Victim of Love: XII
At some point between Indio and the Arizona border the children fell asleep in the large bed, their bodies giving in to the tension the adults were emitting around them. Michael sat in the rear of the bus, away from prying eyes and ears…at least until Grace sat down beside him.
“It will be alright Michael.” She said with all the confidence she could muster.
“It won’t, they are going to twist my words. I never should have trusted him, Lex warned me and I refused to listen.”
Staring out into the dark at the desert he felt dead inside. Everything shattered and torn, nothing seemed safe in his life any longer.
Sitting in silence they listened as the rhythm of the wheels turned on the asphalt for mile after mile, taking them both farther away from the security of Neverland.
Finally with a sigh Michael leaned the seat back while he reached for a blanket, pulling it over them both as he settled her back in his arms and softly whispered,
“Lay with me…will you?”
Her answer was left unspoken as his lips found hers in the dark and she responded with the tenderness his body and mind needed.
“I’m not feeling well ‘lannah, can we do this tomorrow after your studies?”
A barely imperceptible nod from the child was all it took for Lexi to bolt to the bedroom solidly slamming the door behind her. The bathroom had become her sanctuary and she locked herself away most of the time. The solitude felt like a blessing; a blessing because she was ashamed of what she had let herself become…nothing but a no good user.
Patrick didn’t inject her any longer; she had figured out what was happening not long after Thanksgiving. The chronic bronchitis still had her in its grasp but it was the morphine that kept her down. It helped ease the pain it was true, the pain from the coughing, and the pain from the fluid in her lungs but mainly it helped the pain in her heart. As she opened up the cabinet and her shaking hands took out her kit; she had a brief moment of uncertainty. Maybe she should take Alannah and run…she had finally run out of places to run to, and she was so tired of running.
Grace’s voice softly called from inside the bus,
“Michael you should come back in before someone spots you.”
He just stared straight ahead until he felt her presence beside him.
“Are you hungry Michael, we can go in for you somewhere and get you some breakfast. I am sure they would have some good Mexican food for you here.”
“Stop it; please don’t talk to me right now.”
Her voice was soft but stern and she didn’t heed his warning,
“Please don’t tell me you are thinking about her right now? She has ignored your calls for months, and took that child from you again.”
Strangely he was calm, and merely said,
“Get your ass on the bus Grace, go check on my children like I pay you to do.”
She did as she was told, scared that he would leave her in the middle of Arizona if she spoke out again. She thought that she had finally begun to earn her spot with him but he knew how to make her realize that she was only his employee….one with very special benefits, but his employee none the less.
Michael remained in place until the sun had fully risen; contemplating many thoughts but before he turned to board the bus he whispered to the wind,
“I know something’s wrong Lex; I can feel it. You promised me that you wouldn’t take ‘lannah away again. Come home, come home to me…I need you.”
As he stepped up into the bus he told the driver,
“Take us back to Los Angeles please, we need to fix this mess right away.”
And with that the doors shut and the air brakes released with a loud sigh as the bus turned around and headed west towards Los Angeles, with Michael ready to do battle with a turn coat journalist, a rabid tabloid media, and the twisted lies of a gullible family.
“Yeah he is back in LA. He got back here yesterday on his bus.”
“Did you get any pictures?”
“Some, but nothing you will want to use and nothing with that kid from the documentary.”
“What about the baby, I need a clear shot of his face.”
“No, nothing we really want, just more of the same insanity he usually pulls. Mask, hat…you know the crazy shit. So how is that lead you have been working on? Is it panning out?”
“Not as good as I planned. Don’t get me wrong I have thoroughly enjoyed the research but it has been real slow to deliver. I think I am sitting on a gold mine though and sales will go through the roof if I can prove it.”
“Patrick you have always had a good nose for sniffing out a story, I mean look at what you did for those ugly ass shoes during the Simpson trial. By the way when are you coming back to California for good? You are still working on your art gallery right?”
“I am not quite finished with this research; I just need to find proof. Besides I met someone who is keeping me busy, if you know what I mean.”
