I sat at the piano, my fingers moving with the notes till I hear the noise of a wrong note once again. Ugh this is frustrating I have been learning this song for God knows how long and I still can’t get that note.
I'm sorry for not introducing myself, my name is Christine Johnson. I am 37 and highly frustrated as you can see. I live in a decently quiet town out here in Louisiana. Well lake Charles, Louisiana if you want specifics. It’s not bad here in the south other than the storms that do come our way. I work as a child psychologist at the local elementary school.
I have been living here with my daughter Caitlyn since she was five. Her father isn’t here anymore due to the fact that he ran away with some blonde hussy and left us here to fend for ourselves. *sigh* but I digress. And if it wasn’t for him I wouldn’t have the love of my life, my daughter, here beside me.
My baby and I, well not much of a baby now seeing as though she is 17 and ready to go off to college in the next year or so, have a great relationship. She is not only my daughter but my best friend. I've talked to her about boys and sex and even about her period. Ugh I know you don’t want to hear about all of that but it’s true.
I remember when she was little we would go up to New Orleans and see the Mardi Gras parade. Oh how she would love it, still puts a smile on my face to this day. Especially when they would throw the beads and because she was so little she couldn’t reach over the adults, so I would put her on my shoulders and let her catch anyone that came in her direction. *Sigh* I could talk all day about her but I have a story to get through.
Well this was a regular summer day, hot, the sun was shining brightly. The heat was reaching up into the 90’s. These are one of the reasons why I thank God for air conditioning. It is unbearable outside. I honestly don’t see how Caitlyn and her friends don’t die of heat stroke out there.
I was inside playing on the piano as my daughter was upstairs talking to her friends over the phone. I trusted who she talked to because my daughter never was the one to give into the wrong kind of crowd. She always had a good head on her shoulders and never just fell for anything. I passed down lessons to her that my mother passed down to me. Like what she used to say “If you stand for nothing, then you'll fall for anything”. I miss my mother so much.
When I got married we moved away from her. She still lives up there with my father in Atlanta. But I miss her immensely.
Anyways, today was like any other summer day but there was a twinge of something in the air. Something that I couldn’t put my finger on, that I couldn’t explain. It just felt different.
As I bang my head on the piano after missing the note once again the door bell rang. Caitlyn ran down the stairs yelling “I got it mom”
“Check the peephole first” I always had to be careful so that my daughter could never be stolen from me. I know it sounds overprotective but I just need to make sure she is safe.
Caitlyn’s POV
“I know mom” I giggle and walk to the door with my bathing suit under my clothes and ready to go. I already knew who it was seeing as though me and some friends are supposed to be going down to the pool today.
Instead of checking the peephole I open the door, expecting my friend Alicia to be there but instead it was a tall man with sunglasses, a fedora and a mask on. My smile dropped instantly not because he was here but because he was wearing a full coat and long pants when it’s 90 degrees out here.
“Hi may I help you?” I ask cautiously as he looks up (well down) at me.
"Hi my car broke down and I was wondering if I could use your phone?” he said with a soft voice. I know that voice… Where do I know that voice?... My mouth was hung open while I tried to figure out what to say. Before I could answer my mom came walking up to us.
Christine’s POV
I wonder who’s at the door. As I get up from the piano I walk to the living room to see Caitlyn talking to some man that was fully covered. I opened the door a little more as I got behind her protectively.
“Hi may I help you?” I ask. He looks up at me and removes his sunglasses.
“Um yes, I was wondering if I may use your phone. My car broke down and my phone was left in a rush to get out” he chuckled a bit out of nervousness.
“Um yea sure. Come right in” Caitlyn and I moved out the way to allow the man to come into our home.
“May I take your jacket Mr.…….?”
“Jackson and thank you.” He removed his jacket and hat and mask. I was frozen when I noticed who it was. It was Michael Jackson. The man that I’ve had a crush on since I was too little to even remember. The man that I inspired to be like when I was younger until a tragic accident happened that left me unable to dance the way I used to. The man whose songs soothed me those nights alone after my husband left.
I looked down and cleared my throat while I took his jacket and hat. I looked to Caitlyn and saw the surprised look on her face as well. I cleared my throat once more and spoke to Caitlyn.
“Baby won’t you show Mr. Jackson to our phone?” she looked at me quickly then turned her head back to Michael and smiled while nodding. She walked him into the family room towards the phone as I struggled to put his things in the closet next to the door.
I walked to towards them and Michael was just now hanging up the phone.
