Chapter 29

The incessant ringing of the telephone startles me from my much deserved sleep and I find myself cussing at the thing to shut the f.uck up! I swear whoever it is that has been blowing up my phone non-stop - if I see them… they better watch out!

Michael mumbles something in his sleep, words to the effect “answer the damn phone baby!” I chuckle lightly as I look at the way he’s sprawled himself over the bed leaving me about two inches of room but I’ve got to give it to him, my baby worked hard today and he deserves him some rest.

Throwing my feet to the floor I get up on shaky legs, ” damn he really laid it on me good” I think to myself before reaching down for his t-shirt to cover up my naked body. I step out into the hallway squinting a little as my eyes adjust to daylight that’s spilling in from the living room windows.

A red light blinks repeatedly on my answer machine as the monitor indicates 9? messages have been recorded. Who in the world is calling my phone this early in the day? I mumble to myself.

Seeing as though the only other person apart from Shawna who has my home number is sound asleep in my bed, I guess you could say confusion washes over me a little as I hit the play button.

Message one the answerphone lady says.

Hey hey babycakes just in case you drag your tired raggedy ass back to the condo I wanted to let ya know I’ll be working aaaaalllllll weekend so don’t wait up for me hunny, this job is the big one I can feel it… I listen on as my cousin Shawna informs me that she’ll be paying for a trip to Cabo San Lucas for us in no time with this “job” and that she hopes I’m having fun with my mystery man and that she can’t wait to meet him when I finally come clean…

Oh and before I forget…. I’m on the damn phone Lucas… Shawna’s voice yells to someone in the background and I freeze when I hear his name. So many times I’ve tried to tell her about that night… the night he tried to kill me it seems, but each and every time I freeze at even the mention of his name... I hear her mumble something about being careful and using protection? Pft what is this girl on about… condoms? I giggle to myself at her foolish talk as I skip to the next message.

BEEP Message two the automated voice says.

“Shawna girl where you at, how come you ain’t answering your cell? I thought we were tag teaming tonight… ya know the big one… I automatically recognize the sound of Keesha’s voice when it blares through the tiny speakers. Keesha is Shawna’s best friend, well apart from me she says, and they work together sometimes for “clients” who want double fun – if you can call it that!

I absentmindedly play with a scented candle that has been placed next to the phone for aesthetic reasons! Shawna and her damn aesthetics I think to myself when I feel the little hairs on the back of my neck stand to attention. I smell him before I feel him but before I can turn around he’s encircled his arms around my waist and buried his face in my hair.

“Baby I thought you were sound asleep—“

“Well some chick yelling and squeaking about protection kinda woke me up and I wanted to see where my girl got to…”

“Hey…” I say playfully slapping his arm “that’s my cousin you’re talking about she don’t squeak!”

I feel his hot breath on my neck as he takes my ear lobe into his mouth and starts to feast on it like it was a Big Mac or something.

“Did I tell you recently how good my clothes look on your sexy body?” he growls as his hands expertly make their way underneath his t-shirt I’ve donned and up towards my breasts.

“Mmmmmmm” I find myself melting into his touches as my mind switches back to this morning when he said the same thing about me wearing his shirt back at the hotel.

BEEP the answer machine clicks over to the next message and shakes me from my Michael-induced-trance when I hear the voice say something that immediately sends chills up and down my spine – and not for a good reason that's for sure!

My eyes pop open and I wrestle with Michael to stop what he’s doing “B-baby baby h-hold up” I say pushing his arms from underneath his t-shirt.

I press back on the current message and listen in dismay as the person reconfirms what it is I think I heard the first time around.

”Uh hi there this is a message for a Miss. Ava Phillips, uh hi Miss. Phillips I’m calling from the Sunrise Hospital and Medical Centre… sorry I should have said that my names Dr. Carter and I’m a physician at the hospital… uhm well the reason for my call is that I believe that you are listed as the next of kin for a Shawna Louise Phillips?” I feel my heart skip a beat when I hear him say next of kin and my body freezes to the spot as I try my best to blink back the tears that are threatening to fall from my eyes.

