Part 30 (1/2)

On the day they were to leave, Evan Chandler came by the Schwartz house to say goodbye to his son. Though he still had not met Michael Jackson, he had no choice but to trust that June knew what she was doing when she agreed to the trip. Disturbingly, though, Evan noticed that Jordie now seemed oddly cold towards him. Evan would later remember feeling that his son had changed, that he no longer seemed to care about his father. As Jordie climbed into the limousine with June and Lily, Evan stood at the curb and watched them chatter among themselves and, as he recalled it, felt left out of the proceedings. Later, he would say, 'I felt then that maybe June should just divorce Dave, since they were having problems, and maybe hook with up Michael. After all, they were having a good time, even if I had some reservations about it. Maybe I was wrong, I reasoned. Maybe I was wrong.'

In Monaco, Michael was often photographed with June, Jordie and Lily. In several pictures, he is seen holding Lily in his arms while walking next to June. Jordie, in a red s.h.i.+rt and large, oversized hat that clearly belonged to Michael, walked ahead of them. During the show, Michael sat next to Prince Albert, with Jordie in his lap.

On Sunday 16 May Michael and his guests returned from Europe. While browsing in the airport's gift shop, they found a feature story in the National Enquirer National Enquirer tabloid about 'Michael's new, adopted family'. Along with the article were photographs of Michael with Jordie at Disneyworld. 'Oh, no, don't believe that stuff,' Michael told his friends, even though the article was obviously true. 'The stuff they wrote about me is all lies.' tabloid about 'Michael's new, adopted family'. Along with the article were photographs of Michael with Jordie at Disneyworld. 'Oh, no, don't believe that stuff,' Michael told his friends, even though the article was obviously true. 'The stuff they wrote about me is all lies.'

Unbeknownst to Michael, Evan Chandler had also seen the article. He worried that such publicity might set Jordie up as a target for kidnappers and, in his opinion, the situation between his son and a man he had never met Michael Jackson was out of control. Evan had a tense telephone conversation with June about the situation; he also telephoned Dave Schwartz to tell him how he felt about the article, which resulted in a loud argument between the two men.

Though Dave had been on his estranged wife's side, his position changed after the article came out, and his friends began calling to express sympathy that he had lost his family to Michael Jackson. He demanded that June break off her friends.h.i.+p with Michael. She refused, saying that Michael had been kind to her and the children and that for him to try to interfere at this point was 'just plain selfish'.

Afterwards June told Michael Jackson about the many emotional and argumentative conversations relating to him and Jordie which had taken place in just a few hours. Concerned, Michael felt that what had transpired was typical of the behaviour of adults. 'See, grown-ups don't trust each other, and that's the real problem here,' he told June. 'It's such a shame that this kind of thing happens, isn't it?'

During the first weekend of June 1993, Jordie Chandler was entertaining Michael Jackson at his home when his father, Evan, stopped by for a surprise visit. Michael and Jordie were playing in Jordie's bedroom when Evan entered the room. Shy about meeting Evan, as he is about meeting most people for the first time, Michael ducked into a corner.

Evan walked around the room with his mouth agape, unaware that Michael was in the shadows. 'My G.o.d, look at all this stuff, Jordie,' Evan said, astonished by the sight of so many thousands of dollars' worth of compact discs, videos, Nintendo cartridges and toys, many of them still in boxes. 'Where'd you get all of this stuff from?' he asked.

Just as Evan asked the question he caught a glimpse of movement in the corner. It was Michael. Evan's first impression of Michael was that he was an odd person. Michael had on full makeup, including red lipstick and black eye-liner. He had on his black hat; a band-aid on his nose. He was chewing gum. 'h.e.l.lo, Mr Chandler,' he said, his voice a delicate whisper. Michael extended his hand. When Evan shook it, as he later remembered, it was a weak, limp handshake.

At that moment, Evan's five-year-old son, Nikki, from his second marriage, ran into the room. 'Wow. Michael Jackson,' exclaimed the youngster. Within moments, Nikki was on the floor with Michael playing with action figures and wrestling with him, as Evan and Jordie looked on. Later, all four went into the backyard to play with slingshots. Maddeningly, Michael kept touching his nose, every few minutes. No one knew why; no one asked. By the time he left the house, Evan was completely taken with Michael. He had been kind and considerate to the children, funny and 'completely normal acting', as Evan later recalled it.

