch-tall stallion and Petunia, the potbellied pig, and Linus, the two-foot-tall sheep. Of course, Bubbles the chimpanzee also lived on the property, often sitting in the cinema with Michael, eating free candy from the sweets counter. 'Sometimes he takes off his diaper and goes on the floor, but mostly he's very clean,' Michael had told Jordie. Then, of course, there were the many rides: the Ferris wheel, b.u.mper cars, steam trains... and, for the little ones, a carousel, fire trucks and frog hoppers. Some might have found it disturbing that hundreds of security cameras were positioned all over the estate, hidden inside little bird-houses. However, Michael viewed it as a necessary precaution. If any one of the thirty full-time gardeners or ten ranch hands didn't smile enough, or seemed otherwise unhappy, he would be dismissed another necessity. After all, this was supposed to be a happy place. this place, it was so expansive, with its deep blue four-acre lake way off in the distance. Statues paid homage to Scottish author J. M. Barrie and his creation Peter Pan. From more than a hundred speakers, disguised as rocks in the flowerbeds, emanated Disney music (never Michael's own music, to which he rarely listens). There was a zoo with a menagerie of alligators, giraffes, lions, a twelve-foot albino python and a seventy-thousand-pound elephant named Gypsy (a present from Elizabeth Taylor). There was also 'Cricket', the thirty-four-inch-tall stallion and Petunia, the potbellied pig, and Linus, the two-foot-tall sheep. Of course, Bubbles the chimpanzee also lived on the property, often sitting in the cinema with Michael, eating free candy from the sweets counter. 'Sometimes he takes off his diaper and goes on the floor, but mostly he's very clean,' Michael had told Jordie. Then, of course, there were the many rides: the Ferris wheel, b.u.mper cars, steam trains... and, for the little ones, a carousel, fire trucks and frog hoppers. Some might have found it disturbing that hundreds of security cameras were positioned all over the estate, hidden inside little bird-houses. However, Michael viewed it as a necessary precaution. If any one of the thirty full-time gardeners or ten ranch hands didn't smile enough, or seemed otherwise unhappy, he would be dismissed another necessity. After all, this was supposed to be a happy place.

'So, how do you like my home?' It was Michael, walking into the room, flas.h.i.+ng a smile of genuine pride and satisfaction, and holding a tray with four soft-drink bottles. 'I was going to put them in gla.s.ses,' he said of the refreshments. 'But I couldn't find any in the kitchen,' he joked. 'I've been gone so long, I was lucky to even find the kitchen.' He was funny, June later recalled, funnier than she imagined he would be.

For the rest of the day, June, Jordie and Lily played games, swam, zipped about in the master's $7,000 black-and-lavender golf cart, and then watched first-run films (loaned to Michael by major Hollywood studios) late into the evening in his private screening room. The next day, Michael took them all to a toy store an hour away, which had been closed by the managers for a few hours to allow the Jackson party private shopping time. 'You can have anything you want,' Michael told Jordie and Lily. As June watched, the two children ran through the store, pulling more than ten thousand dollars' worth of toys from the shelves and piling them into three shopping carts.

Sat.u.r.day night was spent enjoying Michael's amus.e.m.e.nt park under a full and magical moon, first on the rollercoaster and then the Ferris wheel. When the cart carrying Michael, Jordie, June and Lily got to the top of the Ferris wheel, the operator stopped the rotation, just as Michael had earlier instructed. The four of them then sat high above the ground June, Michael and Jordie shoulder-to-shoulder, and Lily on her mother's lap surveying all that was Michael's pride-and-joy. A slight breeze rustled the leaves of old trees. There seemed to be twinkling lights as far as the eye could see. 'I don't know where there are more lights,' June said, breathlessly, 'in the sky or on the ground.' All four were lost in their own thoughts as they sat in silence, the moon bathing them with silvery radiance. However, Michael looked glum in the dim light.