“Ah…a little Senorita?”
“Yeah, I suppose you could call her that Danny. The art gallery is going to open soon though and I need to find a home to buy since I am leaving Boca. I don’t think it’s going to be possible to move back into the offices even after they finish the clean up from the anthrax. The life of a tabloid publisher is not easy my friend, It helps getting my business done being out west, I can be incognito…at least for now. Listen I am about to go through this storage locker so I am going to let you go, but do your best to get those shots of Jackson for me. I want as many as we can in case he is with that kid. Regardless he is going on the cover for the next issue.”
“You got it boss. Oh Diane told me to tell you hello and that she still has all her old sources working on this if you need her help, for a price of course.”
“Oh of course….that’s great Dan. I will call you tomorrow.”
Danny flipped the cell phone closed and repositioned himself in the front seat of his old Dodge pickup. He hated these paparazzi stake outs, he was an audio engineer. He had a craft, but it had all been taken away from him because of his love of a woman. So there was something, no make that someone he hated more than sitting for hours on a stake out and that would be the object of his hunt…Michael Jackson.
July 2003
“Alannah, come over here and sit by me.”
Lexi called to her daughter but was ignored.
“Babygirl, come and keep me company.”
Swinging her legs around she stood up and glared at her Mother and began to walk towards the house,
“Hey, don’t be like that…come here.”
“No!”
Lexi tried to jump up but was unsteady on her feet and it took her a moment to gain her balance. That gave ‘lannah the time it took to sprint to her room.
She found her lying on the bed clutching Brandon’s yellow duck. The sight of her so angry lying there looking so much like her Father shook Lexi for a moment.
“Hey, what’s wrong with you?”
“You don’t care, leave me alone.”
Lexi sat down on the bed and stroked the back Alannah’s neglected hair,
“Talk to me, you know I care.”
“No you don’t not anymore; all you want to do cry and sit in the bathroom. I want to go home. I want to see Daddy. Why won’t you let me see my Daddy?”
Looking at her in shock Lexi replied,
“But you just saw him, it’s only been a couple of months ‘lannah.”
It was then that Alannah started to cry, big shaking sobs so unlike her tough personality usually allowed her to show,
“No…no Mommy that was last summer, I want to go home. Please can we go home?”
As her daughter climbed into her arms she was frightened by what she had said, had it really been that long? What was she letting happen to them?
“Were going to go home Babygirl. I’ll take you to see your Daddy, Grandma Sally and Tia Bernie too.”
His presence in the house suddenly felt oppressive, she had never noticed that before and she became wary. Watching as he wheeled his suitcase in he gave her the same greeting as he had so many times before but she felt uneasy and unsure of herself.
“Hi Babe, its good to be back here, LA is so terrible. Man, It is so much better being here with you.”
Bending down to kiss her he ran his hands tenderly over her bare shoulders and she felt a chill.
“That’s great, I’m happy that you are back safely.” Lexi did her best to keep calm.
Propping open his briefcase he emptied out the contents; peanuts from his flight, a Wall Street Journal, and a tabloid with a lurid headline and front page picture of Michael and the scandal surrounding him. Lexi visibly swallowed but tried to maintain her composure. She had been cut off from television, from the news, from her life…and there it was in front of her. Michael desperately needed her and she had abandoned him again.
Patrick didn’t miss the flicker of recognition when he tossed the magazine on the table but he went about his routine hoping Lexi would mention the magazine cover and open up the conversation.
“Patrick, can I make you a drink?”
He was surprised, normally she would be ready to feel the fire in her vein and he would be taking care of her instead of the pleasant offer of a mixed drink.
“No, I’m great. You look beautiful tonight Alexis, you must be feeling better?”
“Um, I guess. A bit better I suppose. Listen Pat, I know you just got in but I need to talk to you.”
“Sure whatever it is I’m here for you.”
Lexi took a deep breath,
“Well Ok then, Pat…Alannah and me well we are ready to go back to California. I um…I um think we want to leave in the morning.”
