“The line of apologetics is unconvincing to anyone who has studied Michael’s career, in which he began to show himself as a feisty player in his own destiny even before his age hit double figures, and as an independent business negotiator by his mid-teens – in both cases in defiance of an overbearing father who totally dominated his older brothers. As we saw in Chapter Eight, smacked across the face by his father Joseph for failing to execute a dance step the right way, nine-year-old Michael knew just how to hit back. “Hit me again”, he said, “it’ll be the last time I ever sing.”[540”