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It was a busy afternoon in the fall of 2006 as patients, awaiting appointments with their respective doctors, occupied the comfortable padded chairs in the clinic waiting room. Among them, 45-year-old Renee-Beauchene Alexander- accompanied by good friend, 38-year-old MyKayla Jackson-seated in one of the chairs placed along the wall in front of the window, sat occupying her time by writing in a spiral notebook she held on her lap. Shortly, a door leading into the waiting room from an inner area, opened and a young nurse dressed in scrubs, and carrying a chart, stepped into the waiting area.

"Renee?" the nurse called to all while scanning the room.

"Finally." Renee replied under her breath as she checked her watch.

"They take their sweet time, don't they?" replied MyKayla, also in a low voice.

"Mm, hm." replied Renee as she rose and gathered her handbag, and other belongings. "Oh, well, at least I was able to get an appointment...Good thing. I'm running low on my meds...See you in a bit." Renee concluded as she crossed over to the nurse who ushered Renee into the inner examination area, and closed the door behind them.

After ushering Renee over to a scale where she checked her weight and made a notation in her chart, the nurse led Renee into an examination room where she instructed Renee to sit in one of the chairs beside the door, and after Renee complied, the nurse wrapped a cloth cuff around Renee's upper arm, and proceeded to check Renee's blood pressure. However, while taking Renee's blood pressure, the nurse became transfixed with Renee‘s appearance.

"Is anything wrong?" asked Renee, sensing the nurse's steady gaze.

"What...? Oh, I'm sorry" the nurse replied while removing and putting away the blood pressure cuff, embarrassed by the realization that she had been staring. "I just couldn't help noticing...you look a lot like Michael Jackson...It's your long hair, and your clothes. You look like Michael does in his "Scream" video. You probably get that a lot, huh?"

Hearing someone point out her resemblance to Michael Jackson made Renee laugh out loud good naturedly.

"Every once in a while some one will do a double-take. Especially if it's someone who's never seen me before. I remember when Michael released his "Blood On The Dance Floor" video. To celebrate, I wore a red outfit, and had my hair fastened in a braid down my back...When I got to work, I noticed the looks I was getting but then- when everyone saw I was wearing a skirt, and my jacket had ruffles on the collar and cuffs, and also that my eyes are actually a really dark blue rather than brown- ,things went back to normal. If people really want to see someone who looks like Michael, they should see my husband...he really does. In fact, when we met, I was working in a record store, and he came in-looking like Michael in that picture with him, Brooke Shields, and Emmanuel Lewis-you know the one I mean..."

"Yeah." replied the nurse, remembering the photo of Michael, Brooke and Emmanuel taken when the three attended a celebrity function in Hollywood.

"Here, look at this..." said Renee after grabbing the handle of her handbag, and pulling out her wallet. "..For our first date, my husband and I went to a costume party at the school where he worked. The theme was "famous couples in the performing arts..."

"Hey, that's Mr. Ty!" exclaimed the nurse, recognizing Renee's husband, Tyrell Alexander, in the picture. "My sister is in one of his classes this semester...You're right, he does look like Michael...wow! Which does he like better, teaching Michael's moves or performing them himself?"

"He actually likes both." replied Renee, as she took back the photo and put it back in her bag. "But I'm guessing if he got more chances to perform, he'd go for those in a second."

The mention of her husband performing made Renee think of something and she reached in her bag, and removed an envelope.

"Oh, if you're interested, I'm selling tickets for this year's all-school music festival. It's going to be all-Michael Jackson this year."

"Thanks," replied the nurse. "But my sister sold me a couple just the other day."

"Good deal." replied Renee. "Ty's really looking forward to performing "Billie Jean" this year. He says if they can pull it together in time, they'll even be doing "Thriller". The director of the festival said they needed a grand finale. I can imagine the schools' costume departments looking forward to making all the students up to look like zombies."

"Maybe they could do something easier, like "Smooth Criminal", or "Bad"." replied the nurse.

"Oh, they're already doing those." replied Renee.

"Really?...Wow." replied the nurse.

"I actually suggested they do something easier and less ambitious like "Beat It" or "Will You Be There?" replied Renee

"Less ambitious? I don't understand." said the nurse.

"Less ambitious as far as choreography and getting the costumes is concerned." replied Renee.

"Oh, right." replied the nurse.

"Oh, well. I'm sure they'll think of something." Renee replied.

"What is the reason for your appointment today?" asked the nurse, changing the subject.

"Check up, and prescription refills." replied Renee.

"Okay." replied the nurse while making notes in Renee's chart.” The doctor will want to check the affectiveness of the depigmentation...He'll want to check your burn scars too. So, I need you to change into this gown which opens up the front, and the doctor will be with you shortly."

