Chapter 2: A Rags-to-Riches Story When asked about the relationship with his father, Michael said, "He could be very cruel and pushed us all to the limit even though we were still just children. He beat me with his belt and hurt me. But we knew he was the income for the family, and things were different back then. But I'm glad he pushed us even though I'm sad about how he did it. I'm sorry to have to say this, but where I am now, you have to be truthful because it's the nature of our being. "After school, we would rehearse so hard, often repeating things over and over and over, and Joseph always made sure it was right. I often ran away because I was faster than him. But when he did catch me, there was hell to pay. Mother tried to stop him several times, and my brothers told me, 'You're crazy for fighting back at him.' I was tired of his shit, so I told him, 'If you keep hitting me, I will never, ever perform again, and I mean it.' Very rarely did we ever call him 'Dad' or 'Papa.' Maybe Joe's intent back then in his own mind was to have the perfect entertainment show - The Jackson 5. "Even though we were very busy in those years, the production company kept most of the money and we saw very little. Record production was very expensive, with thousands of people involved in a project like Thriller."

"A Rags-to-Riches Story" is excerpted from
"I Can See Clearly Now" by Lary Glen Anderson.

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