'Do you know how much time I spend up here alone,' Michael said, softly, 'just sitting up here by myself? I have all of this,' he declared, motioning to the acres below, 'yet I have... nothing. The things I really want in my life are the things I don't have.'

'You have us, now,' Jordie said, putting his arm around Michael's shoulder.

Michael smiled. 'My new little family,' he concluded. 'The only thing that matters in life is having someone who understands you, who trusts you and who will be with you when you grow old, no matter what.'

On Sunday morning, June, Jordie and Lily departed for Los Angeles after their unforgettable weekend. Another visit was planned.

The following Sat.u.r.day night, Michael showed up at June's home in a limousine ready to whisk them back to Neverland. However, when June, Jordie and Lily got into the stretch automobile and greeted Michael, they discovered another boy sitting on the singer's lap, eleven-year-old Brett Barnes, who Michael introduced as his 'cousin'. (They're not related even though the youngster did introduce himself as 'Brett Jackson'.) Apparently, Jordie would not be the sole focus of Michael's attention during the weekend ahead.

As June tried to keep the conversation going, Brett and Michael appeared to be in their own world with an easy rapport between them, one that made what Michael had with Jordie seem, perhaps, not so unique. It was a tense drive to Santa Barbara.

When Michael and his guests finally arrived at Neverland, they were immediately surrounded by uniformed guards, maids, butlers and other functionaries, all gathering and grinning to one another excitedly. Michael nodded and smiled and shook hands. He then instructed two of the guards to take June's suitcases to one of the guest cottages. 'Oh, and Brett's belongings go in my room,' he added nonchalantly as Brett ran off with one of the maids. Michael then embraced and kissed his remaining guests. 'You have Neverland at your disposal,' he told June, 'so have a ball. I love you all,' he said with genuine warmth. 'And just wait,' he added, 'tomorrow will be another great day.'

'Never do that again, Jordie'

Like many celebrated people, at his core, Michael Jackson was conscious of a certain emptiness. He admitted it, and often; it didn't take much prodding for him to describe himself as 'the loneliest person on the planet'. Over the years, especially as he got older, bleakness crept into his soul. When he was on stage, he came to life and was without peer; offstage, he felt... joyless. However, when he met Jordie Chandler, all of that seemed to change.

'Michael is a sad person,' confirmed someone who has been a.s.sociated with him for twenty years. 'He has had a difficult life, always been a loner, a misfit. If he hadn't become a star, he would be the guy living in Gary, Indiana, alone in a one-bedroom apartment with no friends and a job developing film at a photolab. What really attracted Michael to Jordie, was the youngster's humour. Whenever a person can make him laugh, that's someone he will want in his life. Jordie made him laugh. He would make fun of Michael, of the way he dressed, of his clumsiness, his driving. Michael was amused by Jordie's irreverent manner. He felt he could be himself around him.

'They used to dance together, Michael showing Jordie ch.o.r.eography steps and Jordie catching on remarkably fast. Jordie was intelligent; Michael loves smart kids and Jordie was tremendously creative. Michael said that Jordie could one day be an amazing film director. "He has a vision," he told me. "I think he could do wonderful things."'

They probably would have been a perfect couple of buddies if not for the fact that Jordie was thirteen and Michael was thirty-four.

'I truly don't think there's a devious bone in his body,' June said of Michael. If she thought anything was unusual about Michael and Brett at Neverland, she didn't indicate as much after she and her family returned to Los Angeles.

It wasn't long before Michael invited them all to his 'hide-out' on Wils.h.i.+re Boulevard in Westwood, about ten minutes from June and Dave Schwartz's home. 'Do you have an amus.e.m.e.nt park there, too?' Jordie asked him. Michael laughed, 'No, silly. It's just my place to go where no one can find me.' Then, lowering his voice as if to share an important confidence, he added, 'As soon as someone finds out about it whoos.h.!.+ I move to another hide-out. Once,' he continued, 'a person knocked on my door that I didn't know and whoos.h.!.+ I moved to another hide-out, the next day.'

Why?'