"Thank you." replied Renee as the nurse excused herself and closed the door behind her.

While waiting for the doctor, Renee changed out of the black pants and matching long-sleeved shirt she was wearing-placing them on the chair she'd been sitting in, her shoes on the floor under the chair-and put on the gown, holding it closed around herself as she crossed over to and sat on the end of the examination table. While waiting for her doctor, Renee pulled all but the bottom-most layer of her dark hair-the length actually a combination of hair weaves and extensions-up to reveal her natural short hair underneath, and fastened it in a pony tail at the back of her head. Afterward, she picked up the spiral notebook and pen she'd brought with her, and checked over what she'd recently written. Just as she was about to resume writing, a knock sounded on the exam room door, which opened as her doctor, Richard Barkley,-a tall, pleasant man with graying hair and glasses-entered carrying her chart.

"Well, I have good news, young lady." said Dr. Barkley as he entered the room, and closed the door after him. "Your Lupus is still in remission."

"Great." replied Renee, as Dr.Barkley stepped closer and began his examination.

"I see your hair is growing back...very nice." commented Dr. Barkley.

"Yes." replied Renee. "And if my Lupus stays in remission, maybe...just maybe...I'll be able to lose the weaves and extensions...not that I mind them...My mother was a black woman, but she never had to wear weaves or extensions. She got her good hair growth from my grandmother."

"Your grandmother was Polynesian, wasn't she?' asked Dr. Barkley.

"Yes," Renee replied. "From New Zealand ''They say I get my good hair from her side...And my Vitiligo from my grandfather."

"I read somewhere Michael Jackson got his Vitiligo from one of his ancestors." Dr. Barkley replied.

"I read that too." said Renee. "I also read that Lupus was one of the reasons he began wearing hair extensions."

"I remember seeing the Pepsi commercial he made...the one where he got burned while filming it." said Dr. Barkley

"Yes, I saw that too..." replied Renee. "If only the producers hadn't insisted on that additional take, .things would be so different for Michael now.” continued Renee.

. “And for the people he's helped over the years." added Dr. Barkley, able to see a bright side. " Think about it, if he hadn't had that accident, he wouldn't have sued Pepsi, and there wouldn't have been a burn center opened in his name."

"Nicole and Jean-Paul were treated at that center." Renee remembered. "I was treated at the hospital across the street. We were living in California at the time, while Tyrell was deciding whether he wanted to pursue a career in show business, or become a teacher full-time...Actually, I think teaching was the wiser decision especially since the kids and I were major parts of his life by then."

"Hmm!" replied Dr. Barkley in agreement while examining the burn scars on Renee's arms. 'Well, your skin grafts are healing nicely...Good...How is the depigmentation cream working for you?"

'Just fine." Renee replied as Dr. Barkley slipped the gown off her body, and examined her skin tone. "I'll be needing more of it..."

"I'll write you another prescription." replied Dr. Barkley. "What an interesting tattoo." said Dr. Barkley as he fingered the tattoo on Renee's back before replacing the gown on Renee's shoulders. "I know this picture...Of Michael Jackson at about 18 or 19 years old, smiling and holding a white bird...And the bird has the number 14 dangling from its neck."

"I got that the day after Michael's acquittal." replied Renee. "It symbolizes the 14 doves released after the reading of each "not guilty" verdict. Michael was acquitted of all 14 charges.”

"So, what do you think about Michael being acquitted?" asked Dr. Barkley.

"I think it's wonderful...especially since he never did anything to anyone." replied Renee.

"My daughter-in-law is at law school studying similar cases, and she was saying Evan Chandler and Janet Arvizo both fit the mold of an extortionist." added Dr. Barkley.

"As far as I'm concerned, Evan Chandler and Janet Arvizo are two greedy, evil people who had no qualms about ruining Michael's life just so they could get their hands on his money!" replied Renee. "Love of money truly is the root of all evil."

"Mm!..." replied Dr. Barkley in agreement. "How is the Attenolol working for you?"

"Fine." replied Renee. "I still don't like to be outside in open areas for very long but I don't feel as anxious on the Attenolol."

"What about the other anxiety medication?" asked the doctor.

"The Lexapro is fine...the Celexa is a little strong." replied Renee.

"Considering the severity of your agoraphobic symptoms, I think you should continue taking both the Lexapro and the Celexa." replied Dr. Barkley, while writing on a prescription pad. "I'll decrease the dosage of the latter… How's your radio show going?" asked Dr. Barkley.

"Great, thanks." replied Renee. "I'll be holding an all- Michael Jackson radiothon in a couple of weeks. I'll be inviting people to call in and make donations to any of the thirty nine charities Michael's worked with. I published the list of those in the paper recently."

"Yes, I saw it." replied Dr. Barkley.