He didn’t say anything at first, he just picked up one of the packets of airline peanuts and swung it back and forth between his fingers beating it against the palm of his hand over and over as he thought about her words. Lexi became nervous and mindlessly reached out a picked up the tabloid staring at Michael’s picture while she waited. Finally he cleared his throat and spoke, his words soft but menacing.
“No Alexis, I don’t think you are going to go back to California. Not in the morning, not the next day, not even next year. You see no one knows where you are, and nobody cares….”
He turned and stared directly into her eyes and she suddenly became scared with the coldness that looked back at her.
“No one cares anymore….not your Mother, your Sister, or even your freak ex boyfriend.”
Lexi recoiled, startled by his words and tone,
“What! What do you mean Patrick? They know where I am, I sent my Mom a letter before we left Cabo it had all of our information on your house here.”
His smirk was what most would call evil and it finally sunk in to her that she was in real trouble and she felt trapped,
“…I guess you are remembering asking me to take it to mail for you now aren’t you….Doctor Garcia?”
“What do you want…is it money. I can get you money?”
“Oh you are right, I want money. But like I said neither you nor that little girl of yours are going anywhere.”
Her eyes began to flood over with tears and she held the magazine close to her heart without thinking.
Patrick ripped it out of her hands and tore it in two, throwing it onto the floor at their feet.
“I told you he doesn’t care, he has his own problems and they are going to put him away for a long, long time. It’s just what he deserves too…”
Trying to get away Lexi pushed herself backwards over the cushions as he pursued her,
“Don’t hurt my baby…please don’t hurt ‘lannah.”
Falling backwards onto the floor he landed on top of her, his voice snarling in her ear,
“Oh trust me it’s not the little girl I want. I’m not like him…”
Pushing her dress down around her waist and he roughly squeezed her breast and continued,
“I want a real, grown woman to fuck.”
Lexi struggled against him kicking and clawing, trying to get leverage but he was strong and she was weakened by her illness and addiction.
“Stop…please stop..don’t, dont do this…no.”
Her cries turned into sobs and then soft whimpers as he took the last of her pride away from her on the tile floor of the Villa in La Paz….its rustic beauty a million miles away from where she had left her heart in Neverland.
November 2003
Hearing their song play over and over on the production was an act unto itself for him. It had been four months since he had hired the private investigator to find Lexi and Alannah and nothing had turned up. Not even a phone call had been made by them. Her house in Cabo San Lucas had been empty since a few weeks after she left California. The PI had scoured the town looking for any sign of them but had come up empty, even the house yielded no clues. He told Michael that it looked like they had packed for a trip and never returned but that was the best information he could provide. Michael decided though that he wasn’t going to give up hope. No he wouldn’t give up hope…and each night he prayed that God would keep them safe.
Just before midnight though, he found that he needed God to keep him safe. Michael was shaken out of what little bit of peace he had by a phone call…they hadn’t just come to search his home, they came to destroy it….and him too. They videotaped and cataloged, dumped his belongings onto the floor and even went through his laundry. Nothing was sacred, from the warrant for his arrest to the prying eyes of the law, it was then that Michael finally lost his famous cool. His temper overflowed and he trashed his hotel room, leaving it for his Mother Katherine to clean. Lashing out in frustration and fear of what was to come, and terrified that they might try to take away his children. As he sat amongst the remnants of the room in Las Vegas he tried to figure out how he had arrived at that particular moment….he wondered why he just couldn’t have had the peace he craved.
Hunter’s smiling face at the top of the stairs was the moment it all really changed. From the moment he left her that day long ago; young, beautiful and full of love for him his life had seemed to not be in his control. He spent hours crying for the insanity of it all, crying for how unfair life could be…he was a good man and only wanted to help people. Finally he cried for the promise of Hunter’s and their babies lives that were taken so soon. He decided they were not going to be lost in vain, he was going to fight. Fight for himself, for his kids, for his fans and for their memory, even if he was the only one left on earth that remembered it. She would want him to stand up for what was right and spend the rest of his life with his family….with someone, with Lexi…he would find her again and they would be happy.