'Because if one stranger knows where I live,' Michael answered, 'then millions more will follow.'

'So how many hide-outs have you had?' Jordie asked.

'Hundreds,' Michael said, grinning. 'Hundreds and hundreds and hundreds.'

Jordie, Lily and June had fun at Michael's hide-out, as expected, and, as the days pa.s.sed, became privy to more of his secrets. For instance, on 9 March, Michael was honoured with a Soul Train Soul Train award for Best Alb.u.m ( award for Best Alb.u.m (Dangerous) and Best Song ('Remember the Time'). At the show, he sat in a wheelchair on the stage and performed 'Remember the Time' while surrounded by a host of dancers. He explained that he had hurt himself during rehearsals.

However, the next day at Neverland, he threw the crutches aside. 'It's a miracle! I can walk! I can walk!' Michael exclaimed, the jokester in him coming forth. Michael had never been injured; it appeared he had used the wheelchair and crutches as a publicity gimmick.

A couple of days later, Michael took Jordie, Lily and their mother to Las Vegas where they all stayed at Jackson's private, $3,000-a-night suite in the Mirage Hotel. Michael and Jordie stayed in separate rooms, while June and Lily shared another suite.

The night after their arrival, June and Lily turned in early, exhausted by their fun time in Las Vegas. Meanwhile, Michael and Jordie watched The Exorcist The Exorcist. Jordie was so frightened by the film, he asked or Michael suggested, depending on which of them tells the story that he be allowed to stay with Michael in his room. In whatever manner the circ.u.mstances evolved, the two ended up sleeping together, Michael in silk pyjamas, Jordie in a T-s.h.i.+rt and sweat pants.

The next morning, when June went to Jordie's bedroom she found that he had not slept in his bed. As she stood in the doorway trying to figure out what had happened, she caught Jordie slipping out of Michael's room. 'What is going on?' she asked. 'Where were you?'

'Oh, I slept with Michael,' answered the boy, casually, according to a later recollection.

'What?' June exclaimed. 'What are you talking about? You don't do that,' she said, now scolding him. 'Never do that again, Jordie.'

'Why?'

'Because it's not right,' June said, upset. 'Promise me you will never do that again, ever, Jordie.'

'But, Mom '

'But, nothing nothing,' she cut him off. 'Promise me!'

'I promise,' said Jordie, sounding defeated.

The next day, Jordie told Michael about June's concern. Now, Michael was the one who was upset. He didn't understand why June would so object to his sleeping with her son. Did she not trust him? With Dave Schwartz not around the house, it seemed right that Jordie have a male influence, Michael reasoned. He decided to take up the matter with June. According to what June later recalled, Michael pulled her aside and, fixing her with an earnest look, said, 'Jordie and I share a special and innocent friends.h.i.+p. Why did you tell him he can't sleep with me?'

'Because it's completely inappropriate, Michael,' June said, holding her ground. 'And I don't want Jordie to be hurt.'

'But I'm not like that,' Michael said. 'How could you think I would hurt Jordie?' he asked. 'We have a friendly, honest, true and loving relations.h.i.+p.' Michael then told June his theory about 'conditioning'. That children are innocent until conditioned by the world to be otherwise, at which point they become cynical, judgemental adults who lie, cheat, gossip and treat each other poorly. It would be his desire, he said, that Jordie remain pure and untouched by the adult world, unconditioned. Michael began to cry.

June didn't know how to respond to Michael's heart-felt monologue. His theory, while idealistic and naive, was probably harmless. However, there was still something disconcerting about the proposition that Jordie never be permitted to grow into a well-adjusted adult. After all, it couldn't always be moonbeams and lollipops for her son. Did she really want him to end up like the thirty-four-year-old man standing before her, sobbing? Or, was she now just being 'cynical and judgemental', thereby proving Michael's point? At a loss, she apologized to Michael for hurting his feelings. The two embraced. 'You must trust me,' Michael said.

'I do,' June a.s.sured him. 'I do trust you.'