A few days later, Michael felt comfortable enough with Evan to invite him to the hide-out. He suggested that Evan bring Nikki. When father and son arrived, they found Jordie and Michael waiting for them. Michael then presented Nikki with an a.s.sortment of toys, and Evan with a Carrier time-piece. Later, as the boys played, Michael told Evan that he hoped to be able to take Jordie with him on the second leg of his Dangerous tour, which would begin on 24 August 1993 at the National Stadium in Thailand, Bangkok. He felt that Jordie might obtain a unique education on the road with him in countries such as Taiwan, j.a.pan, Russia, Israel and Turkey and Mexico. Michael hoped that Evan would think of his offer as a rare opportunity for Jordie, and perhaps discuss the matter with June.

Evan would later recall again feeling uneasy about Michael. He had to ask the question: 'Michael, what exactly is the nature of your relations.h.i.+p with Jordie?'

'Well, I don't know what to say,' Michael responded, 'except that it's... it's...' He seemed to search for the right word. 'It's cosmic,' he finally said.

Evan got to the point. 'Look, are you having s.e.x with my son?' he asked. One would think such a question would be asked by Evan while his hands were wrapped around Michael's throat, but Evan recalled his demeanour as having been calm and collected.

Michael was shocked. He couldn't believe Evan would ask him such a question, and in such a straightforward a way. 'My G.o.d, I can't believe you would ask me that,' he said.

The two men stared at each other for a few moments, apparently not knowing what to say. Evan decided not to push the issue. Instead, he asked, 'What if you don't want to be friends with my son in the future? He'll be so hurt.'

'Not want to be friends with Jordie?' Michael asked 'But that'll never happen. No one is more loyal than me. I will always be Jordie's friend.'

An awkward silence hung between the two men. Finally, Evan suggested that he and Michael join the youngsters in Michael's arcade.

At this point, as Evan Chandler later recalled it, he truly did not know whether to approve of Michael or not. He vacillated between feeling exhilaration and uneasiness. After all, Michael didn't really deny that anything inappropriate was going on, nor did he admit it.

In a few days' time, Evan was again awe-struck by Michael's presence in Jordie's life, enough to suggest that Michael even spend more time with him. The suggestion came when Michael showed up at Nikki's birthday party on 22 May 1993, astonis.h.i.+ng all of the guests who couldn't fathom that the the Michael Jackson was playing with their children at a friend's birthday party. 'Who wouldn't want his kid to be Michael Jackson's pal,' Evan said at the time. He even suggested that Michael build a new wing on to the home so that he wouldn't have to make the trek from Santa Barbara to Los Angeles just to visit Jordie. 'You can just stay here,' he offered, 'but you'd be more comfortable building an addition to the house, I think.' Michael Jackson was playing with their children at a friend's birthday party. 'Who wouldn't want his kid to be Michael Jackson's pal,' Evan said at the time. He even suggested that Michael build a new wing on to the home so that he wouldn't have to make the trek from Santa Barbara to Los Angeles just to visit Jordie. 'You can just stay here,' he offered, 'but you'd be more comfortable building an addition to the house, I think.'

Michael took the offer seriously enough to have his representatives check with the zoning division of the county in which Evan lived to determine if it would be possible to build such an addition to the house.

That night, Michael stayed at Evan's home, sleeping in the same room with Jordie and Nikki. After the two boys watched a video of Peter Pan Peter Pan with Michael, Evan bid them good night and closed the bedroom door. The last thing he saw was Michael Jackson tucked into a roll-out bed, and his two sons in bunk beds Jordie in the bottom bed and Nikki in the top. Those would remain the sleeping arrangements at Evan's home for the next two nights. with Michael, Evan bid them good night and closed the bedroom door. The last thing he saw was Michael Jackson tucked into a roll-out bed, and his two sons in bunk beds Jordie in the bottom bed and Nikki in the top. Those would remain the sleeping arrangements at Evan's home for the next two nights.

What a strange scene: Michael Jackson, arguably the wealthiest and most accomplished entertainer in show business curled up in an uncomfortable, roll-out bed while sleeping in a room with two youngsters.

Didn't he have any responsibilities? It was as if the person in Jordie's room had no plans for the future, certainly no recording dates or concert commitments.

