I can barely remember a time in my life before Michael. I was a very little girl the first time I met him. When I say I was very little, I mean I was very little. I asked my mom about it once. She was there but I'm sure she doesn't remember it the same way I do. She said I was five.

We lived on the east side of Detroit. It was a hot summer night, the kind of night that makes you wish it could last forever. I remember hearing the Supremes playing on someone's radio somewhere. Diana Ross was wondering where her love went. I don't know what time it was, but it must have been late because it was dark and it doesn't get dark in the summertime in Detroit until around 9:30 or so.

We, my mom and me, had walked to a nearby party store for milk. That was in the days before you could just pop into your friendly neighborhood 7-11 whenever you needed to. We ran into someone she knew from somewhere and the two of them got to talking. I stood there for a bit, but I was tired and bored and started wandering around the store. Pretty soon I wandered right out of the propped open door.

I didn't mean to wander too far away, and really I didn'tonly to the parking lot at the back of the building. I kicked around the empty milk crates and cardboard boxes for a minute or two. I really just wanted to go home so I decided to go back inside to see if momma was ready to go.

As I turned, out of the corner of my eye I caught sight of a woman. She was standing near the dumpster at the far end of the parking lot. There was an alley behind it and an overgrown, empty lot behind that. I thought that she was alone, and although I couldn't have told you why, something about her scared me. I started backing away from her, but I couldn't tear my eyes away.

He came into view as I stared. He was holding her close, kissing her neck. They were pretty well entangled with each other, her head tilted back at an odd angle, to make it easier for him to kiss her, I supposed. I decided that's why she had scared me: I couldn't understand how she could be standing like that if she was alone.

As I watched, he turned her slightly and pulled his face away from her neck. She made a small sound and tried to pull him back to her, but that was the moment that he saw me.

At first, our eyes met but it he kept them moving, like he was scanning the parking lot, looking for something. But then, his eyes jerked back to mine. We stared into each others eyes for what seemed like forever before

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