The next day, Michael gave June a $12,000 ruby-and-diamond bracelet from Carrier's. June stared at him as he presented the gift, dumbfounded. 'A token,' Michael told her. 'It's nothing. I just love you.'

Afterwards, Michael continued telephoning and visiting Jordie, with June's approval and much to the astonishment of many in the Chandler and Schwartz families. Why would a wealthy, world-famous and busy superstar work so diligently to forge a deep and meaningful bond with one of his teenage fans? No one seemed to have the answer to that question. However, the scenario wasn't quite as odd to those witnessing it from Michael's camp. Many of them had seen young friends of Michael's come and go over the years and had long ago learned not to question their employer about it. Though clearly obsessed with certain boys along the way, no one ever saw him do anything inappropriate with them, no one ever accused him of anything improper... and, so, that was the end of it. The explanation always had something to do with Michael's 'lost childhood' and his having young friends because they were innocent and trusting... a bit of a tiresome excuse. Therapy might have been a better way to go but, as one of his long-time a.s.sociates put it, 'Don't even go there with Michael.'

On Friday, 2 April Jordie Chandler and his mother and sister again went to Neverland to visit Michael. While there, they noticed that a pair of mannequins, both dressed as fierce-looking Sikh Indian guards, had been positioned in front of the heavy, mahogany double-doors leading to Michael's bedroom. Michael said he had them placed there in order to keep ghosts away from the room.

Inside his bedroom, Michael had a giant, gold throne placed directly in front of the fireplace. It was very strange.

That night, June and Lily stayed in the guest quarters. Jordie stayed with Michael in a room fit for a king.

Either Jordie's Mom Trusts Michael... or She Doesn't.

June Chandler spent much of the next five days at Neverland walking alone and mulling over the odd goings-on. On one hand, she trusted Michael and didn't believe that anything inappropriate was going on between him and Jordie. But the fact that Michael and Jordie were now sleeping in the same bed was troubling. However, it was Michael Jackson with whom Jodie was sharing a bed. Michael Jackson Michael Jackson. June and her children were staying at Neverland, receiving expensive presents and being treated like royalty. She was swept away by it. Today, a parent might conclude that precisely because it is is Michael Jackson with whom he or she is dealing, she might have had good reason to err on the side of caution if only because of his controversial reputation with children deserved or undeserved. However, ten years ago, June simply did not know what to make of the situation. Therefore, she allowed it to continue, especially since her husband was not living with her and the children and, she reasoned, a strong male influence on Jordie might not be a bad thing. Michael Jackson with whom he or she is dealing, she might have had good reason to err on the side of caution if only because of his controversial reputation with children deserved or undeserved. However, ten years ago, June simply did not know what to make of the situation. Therefore, she allowed it to continue, especially since her husband was not living with her and the children and, she reasoned, a strong male influence on Jordie might not be a bad thing.

Michael accompanied June, Jordie and Lily in the limousine back to Los Angeles. However, he did not then return to Santa Barbara, deciding instead to retreat to his Westwood hideaway. He had a medical problem, and needed to be close to his dermatologist.

In fact, a week or so earlier, Michael had decided to bleach his s.c.r.o.t.u.m with Benoquin, a bleaching cream prescribed to him many times over the years by his dermatologist, Dr Arnie Klein. Michael had been using the cream for years to bleach his skin. However apparently, he had never tried it on his s.c.r.o.t.u.m. As it happened, the cream burned and stung, causing a great deal of discomfort. Debbie Rowe, the a.s.sistant to Michael's dermatologist attended to him. To show his grat.i.tude, Michael gave Debbie a white GMC truck.

No sooner was Michael settled in at his home that he began to long for Jordie. He had to speak to him; he called him.

June didn't like the way the conversation unfolded as she listened to her son's end of it. He responded to questions with what sounded like a code of simple answers, 'yes,' 'no' and 'maybe'. When he hung up, June asked him what he and Michael had discussed. He was evasive.