The rest of his words fall of deaf ears as I think how engrossed I’ve become with myself and with Michael and how distant I’d become recently with the one person that’s been there for me countless times over the years and how lately all I’ve done is push her away…

*One Week Ago*

”Ava… Ava you home?” I hear Shawna yell as the front door to our apartment is slammed shut. I jump out of my skin for a second and automatically grab my chest in shock as she bundles her tired ass into my room before throwing herself dramatically onto my bed.

”Are you tryna give me a heart attack or something? Why ya gotta shout so loud girl? And ew get of my bed you smell nasty…” I fan my nose as the stale smell of cigars wafts up my nose and leaves a bad taste in my mouth.

I watch in horror as my Shawna rolls around in my made up bed coating my bed sheets with her disgusting scent and laughs hysterically as she does it.

”Now your bed smells nasty too cous…” she laughs her eyes gleaming with satisfaction at the horror etched across my face as she sits up and rests her head back against the head board and shuts her eyes.

”You need to see a Doc or something for your OCD woman it’s getting worse,” she chuckles as a huge yawn takes over her mouth and body. She looks tired. She’s also seemed to age these past few weeks and the late nights she’s been keeping recently seem to be catching up with her.

Her shoulder length tousled blonde hair once full of waves and volume now clings limply to her head and her once made up face looks drawn and blotchy from the remnants of last night’s makeup. Even though she looks a mess she still manages to look gorgeous and it’s no wonder she’s so good at what she does… it’s no wonder she’s Lucas’ top earner…

”You had a good night?” I ask gingerly as I fold a few items of clothing into my overnight bag refreshing my supplies so-to-speak before Javon picks me back up to take me back to Michael’s house. He’s insisted that I stay with him for a while until this “Lucas mess is all cleared up” whatever the heck that means!

”It was okay…” she says yawning loudly once more as she stretches her arms up to the ceiling before reaching over to her purse to pull out a number of rolled up $100 bills.

”Okay!? Are you freaking kidding me Shawn there’s like over three grand here!” She laughs at my shocked expression as my eyes gawp at the money… this woman never fails to amaze me. How she can be so blasé about walking around with this amount of cash stuffed into her pocketbook I’ll never know?

”Actually babycakes it’s more like five grand but hey who’s counting right?” I must look like a damn fool because she reaches over and pushes my chin up to close my mouth which is clearly agape catching imaginary flies.

”Wha-who-Sha…”

”Ugrh some hot shot from New York wanted to spend some large he won at Ceasar’s so Lucas hooked me up,” she says nonchalantly picking at imaginary dirt from her immaculate manicured finger nails.

”But you don’t wanna hear about my little sexscapades with some congressman do you?” she eyes me wickedly as if daring me to ask her any more details about her latest job. I’ve learnt over these past few months that even though my cousin may flash the cash and isn’t embarrassed as to what it is that earns her that money she likes to keep certain details regarding her clients to herself. She jokes it’s escort-client confidentially and her discreetness hasn’t gone unnoticed as she continues to land in the beds of some of the most rich and powerful men in the world today.

”So what’s up with you baby it seems like forever since we’ve talked… you doing ok? How’s that new man of yours treating you?”

I swallow hard at her question and hope that this early in the morning her bullsh!t detector won’t be switched on, ”We’re good, um, everything’s… good…”

”Good? Ava baby you gotta give me more than good! I mean you’re practically living with the guy everything must be more than good right?” I watch her perfectly shaped eyebrows furrow together as she waits patiently for my answer. I wish I could be honest with her but I don’t know where to start and worse of all I don’t know how she’ll react to me telling her I’m in a relationship with Michael Jackson! Will she laugh? Will she scream? Will she freak out? Will she be disgusted at the age difference? Ugh I hate keeping secrets!

”It’s… complicated…” I sigh as I continue to fold clean clothes neatly into my overnight bag aware of Shawna’s penetrating gaze that feels like she’s burning a hole through my skin with each second of silence that passes between us.