Wasn't he known to rub shoulders with movies stars, magnates and members of royal families such as Diana, Princess of Wales? Why did he never mention them? Where was his family? Why did he never speak about them? He never once mentioned his brothers, or the names of any of his siblings.

And wasn't he supposed to be wealthy? According to Forbes Forbes, he had earned fifty-five million dollars the year before. Why then did he dress only in old jeans and T-s.h.i.+rts? Why did he wear the same black loafers every day? When, on occasion, he did refer to his wealth, it seemed incongruous. For instance, Evan once watched Michael and Jordie shoot water pistols at tomatoes lined up on a ledge. Michael told the youngster, 'I'm thinking about buying my own private jet.' Jordie shrugged. Then, Michael said, 'You know what? I'll bet if I stand back three more feet I can still hit that tomato right over there.'

If anyone had told Evan that the person sleeping in his son's bedroom was actually a Michael Jackson impersonator, he would have believed it that's how little the life of the man on the roll-out bed seemed to have with the genuine-article King of Pop.

Over the next couple of days, Evan and Michael forged ahead with their own friends.h.i.+p. They discussed family matters as well as Jordie and Nikki's education. Michael mentioned that Jordie had often described Evan as a terrific father, and Michael noted his own admiration of Evan's dedication to his children. They also discussed Dave Schwartz, and his displeasure over the National Enquirer's National Enquirer's a.s.sertion that Michael had 'stolen' his family. Evan said he had to agree with Dave that the story was 'in bad form'. Michael explained that he had learned to live with sensational articles about himself and his friends, and he hoped Evan would not hold this one against him. Evan said he liked Michael very much and would happily allow him to continue to be friendly with Jordie and Nikki. a.s.sertion that Michael had 'stolen' his family. Evan said he had to agree with Dave that the story was 'in bad form'. Michael explained that he had learned to live with sensational articles about himself and his friends, and he hoped Evan would not hold this one against him. Evan said he liked Michael very much and would happily allow him to continue to be friendly with Jordie and Nikki.

The two men shook hands and agreed to keep open the lines of communication between them.

In days to come, however, Evan had more time to think about Michael's a.n.a.lysis of his relations.h.i.+p with Jordie as being 'cosmic' and the fact that he had been so curiously reticent to characterize their relations.h.i.+p in specific terms. Michael hadn't been responsive to the direct, albeit disconcerting, question of whether or not he was having s.e.x with Jordie. Rather, Michael just seemed embarra.s.sed by it. Evan, as he would later tell it, began to experience a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach. Small incidents over the next few days made a bigger impact on him.

For instance, there was the evening the family was together watching television with Michael when Michael seemed unable to take his eyes off Jordie. When Evan asked Michael if something was wrong, Michael said, 'No, I'm just looking at things.' However, when Jordie rose to go into the kitchen to fetch a snack, Michael followed. When Jordie went outside to speak to a visiting friend, Michael followed. Finally, when Jordie got up to go to the bathroom and Michael also rose, Jordie said, 'Michael, I'm just going to the bathroom. You can stay here.' Embarra.s.sed, Michael laughed and said, 'Oh, okay. That's fine.'

Evan understood that teenagers have all manner of relations.h.i.+ps with non-family members and that those with peers can sometimes have a greater influence on their values and behaviour. However, was Michael a peer? Not really. Also, his influence on Jordie was troubling because there were so many unanswered questions about it. Why did Michael and Jordie have so many inside jokes between them, as if sharing their own language? Why were they always whispering to one another? Why would they speak softly to one another and then, as soon as they would hear one of Jordie's parents enter the room, clam up? Why was Jordie beginning to dress like Michael, with black hats and mirrored sungla.s.ses? Most importantly, why were they sleeping in the same room?

Over the next few weeks, Evan continued to press Michael about the nature of his relations.h.i.+p with Jordie, so much so that Michael began to distance himself from Evan rather than have to undergo any further interrogation. Michael seemed to not understand why Evan was confused about what was going on between him and Jordie. Hadn't he already explained that he was Jordie's true, loyal friend? Didn't they have an agreement to forge ahead with Michael as an accepted part of the family? Again, as Michael had earlier told June, Evan either trusted him or he didn't. The problem was that Michael was unprepared for what might occur if Evan did not trust him. Would he abandon his friends.h.i.+p with Jordie because the boy's father did not trust him? No.