Five minutes later, Michael's telephone rang. It was June calling to tell him that, again, she was concerned about his relations.h.i.+p with Jordie. Michael was bewildered. Hadn't they already covered this territory? Either she trusted him, or she didn't... however, she had to make a choice, as Michael told her.

Michael suggested that she come to his hide-out so that they could discuss the matter personally. When June arrived, she found Michael in his pyjamas. Once again he pleaded with June to give him a chance.

He had often been misunderstood in the past, he told her, and he truly did care about her and her children. Hadn't he proved as much? It seemed unfair, Michael pointed out, that after all he had done for her and her family she would now doubt his motives. He had only been kind and generous to them, he reminded her. June had to agree.

Michael then told June that he was lonely at his hide-out and asked if she would take him back to her home. She complied. Without changing from his pyjamas, Michael got into the car with her. It's no wonder, as she later told it, that she felt as if she was dealing not with an adult, but with a child.

Once at the Schwartz home, June suggested that Michael retire to one of the guest rooms. However, perhaps testing her to see if she really did trust him, Michael asked that he be allowed to sleep in Jordie's bed... with Jordie.

The next weekend, June, Jordie and Lily were again guests of Michael's at Neverland. The weekend after that one, Michael had to leave Los Angeles on a business trip. He didn't want to go, telling his a.s.sociates that he had become so attached to Jordie and his family that he couldn't bear to leave them. At the Burbank airport Michael sobbed as he hugged Jordie, telling him that he would 'do anything' to not have to go to Philadelphia. 'I'm going to miss you so much,' he told the youngster, as June and Lily looked on.

'But you'll be back soon,' the little girl offered.

'I know,' Michael said, still hugging Jordie tightly and crying. 'But it's just that I love you guys so much. You're my true, true family.' He sighed as he buried his face in Jordie's hair. Then, he embraced Lily. Then, June. 'I'll be back,' he told them, 'and we'll have more fun. I promise.' He then turned to Jordie and said, 'Don't forget the wishes. Always say the wishes.' He winked at him, conspiratorially.

'I won't forget,' Jordie promised. He winked back.

By the time Michael left Burbank, Jordie, June and Lily were so emotional they couldn't stop crying. It was as if they had all been swept away by some surreal melodrama. After all, Michael would only be gone for a little more than a week. They really didn't know Michael that well, and he didn't know them, either not really. Yet, the relations.h.i.+p had become so intense, June couldn't help but feel a little uncomfortable about it. 'What wishes?' she wanted to know when she and Jordie were alone.

'Nothin' he said. 'It's between me and Michael.'

'I don't like that, Jordie,' June said. 'You know I don't like you keeping secrets.'

Jordie didn't respond.

In truth, the 'wishes' were six rules that Michael and Jordie had come up with, mostly as a joke between them. However, the wishes seemed to have real significance to Michael, and he often reminded Jordie of them. He said that if they repeated these wishes three times a day, perhaps they would actually come true for them: 1. No wenches, b.i.t.c.hes, heifers or ho's (wh.o.r.es). 1. No wenches, b.i.t.c.hes, heifers or ho's (wh.o.r.es).2. Never give up your bliss.3. Live with me in Neverland forever.4. No conditioning.5. Never grow up.6. Be better than best friends.

Michael Meets Jordie's Father.

One person was not as taken by Michael Jackson's relations.h.i.+p with Jordie as everyone else: Jordie's father, Evan Chandler.

The odd situation between Jordie and Michael Jackson evolved so quickly, Evan couldn't seem to keep track of it. When June would telephone him to tell him about their Neverland visits, he found it difficult to believe that a world-famous entertainer would have that much time to spend with his ex-wife and their child. Also, June and Evan had been arguing about Evan's involvement in Jordie's life; June didn't feel that Evan was spending enough time with his son. Evan disagreed. However, he couldn't help but feel that he might be losing his place in Jordie's life to Michael. He didn't believe that Michael was doing anything wrong with Jordie. Rather, he simply felt the presence of another man, an influential male figure, in his son's life and he didn't like it. It didn't help matters that June would often make reference to the fact that Jordie saw Michael more than he did his own father. 'Michael is completely influential on your son,' she told Evan during once conversation, 'and he's taking over where you have left off.'