The damage was less noticeable downstairs except for his office and he had been warned that his bedroom was destroyed. Although he dreaded it, he had requested that the housekeepers leave it for him to see so it sat untouched as he made his way up the stairs.
Michael’s mind barely registered the crews madly working around the property attempting to repair the damage that had been made to his home. His focus was solely on the doors to his bedroom, and he dreaded going in. What had they done to his private space and all the memories and precious things that were held inside?
His gasp was loud as he walked through the door of the main bedroom. Clothes, books and his artwork were scattered about as well as his music. His mattress was stripped of the designer bedding and several holes had been cut out of it as it stared back at him like an ugly monster….his bed, their precious bed was ruined.
He had given orders not to be disturbed and he breathed out a soft, “Oh god.” as he slowly sunk to his knees and buried his head in his hands. The immensity of what had occurred to his life surrounding him, all of it torn and tattered.
Trying not to lose it, he gulped down huge breaths of air and squeezed his eyelids tightly together wondering if he could make it through the torment that was becoming his life.
….and that’s when he felt a caress on his cheek, tentatively at first, but as he opened his eyes he began to focus…focus on who was near. Listening to who was calling his name over his cries…
“Michael…Michael baby…oh god babe…”
Michael wiped his eyes thinking he was dreaming, but he wasn’t.
“Lex? Oh my god….Alexis? Is it you?”
Pulling her close he was overcome with emotion and relief,
“Oh Lex where have you been….they took it away. Neverland is gone. Neverland is gone.” Their gut wrenching sobs shaking them both uncontrollably for several minutes as they held each other tight.
She saw his face drop as he looked at her, and she hung her head so he couldn’t see in her eyes.
“Hey…hey”
He said lifting her chin up with his fingers in that familiar way,
“I love you…”
Michael watched her tears splash onto his hand as he pulled her in for a soft kiss. She still made his heart beat fast and his body come alive by her mere presence.
“Where’s ‘lannah? I wanna see my girl.”
Lexi was still crying and she stumbled over her words as she answered him,
“On the…on..on the floor on the other side of your bed, we’ve been here a couple of hours. They let us in, don don’t be mad at them Michael.”
She didn’t even think he heard her because he was already on his way to his daughter.
“She has grown so big, Lex….” He exclaimed as rounded the bed.
Carefully he scooped her off of the floor and they made their way down the stairs and out towards the bungalows. Michael pretended not to notice Lexi’s slight limp as she slowly followed him along the path.
As they approached The Giving Tree Lexi paused,
“Michael, I need to stop here…please just for a moment.”
Her face was still covered in tears and he didn’t have the heart to tell her how much his arm hurt from the contusions the handcuffs had left, or how badly his back ached as he held ‘lannah. He was just so relieved to see them again, he merely nodded and held tight to his daughter and watched as Lexi walked up to the base of the tree and gently placed her hand against the trunk and reverently whispered,
“Thank you…thank you for listening when I had no one else. I know you protected us when we were truly scared Hunter. I will take care of him for you just like I promised. I will do everything I can to take care of him, thank you so much for helping us finally come back home.”
She stumbled as she turned back towards the path and Michael was afraid she might fall so he made his way to her side,
“What happened to you Alexis, where have you been?”
He gently put his arm around her as they started to walk. Lexi’s shoulders shook from her sobs but she started to stand a bit straighter as she stood beside him.
“I don’t want to talk about it yet…not yet Michael.”
“Whenever you’re ready Babe, whenever you’re ready.”
To be continued….
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Comments
Wow….just..wow..I dont eve nknow what else to say…
Bravo once again….
Wow…
Oh damn! Shit just got real!
Well I had this whole thing typed out. And then it erased it.. Damn it.. All I can say conherently now is I am so thankful that Michael and Lexi is together….
You are the bomb girl..