“Thank you for letting me use your phone, I guess I’ll go wait in the car until my ride comes” he flashed me a smile and made his way back to the living room.
“You know you don’t have to sit out there in that car. Your gonna burn to death out there” I said grabbing his arm gently.
He turned around, “But I wouldn’t want to be a hassle for you”
“Oh you wouldn’t be any kind of trouble to me besides we weren’t doing much of anything before you came.”
He chuckled “ok thank you”
“And also I had just finished making lunch would you like some?”
“Um sure what are we having?”
I giggled. “We are having baked chicken with rice and okra”
“Oh wow that sounds great”
-----
After we finished lunch I was so shocked to see a man eat that much.
“Wow someone was hungry” I say teasingly
“Oh I'm sorry it’s just that I haven’t had home cooking in years” he said with a giggle
“Oh it’s fine. I was just teasing” we giggled once more and he directed his attention to Caitlyn.
“So how old are you Caitlyn?”
“17 how old are you Mr. Jackson” he laughed
“Just call me Michael and I am 54. And wow you are only a year older than my son”
She just giggled and smiled
We spent a good 15 minutes until the doorbell rang once again. I get up and head to the door. I open It up to find Darren, one of Caitlyn’s friends, at the door. “Hi Darren”
"Hi Ms. Johnson. I came to come get Caitlyn. We are supposed to be going to the pool.”
"One moment”
I walk back into the family room where Caitlyn and Michael were laughing really hard “Honey Darren is at the door”
“ok Mom” she giggled once more and turned to Michael “Nice to meet you Michael” she said and reached her hand towards him.
He kissed the top of it and replied with a “Nice to meet you to Caitlyn” she blushed then gave me a hug before walking to the door.
“Honey I want you back by 5” I yelled
“Ok mom” she said as she closed the door.
Now I was left with Michael. I smiled at him and he returned it.
“Caitlyn is a nice kid” he said as I giggled
“Thanks, I love her soo much”
“Where is her father if I may ask?”
“He is out of the picture.” I said with a sigh.
“Oh ok. So what were you doing before I happened to show up?”
I giggled “Well I was in the process of learning a song on the piano”
“Oh you play?”
“Yes I was actually learning one of your songs” I said with a blush.
“Which one?”
“Heal the world”
“Ahh ok. need any help?”
“Matter of fact I do”
“Well then lead the way”
---
After me showing him my mess ups and him showing me the correct notes the time had flew by. We were laughing and giggling about different things. It seemed like we talked about everything in the world by the time 20 minutes had gone by.
He is a really nice person to get to know. We talked about his children and his career. He even got a glimpse into my life as well.
Right now he was trying to teach me how to moonwalk. He grabbed my right foot and moved it back the my left one and by the time it is too late, I notice that I'm falling on top of him.
“Oh my goodness. I am so sorry” I say as I get up and try to help him up.
“It’s alright, I'm fine” he said with a giggle and reached for my hand
“I'm so clumsy” I said and pulled him up
“It’s fine, it’s fine. No harm done” he said as he got up and straightened out his clothes.
“Do you know what the worst part of this is?” I said as we walked to one of the sofas.
“What?”
“I used to be a dancer”
“Really? What happened?”
“Well I was in a car accident and it messed up something in my right leg and now I cant dance like that anymore” I looked down
“Oh I'm sorry to hear that” he said as he rubbed my arm in a half hugged embrace.
“it’s fine. Trust me I'm fine with it” I said giggling and not wanting the man that I have looked up to since I was in diapers to pity me.
We sat in silence for a few minutes until the sound of a knock was on the door.
“Oh I think that is my ride” we stood up
“I'm sorry you have to leave so soon”
“Ye well we can always call each other” he said with a hopeful look in his eye.
“Yeah sure I would like that” I giggled then found a piece of paper and a pencil. He wrote his name and number on it and tore it off then folded it and put it in my hand. I then did the same with my own. I walked hi m to the door.
“Well having you here was lovely” I said with a smile.
”Yea it was and thank you for helping me out” he said with a slight blush.
“Oh it was nothing” I sad and giggled. I handed him his jacket and hat out of the closet and he put them on. He opened the door.
“Well I’ll talk to you later?” he asked
“Yeah I’ll talk to you later” I giggled again. What is with me and all of this giggling?
“Well bye” he leaned in and hugged me and kissed me on the cheek. My cheeks turned dark red.
“Bye” I said as he walked down the driveway and to his black SUV. Waved once more and he was gone.
You know today was a very good day!