When he learned that Michael was sleeping with Jordie, Evan became upset. 'It's preposterous,' he told his ex-wife, according to what he later recalled. 'It isn't right.'

'Well, that's what I thought, at first,' June explained to him. 'But you have to be there. You have to see how kind and gentle Michael is with Jordie.'

'Bulls.h.i.+t,' Evan said, angrily, according to his memory. 'It's not right and I want it to stop.'

'Well, it's not going to,' June told him. 'I've already been through this with Michael, and I know it's fine. I'm Jordie's mother,' she said, 'and I know what's best for him.' How dare Evan try to tell June how to raise their son? She was doing the best job she could do, she felt, and had given the matter regarding Jordie and Michael serious consideration. She did not want Evan to second-guess her.

When Evan polled his friends, they agreed that there was something inappropriate about Jordie sleeping in the same bed with Michael Jackson. One of his patients Evan was a dentist suggested that, 'just to be on the safe side', he should insist that such behaviour stop. She was familiar with Michael's dermatologist, Arnold Klein, and, at Evan's request, called the doctor to inquire about Michael. Klein told her that Michael was 'absolutely heteros.e.xual' and, according to him, there was no reason to be concerned about him and Jordie. 'He's the sweetest guy in the world,' Arnold said, 'and, I swear to G.o.d, you would be making a mistake separating him and Jordie. He's completely innocent, like a kid himself.' Still, despite Klein's rea.s.surance, Evan Chandler's patient said that, at least in her opinion, an adult should not be sleeping in the same bed with a youngster, unless he is the child's parent and even then such sleeping arrangements should be closely monitored. Another of Evan's friends, Dr Mark Torbiner, had to agree: something was was wrong with the arrangement as it existed between Jordie and Michael, and it should be stopped, he insisted. 'It's not normal,' said Torbiner. 'C'mon! Be realistic. In the real world, this is crazy.' wrong with the arrangement as it existed between Jordie and Michael, and it should be stopped, he insisted. 'It's not normal,' said Torbiner. 'C'mon! Be realistic. In the real world, this is crazy.'

On Sunday 18 April, Michael returned from his business trip to the East Coast. As soon as he got to Neverland, he picked up the telephone to call Jordie and invite him and his mother and sister to the ranch for a five-day 'vacation'. Now Evan was closely monitoring the frequency of Jordie's visits with Michael, and becoming unreservedly uncomfortable about them.

On 22 April, much to Evan's chagrin, Michael took June, Jordie and Lily to Disneyworld in Florida for three days, utilizing Sony's company jet. When they returned to Los Angeles Michael asked if he could stay at the house with June and her children. Again, Michael slept in the same bed with Jordie. About a week later, Michael bought Jordie a computer. The youngster was thrilled with the present; Evan was not happy about it. He had planned to buy his son the exact same computer and Michael had beaten him to it.

It was decided by Michael and Jordie that the computer would be set up at Michael's hide-out so that when Jordie spent time there he would have access to the Internet. Jordie now felt that the more time he spent at the hide-out, the better off he was and June agreed, since she trusted Michael with her son and maybe to spite Evan, or maybe not she allowed the visits, most of them overnight, to continue.

In early May, Michael offered to take June, Jordie and Lily to Monaco for the World Music Awards where Michael was being honoured with three trophies including 'World's Best-selling Record Artist of the Era'. The Jackson entourage would be travelling first cla.s.s, and would stay in the $2,000-a-night Winston Churchill suite at the Hotel de Paris, the finest such establishment in the princ.i.p.ality. It promised to be an exciting vacation for June and her family. For his part, having his friends with him on this overseas trip meant that Michael did not have to leave them behind; he couldn't bear the idea of that.