"And another portion of the money will be going to Michael as a way of thanking him for everything he's done over the years. Tyrell and I are going to be making contributions to the Red Cross, the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation, and the Brothman Burn Center. Our children Nicole and Jean-Paul were treated at the burn center after the car wreck. They both have a great deal of respect for Michael...He's their role model....They're good kids. When the molestation allegations started against Michael, Jean-Paul immediately brushed them off as nonsense. Nicole went a step further. She's like me. She wrote a letter to each tabloid telling them to shut up and back off. She'd wanted to write to the Chandler and Arvizo families, and give them a piece of her mind about what they'd done to Michael but she couldn't find their addresses." replied Renee. "I told her the reason she couldn't find them was because she was looking in a French phone book, and the Chandlers and Arvizos live in the United States...Nicole is living in Nice helping out her grandparents...I was able to find the addresses for her, so she still might send the letters."

"That's what those families need alright, a good tongue-lashing by the public." commented Dr.Barkley. "If she goes through with it, tell her good luck from me."

"I'll do it." replied Renee. "Oh, by the way." Renee continued, the mention of letters making her think of envelopes which reminded her of the envelope of tickets she had in her handbag. "I almost forgot." she continued while getting up and holding the gown closed around her as she grabbed her handbag, and took out another envelope. "Here are your tickets for the all-school district music festival."

"Oh, yes...thank you." replied Dr. Barkley taking the envelope, checking the contents, and slipping the envelope in his lab coat pocket. "Any word on this year's theme?" asked the doctor. "Last year's salute to Broadway classics was particularly entertaining."

"This year, they've decided to showcase Michael Jackson." replied Renee. "They chose him because of his incomparable talent, and the contributions he's made in music and performing in general."

"Excellent choice." Dr. Barkley replied. "I'm looking forward to it...I'm sure my wife and youngest daughter will be too."

"They're fans of his too, are they?" asked Renee.

"Oh, yes. Especially my wife." replied the doctor. "Seems she and the Jackson family were neighbors in Gary, and she went to school with Jackie, Tito, and Rebbie. She tells stories of how she and her friends would sneak down to the shopping malls to watch the Jackson Five perform...sort of "I knew them when" stories."

"Wow." said Renee. "So when did your daughter first find out about them...about Michael, I mean?"

"Oh, she'd always known about him.” Dr. Barkley replied. “..she just didn't really start taking an interest until much later when Michael and his brothers were older, and just calling themselves " The Jacksons."

"I more or less "discovered" Michael and the Jackson Five by accident." said Renee. "We'd moved from Nice to Hawaii so my father could work the mission field in Honolulu, and someone, I'm not sure who, had left a "Jackson Five" cassette tape lying around. Well, I found it, took it home, stuck it in my tape recorder and..."

"...You played it, and were hooked." Dr. Barkley chimed in pleasantly grinning as he finished Renee's train of thought.

"Yes, pretty much." Renee continued grinning with a chuckle. "And the funny thing was, I was the only kid my age, that I knew about, who listened to the Jackson Five. It seemed all the other kids I knew were listening to Donny Osmond...At least, that's how it seemed because that's all I heard when I was around them. The natives of Hawaii had set up a mission encampment for us to live in, and we lived there with some non-Polynesian European members of the Mormon church. There were other Christians there too but anyway. I remember this occasion when I was in one of the structures at the camp...one that had been built to use as a school...And I was sitting at this table, doing my homework, minding my own business ,and I had my Jackson Five tape playing, and this pushy little white girl came over, snapped off my tape player, ejected the tape, and tossed it on the table, all the while saying: "Ew! Don't listen to that! That's jungle bunny music! Here! Listen to this instead!" And she popped in another tape, snapped on the player, and for the life of me, I don't know how many times I'd heard Donny Osmond singing "Just Like A Yo-Yo" and "Puppy Love" before my father finished his mission work, and we moved back to Nice. Actually, my father would've been able to finish his work if it hadn't been for an incident that had made it necessary for us to leave early. Turns out that little girl's father was a member of the Ku Klux Klan, and he and a few others had threatened to burn down the encampment if anyone who wasn't white happened to be living there. I remember the night they announced their intentions, there was the little girl-dressed in a little white robe and hood-holding a little bamboo cross-pretending to strike a match to it-grinning from ear to ear."

"Hm, a Mormon in the Ku Klux Klan..." replied Dr. Barkley.

"It turned out the girl and her father weren't really Mormons. The father was arrested by Hawaiian authorities for attempted arson a few weeks later. Of course, by the time we found out, my father had already taken my mother and me back to Nice where we knew we were among people who didn't care if we were black or white, or in my case, both. I can't believe my skin used to be so brown...now it's the color of chalk practically." continued Renee, while studying her hands.