That would be Coherently… LOL…
amazing as usual 🙂
Yeayy, Lexi’s back, Grace is out. I can’t wait to read how Lexi managed to take Alannah,leave Patrick, and be beside Michael just when he needed her most.
Great update gurl!
So…needless to say,I’ve been checking everyday for the update! It was sooo greeeaaattt to come here tonight and see it and READ IT!!! Oh my! Powerful stuff…she’s home, thank goodness. He’s going to need her to fight the next battle in his life.
Excellent job, once again…you rock! When I grow up, I wanna rock like you DPYT!!!!!
So in the next installment, Patrick gets hit and killed by a mack truck, right?? Danny gets struck by lightning and fried to a tater tot?? Bastards!!
Reading the references about Brandon’s duck, Hunter and Mike’s last day together, the raid, the “perp walk” and the booking…I’m super emotional now. Maybe it has to do with Michael’s birthday being six days away or maybe I just need a long vacation. The point is, this installment rocks! I feel like I’m on a roller coaster.
I have so many questions about what Lexi did to get her and the baby free!! Can’t wait to see how this whole thing unfolds…..
OH I am so glad Lexi and Lanna are back at Neverland with Michael ….I REALLY want to know how she managed to get away from Patrick , that will be some story but , all in due time .
Man , sigh of relieve and now on with Michael’s battle and I am so happy that Lexi will be there by his side…
Love, love, love.
I’m very happy.
A big hug.
Stopping in to do some re-reading and to show some love…
aawww im soo happy she better not die and him either i just want them to live happily ever after which they both deserve!
I love it …. It was beautiful please continue
Im sooo sorry for being late …long story. but anyway I thought this chapter was beautiful! and I really loved it when lexi wanted to stop at the tree and thank hunter!! that alone was just ……everything!!!!! Please keep’em comming …I really love how u pyt everything together 🙂
Oh yea, and Im very happy that Mike and Lexi are back together again. 🙂
I’m late again…damn!
I’m with everyone else. Hold off on the loving MJ and let Lexi tell us how she made her escape with ‘lannah!
I could have never predicted the story going this way. DPYT, we’re going wherever you lead us. 🙂
Wow…that was just crazy. Smdh at patrick…evil crazy bastard…I’m glad she got away from him…that part where he raped her just broke my heart…sigh. a good thing is that alannah didn’t get hurt. Mike and Lexi really need eachother now…more then ever.
Can’t wait for the next chapter love!
Can’t wait for u to continue Michael finally got his family back and the love of his life back in his arms
Oh my so much damage it makes me want to cry :'( But I’m so glad they are at least together now so they can be at each other’s side as they fight and heal. Their love will help them get through. I just really hope that Patrick is dead!! I hope that evil man was killed trying to keep Lexi and Lannah captive!
UPDAte…..PLEASE!!!! I am soooo hooked on this story. Hope that SOB Patrick is dead or if he isn’t, Michael has it taken care of. I know Michaels not a violet man, but I think when it would come to his family, or someone he loved…. He would be like the rest of us….. Human….
On my iPhone so I pray this posts lol. Awesome, heartbreaking post. Just too real for me. Honestly I skimmed the part when he checked his house after the raid, that was too much fact to read, too hard.
:(( but really well written and honest. This was one of the best chap. So far. I also hope Allanna came up behind Patrick when he was on Lex and put a knife in his neck.
No, I won’t corrupt her, I’ll just say hope Lex did it while he was sleeping. Good riddance! I wish I could say Michael life actually gets better…we need less reality now.
Hey Dangerous girl, I’ve been checking here almost on a daily basis for an update!!! PLEASE, OH PLEASE let it be soon!!! Love ya girl!!!
I know you guys are waiting. Will be writing this weekend. Sorry life has been pretty busy…but trust me it’s been simmering real good inside.
What a wonderful – heartbreaking reunion – he is broken on the inside and she is broken on the outside – and she has been praying to Hunter to help her. Oh the injustice, the hurt, the awfulness that is to come – please let them be there for each other
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