Michael Jackson by J. Randy Taraborrelli Read Free Book Online

Michael to go into the audience, crawl under tables, lift up women's skirts,
     and peek at their panties. No matter how embarrassed Michael was by this gimmick, he embellished each performance by rolling
     his eyes and smiling wickedly. He knew that the audience members loved the bit enough to throw money on to the stage afterwards.
     The boys would then scramble for the loose change. After a show like this one, the boys would go home to their religious mother,
     who would then tuck them into bed and remind them of the virtues of being a good Jehovah's Witness. She truly never knew anything
     about the nightclub act until many years later.
    Of course, when the Jackson boys were on the road, Katherine remained at home with the younger children. Her absence gave
     Joseph carte blanche to date other women – mostly groupies. The boys were well aware that he was exploiting their talent for
     the purposes of having sex. Marlon has recalled his father coming into his sons' hotel rooms with shapely beauties on both
     of his arms. ‘G'night, fellows,’ he would say. The boys, in bed in their pyjamas, would watch silently as their father and
     his lady friends closed the door behind them. They could then hear laughter and other sounds from Joseph's room, next door.
     It was as if he
wanted
them to know what he was doing behind Katherine's back. What was he thinking? Who knew? He'd become an enigma, just as much
     a mystery then, in his thirties, as his son, Michael, would be at the same age.
    However, a few things about Joseph seemed clear: he was an insecure man with crippled judgement. Also, he never felt fully
     appreciated by his family. No matter how successful and popular Joseph would make his sons, or how much he gave to his wife
     and daughters, he always felt a lack of gratitude and respect from them. They rarely showed him affection. Tender moments
     between any of them were uncommon. Perhaps it was because he had stopped being a demonstrative person once his focus in life
     completely shifted to the success of his sons (and he had never been that effusive, anyway). His family did not know how to
     relate to him, and he couldn't understand them either. Therefore, Joseph wandered outside the household for appreciation,
     for validation.
    ‘He used to do the meanest things to us,’ Michael once told me of his father. He said he was revolted by the thought of whatever
     was occurring in Joseph's room with his girlfriends. (The lyrics to his song ‘Scream’, come to mind: ‘Oh, father, please,
     have mercy 'cause I just can't take it/Stop fucking with me!’.) At such a young age, Michael was forced to wonder how Joseph
     could repeatedly betray Katherine and, apparently, not be the least bit ashamed of his actions. Decades later, he is still
     conflicted by his father's actions. ‘I loved Joseph,’ he said during a break from his 2003 interview with Martin Bashir. Unexpectedly,
     tears welled in his eyes. ‘At the same time, I hated him for what he did to my mother.’ He swallowed hard, trying to push
     back the emotion. ‘My poor mother,’ he said. ‘My poor family,’ he added, sadly. ‘My poor, poor family.’
    None of her sons would ever hurt Katherine by revealing to her what her husband was doing while they were on the road, and
     they certainly didn't dare betray Joseph in that way, either. Having to lie to their mother was an additional burden. ‘Katherine,
     of course, has never had a lover. She's always been faithful to Joseph,’ recalled Susie Jackson, who was married to Johnny
     Jackson, the group's drummer. ‘This only made them love their mother even more. The kids just had to learn to lie to heir
     mother, be hypocritical, and be very good at it. She would ask, “Well, what does Joseph do while you guys are out there working?”
     And they would say, “Nothing. He just lays around.” It was true, but not by himself.’
    Dr Carole Lieberman, a Los Angeles-based psychologist, who has not