I hear her purse her lips together as she blows out a deep breath before calmly saying ”Ya know Ava, I don’t get you sometimes you’re so f.ucking secretive he must be married or something cuz that’s the only reason I can think why you won’t talk about him…” I stand there shocked by her accusation as she collects the rolled up wads of cash from my bed and stuffs them angrily back into her purse. She bends down to collect her shoes and shakes her head as she starts to leave my room, ”I never thought I’d see the day you put a man before our friendship Ava but I guess I was wrong… I hope he’s worth it, oh and Ava…” I bite back the tears as I look at the ugly scowl on Shawna’s otherwise pretty face before she says ”when his wife finds out don’t come crying to me!” and with that she slams the door so hard I actually jump into the air shocked by her outburst.

I stand there hurt and confused by her outburst and a little dumbfounded that she could go from being so sweet to being so angry in a matter of seconds and quite frankly it scares me a little.

So I don’t yell back at her or run after her to explain; instead I just get my things together, make my way downstairs and patiently wait for my ride back to Michaels.

*Back to the present*

Don’t ask me why I didn’t set the record straight but I didn’t! I guess it was easier for her to believe that I was having some affair with some married guy than tell her the truth. After all would she even believe me? Heck I don’t think I would believe her if she was in my position and the fact that Michael doesn’t want people knowing about us… well what am I supposed to say? ”I’m sleeping with Michael Jackson, but oh by the way, you can’t say anything because we don’t want the world to know about us?!”

”Ava hunny you okay?” I feel Michael’s arms catch me before I fall to the floor in shock. Before panic can set in he pulls the cord clean from wall stopping the answer machine from continuing its playback of messages from Dr. Carter. But it’s too late I already heard most of them and in each one the Doctor seemed to get more and more annoyed and frustrated that I wasn’t picking up or at home to answer his calls.

Michael carries me back to the bedroom and places me on the bed, I watch in a daze as he searches for his cell phone and he places a call to what I can make out the big guys.

”Uh hey Bill I’m gonna need you to come pick us up and take us to the ER… no everything’s ok… well no actually we don’t know that… but uh… yeah I’ll tell ya when ya get here… just hurry okay… k bye…”

The next few minutes seem to pass by in slow motion as I watch Michael get dressed before helping me to get back into my clothes. I continue to absorb everything the doctor said as the words randomly replay inside my head… cerebral… haemorrhage… blood loss… operate… 

”Come on baby lets go” I hear Michael’s gentle voice penetrate my thoughts as he takes my hand and leads me downstairs to the waiting car. My legs feel like Jell-O as they shake and wobble with each step I take and I feel like I’m gonna throw up. I inhale deeply hoping that the large gulps of air will stop me from vomiting but just before we get to the car I feel the bile rise up into my throat and before I know it I’m heaving the contents of my stomach onto the sidewalk for the world and all to see.

”I gotcha girl I gotcha it’s gonna be okay…” I hear Michael repeat over and over trying to soothe my nerves as he rubs my back until the vomiting stops then places me into the waiting car.

His arms engulf me and I lay my head on his shoulder as the tears slide freely over my cheeks and I let them. I don’t cover them up, I don’t wipe them away I simply let them flow and cry in fear that the one person who’s been there for me time and time again maybe… I can’t even say it. And here I was only a couple of hours ago thinking everything was beginning to look up… I’m starting to think I must be cursed or something, or maybe I did something really awful in a previous life… why else would these things keep happening to me right?

”Baby you’re not cursed” Michael says gently kissing my head and rubbing my arm trying his best to sooth my sobbing, apparently I said that last bit out loud.

”I’ve been cursed for a long time it seems so trust me girl when I say this is just a rough patch, you’ll get through this plus you have me now…”

Amidst all of the chaos that’s swirling inside my head at this very moment those words seem to calm me just a little and enough for me to pull myself together as before long the car comes to a halt outside the E.R. entrance to the Sunrise Hospital. I feel like I’m in a trance as the world seems to slowly go on with its business around me as Michael firmly grips my hand leading me to wherever it is we need to be.