The Michael Jackson Tapes Read Free Page B

evening at the synagogue was one of the happiest of his life. And he told Frank, his mother, and others the same thing. That evening made a mark on him.
    A week or so after his wonderful experience at the Carlebach synagogue, Michael invited me and my family to his home for dinner. I explained that we’re kosher and he went out and got a kosher caterer. When we all had dinner with him, I really started to notice just how shy he was.
    Sitting there altogether, I found it almost impossible to imagine him as a superstar. He seemed so utterly ordinary. He remained shy even in
his own (albeit temporary) home and I noticed that he hated existing at the center of attention in an intimate setting. Having people look at him up close made him feel like he was being evaluated and he became reticent. I surmised that perhaps this was due to the fact that he believed people were looking at him as a freak. But then, as we were getting up from dinner, which he barely ate, he hummed a tune from one of his songs and in that instant the beautiful voice reminded me of his vast talent that was usually nowhere apparent.
    On Thanksgiving, Michael invited my entire family to see Disney’s Toy Story at a regular theater. Michael’s family and mine came in once the movie started and everything was dark. The last few rows had been blocked off and the theater brought all of us popcorn and drinks. I sat one row in front of Michael as he laughed uncontrollably throughout the movie. At first it struck me as juvenile. After all, this was a kid’s film and I was attending it only for the sake of my children. But to be honest, hearing Michael in fits of laughter in the seat behind me was liberating, like it was okay for adults to let their guard down and see the world through the innocent eyes of a child. Soon I was laughing as well. This episode made Michael more human and further endeared him to me. Just before it was over we left. We missed the very beginning and end, but no one ever knew Michael Jackson was in the theater.
    Some other family “adventures” didn’t feel as innocent and uncomplicated. There was a shopping trip to FAO Schwartz that Michael intended to be the toy spree of a lifetime for my kids. He said he often went there and they closed the whole store for him. “I love it there,” he said “We’ll go, just us, and the kids can get whatever they want.” So my wife and I discussed it and decided we would join Michael but with an important caveat. We sat our kids down and explained that they could each spend 25 dollars maximum—two gifts, 12 bucks each.
    The trip was an adventure. When we got to the store Michael came to life. He seemed to know it intimately and took us to every floor, trying toys, demonstrating how they worked, encouraging the kids to fill up their carts. Our children were showing the toys to us saying, “Ma is that too much?” Michael was watching and said to us it wasn’t fair since they closed the whole store and we were barely going to spend 150 dollars. Some other kids came from another family and they didn’t
have the same constraints. But I was adamant. I said to Michael, “There’s no negotiation on this. Everyone has sucked you dry. Believe me, there’s a part of me that can be as materialistic as the next guy. But we’re never going to have that type of relationship.”
    And this attitude was critical. I had already noticed that one of the biggest problems in Michael’s life was the gravy train of hangers-on. If I were to ever become one of them, my very morality would be compromised, which would be terrible for me but even worse for Michael. He needed people with values in his life, not sycophants who could be bought. And I also detected Michael’s inclination to buy friends, which was a sure sign of insecurity. He had to know that he was enough, just the way he was.
    All in all, our families had become fairly close