When Michael was unhappy with a person, that person was usually ousted from his world. Many important people had shown up in his life and then been banished from it over the years. Some of them, like John Branca, had considered themselves long-time friends of Michael's, but such status did not save them from being terminated. If Michael could let go of John after more than ten years, where then did Evan Chandler stand after just a few weeks? Michael stopped returning Evan's telephone calls when Evan became a problem in his life. If he could have fired him, or had someone else do the job, he would have done it.

However, Michael had seriously underestimated Evan. He wasn't an employee who could be easily dismissed. Rather, he was the father of the boy upon whom Michael had fixated, for whatever reason. He wasn't about to allow Michael to cut him out of his life, and out of his friends.h.i.+p with Jordie, especially since he wasn't sure he even trusted him. There was something not right about Michael's friends.h.i.+p with Jordie, he decided, and he was going to set it straight if, for no other reason, than to prove to Michael Jackson that he couldn't get away with it.

Dirty Minds.

In June 1993, Jordie Chandler was scheduled to graduate from junior high school's seventh grade. For months, he had antic.i.p.ated the students' party that would commemorate the milestone for them. Though Jordie had always been a popular student and had many friends, lately he seemed not to be in communication with many of them. He had become so antisocial since meeting Michael Jackson, his parents were concerned. However, the fact that he was still enthusiastic about going to the end-of-the-year dance did suggest to Evan and June that their son was still a normal teenager.

However, when Jordie walked into his mother's bedroom to announce that he had decided not to attend the school function and wanted, instead, to spend the evening with Michael Jackson, she was worried. He had more fun with Michael than he did with his school chums, he told June, and if he could have it his way he would just as soon be with Michael. June, according to her later recollection, tried to convince Jordie that he should not abandon friends his own age for Michael. It was possible, she told him, to cultivate relations.h.i.+ps with his school friends as well as with Michael. 'You don't have to choose one over the other,' she said. However, Jordie didn't see it that way; as far as he was concerned, his fellow students didn't understand him the way Michael did and, worse, he said, they were unkind to others because they had been 'conditioned' to hate, just like adults. June was at a loss. Hearing her son parrot Michael's philosophy was disconcerting. 'You'd better talk to your dad about it,' she suggested.

Evan Chandler's position about Jordie's decision was absolute. 'Over my dead body,' he told him, angrily. 'You can not spend all of your time with Michael Jackson. I won't allow it. Enough is enough.'

'Well, you can't stop me,' Jordie said, defiantly. 'I'll do what I want to do.'

Evan, as he would later recall it, had begun to think that Michael was gay and that perhaps Jordie might be, as well. There was no other explanation, he thought, to such obsession. Whatever was going on, though, he felt that he needed to reconnect with his son. If the two could better communicate, he might then be able to figure out the problem. 'I'm sick about all of this,' he told Jordie. 'We love you so much. Why have you turned your back on us? You can have Michael in your life,' he concluded, 'but you can also have us, and everyone else.'

When Evan went to embrace his son, Jordie was stiff and unaffectionate. Jordie didn't want to hear what Evan had to say and didn't want to engage with him on any level. Evan would later say that he felt then that he was losing his son to another man, and that he became more determined than ever to stop that from happening. He had no recourse but to lay down the law: 'You're going to that d.a.m.n dance, Jordie. You are not spending the night with Michael Jackson.'

'No, I'm not,' said the youngster. 'You never liked Michael,' he said, as he stormed off. 'You acted acted like you did. Michael told me that's what was going on, and he was right.' like you did. Michael told me that's what was going on, and he was right.'

In the end, Jordie did not attend the school dance. He spent the night with Michael.

Though Michael Jackson may not have intended to do so, his presence in Jordie's life had caused a terrible turmoil for the youngster, as well as for his parents, Evan and June, and even his stepfather, Dave Schwartz. The emergence of Michael into their lives had thrown everything into wild disarray, pitting the three adults against one another, and then Jordie against all of them, resulting in distrust and frustration for all. Without effective communication, it was inevitable that there would continue to be serious problems at home for Jordie.

Was Michael aware of his part in what was happening to Jordie's family? One of his advisers recalls a conversation with him about Jordie, which took place while the two were sitting in a golf cart on the Neverland acreage, star-gazing. 'You know, maybe you should just leave Jordie alone,' suggested Michael's adviser.

'Nope,' Michael said succinctly, recalled his adviser.

'Why?'