"What amazes me are the folks who don't believe there's such a thing as Vitiligo, or that Michael Jackson has it." replied the doctor.

"Merde! What is wrong with some people?" replied Renee, having heard the comments made about Michael by the media. "Believing there's no such thing as Vitiligo, or that Michael Jackson doesn't have the disease but that he bleaches his skin is as asinine as Tom Cruise claiming there's no such animal as psychiatry. "Michael Jackson bleaches his skin." Renee muttered with mocking sarcasm. "Those idiots bleach their brains! I've even had people ask me if I was an albino, and when I tell them "No, I have Vitiligo." they look at me like "Vitil...what?" Renee continued while mimicking a dumbfounded expression.

"There's been a lot of that skin bleaching belief where Michael is concerned." Dr. Barkley replied.

"I know, and it's pathetic...People need to WISE UP where Michael is concerned. They need to quit making fun of things THEY don't understand, and educate themselves...educate, educate, educate!" said Renee as she pounded her lap for emphasis. "Oops!" she continued while scooting off the exam table to pick up her pen and notebook which had fallen to the floor.

"How's your journal work going?" asked Dr. Barkley, as he handed the pen and notebook back to Renee.

"Good...Thank you." replied Renee. "It helps cut the loneliness and isolation I sometimes feel especially on my days off, or when Ty has to be away over night-which isn’t very often, once every few months if at all. My counselor suggested I write my journal entries to someone...to someone I had something in common with...When she suggested Michael, it surprised me because I didn't think I had that much in common with him but then I began doing my research, and discovered I have a lot in common with him--We both have two younger siblings, and six or seven older. We both love our world and the things and people in it. We both have deep personal convictions about God; and of course there's the Lupus, the Vitiligo, and periods of loneliness and isolation. I read somewhere he has to wear disguises if he wants to go out in public and just chill with a friend for some down time without being mobbed. The fact he has to conceal his identity like that must be incredibly isolating...I know how lonely I'd feel if I had to hide myself and not tell people who I was when we were out in public."

"People recognize you, do they?" replied Dr. Barkley.

"Once in a while someone will recognize my voice but that's hardly the same thing. It's funny though, occasionally I get recognized by people who think I look like Michael...This very afternoon for instance one of your nurses..." Renee continued breaking off only after starting to chuckle.

'Is that right?" replied Dr. Barkley, also chuckling at the idea of Renee being a Michael Jackson look-a-like.

"To be honest, I don't see it...Oh well." replied Renee.

"Alright, young lady, you're good to go." said Dr. Barkley while handing Renee some slips of paper on which were written her prescriptions. "Unless you need me for anything else, I don't need to see you again for twelve months."

"Thank you, Dr." Renee replied as Dr. Barkley left the exam room, closing the door behind him. As soon as the door to the exam room closed, Renee put her clothes back on, and after draping the exam gown over the end of the exam table, gently pulled the elastic band out of her hair, and shook her head so her hair fell loosely to her shoulders. After putting the elastic back in her hand bag, she crossed to the sink at one side of the room and washed her hands.

"Michael Jackson in his Scream video." Renee said aloud to herself as she looked at her reflection in the towel dispenser from which she pulled two paper towels to dry her hands. "Morticia Addams from the "Addams Family" is more like it...oh well." she continued with a chuckle as she slipped the strap of her hand bag over her shoulder, checked and straightened her clothes, crossed the room, turned the knob, opened the door, and left the exam room.

After stopping at the cashier's window to pay her bill, Renee turned the knob of the exit door, walked back out to the waiting room, and over to her friend MyKayla who was now chatting with another young woman.

"Oh my God!...This is great!...I just love Michael Jackson, and I love you guys for playing his music." said the young woman to whom MyKayla had just given tickets to a concert she and her band "Speed Demon" had scheduled. "Tickets to your concert two weeks from now...thank you so much." the young woman continued as she gratefully hugged MyKayla before recognizing Renee. "Oh my God, hi! You're Renee right?...Renee Alexander from the radio...I listen to your show all the time...Drives my parents crazy. They can't understand why anyone'd want to listen to Michael Jackson twenty-four seven, three-sixty-five."

"Speaking of twenty-four-seven, two weeks from Friday, I'm going to be broadcasting a marathon of Michael's music, and people will be able to contribute to Michael, and any of the thirty-nine charities he's worked with, or both..." said Renee.

"Wow...sounds great...and when is this going to be?" asked the young woman.

"Two weeks from Friday for a total of forty eight hours, starting at seven a.m." replied Renee.

"Awesome...I'll be sure and listen." the young woman replied as Renee and MyKayla opened the door to the doctor's office and left the building.


Kindred Spirits (c) 2010
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