I lived a rough childhood.
I caught my parents having sex
when I was 9 years old,
and I thought my mom
was gonna die.
I thought -- I thought
her life was over, man.
My parents had a bedroom door
that didn't lock,
so they had to be creative
to get their alone time
so they could have sex,
and they'd do anything.
Sometimes they'd play
hide-and-seek with us,
and they'd tell us to go hide,
and then they'd count to 30,
and then they'd just
go have sex.
[ Laughter ]
And it was a great idea,
'cause my dumb ass be in the tub
for two hours like,
"This a good-ass spot.
They don't never find me here."
I would hide,
but they would not seek, man.
They also had
this Michael Jackson tape
of this Michael Jackson concert,
and they would put it in,
and they'd tell us to watch it,
and they'd go upstairs,
and they'd do their thing,
and they knew we wouldn't leave
'cause we were huge
Michael Jackson fans.
This was the '80s.
Michael Jackson was amazing.
He was like a god to us.
I used to pray to him
every night in my room.
I'd just be up there,
"Dear Michael Jackson,
please bless me
so I can live eternal life
at the Neverland Ranch with you,
Father Mike.
In the name of Billie Jean
I pray, Shamone."
Like...
[ Laughter ]
That's my bedtime prayer.
I said that every night.
So, they got this
Michael Jackson tape on, man.
They're upstairs
doing their thing.
We're singing. We're dancing.
We're having a good time.
Then all of a sudden, I can hear
my mom making these noises,
and I'm thinking to myself,
"Mom's in trouble."
So I told my brother,
"I'm-a check on Mom.
I think she's in trouble."
So I go upstairs,
and I open the door,
and there they are just
going at it, and I freaked out.
I started crying.
I'm peeing on myself.
'Cause I thought
they were fighting,
and by the looks of things,
Dad's winning, right?
'Cause he in there hitting her
like, "What's my name?
What's my name?"
I'm a mama's boy.
I'm outside in the hallway
trying to help her.
I'm like, "Mama, say 'Gene.'
Say 'Gene,' Mama,
please. Just --
Just trust me.
You just got to say it."
[ Laughter ]
He was like, "Who's your daddy?"
I said, "Oh, we know this one!
[ Laughter ]
Say Grandpa, Mama, please!"
Every time I looked in,
it got worse.
He was like, "Give it to me!
Give it to me!"
I was like, "Just give it
to him, whatever it is.
We can replace it."
I was so scared.
I ran downstairs.
I got my brother.
I was like, "Dad's hitting Mom
talking about, 'Give it to me.'
I don't know what he wants."
He was like, "Granola bars.
Dad loves granola bars."
So we're in the kitchen.
We're looking for granola bars,
and we can't find any.
I freaked out,
so I just called 911 on my dad.
-Oh!
-Oh!
Banks: I was like,
"You guys better get here fast.
My dad's really mad
about these granola bars."
The police pull up,
and we're just sitting there
watching from the window.
And they talk to my dad, and
then they just start laughing.
And they get in the car
and just drive away.
And my dad turns around
to the house,
and I see his angry eyes.
And he's walking back.
I was so scared,
I didn't know what to do.
I ran and jumped and hid
in the tub.
[ Laughter ]
And I prayed. I said,
"Dear Michael Jackson,
I need you so bad right now.
Shamone."
Guys, my name's Jason Banks.
I appreciate you.
You guys are awesome.
