Jermaine Jackson on Michael, Their Childhood and His Brother's Death
Sept. 13, 2011— -- In his new memoir "You Are Not Alone: Michael, Through a Brother's Eyes" Jermaine Jackson reveals details about the life of his late brother Michael Jackson, including the fact that the he planned to secretly smuggle the international pop star to the Middle East were he to be convicted in his 2005 sexual abuse trial.
Unseen since his brother's 2009 funeral, where he sang Michael's favorite song, "Smile," Jermaine Jackson revealed several elements of the book with "Good Morning America," explaining the relationship he and Michael had with their father, how Michael withdrew from the reach of his family at the height of his solo career and the plan to help him flee a prison sentence.
"We would have gone to the Middle East, to Bahrain, to Saudi," Jermaine said of the plan to get his accused brother out of the United States, adding that he was not afraid of the hefty prison sentence associated with aiding a fugitive, because "they wouldn't have caught me."
Michael Jackson was indicted for 14 counts relating to the molesting a minor by a grand jury in 2004. He denied all charges against him, claiming that the family of alleged 13-year-old victim was trying to extort him. In 2005 Michael was acquitted of all charges.
Watch more of Jermaine's interview on "Nightline" tonight at 11:35 p.m. ET
Jermaine stated that although his brother knew nothing of the escape plan, he'd have "done it in a heartbeat" because "why should he go to jail for something he didn't do?"
Click here to read an excerpt from "You Are Not Alone: Michael, Through a Brother's Eyes"
Michael, Jermaine and 'Joseph'
While speaking with ABC News, Jermaine also discussed the complex relationship that he and Michael had with Joe Jackson, their disciplinarian father who managed the career of the young Jackson 5. In his new book Jermaine Jackson delves further into the feelings that his brother had about their father.
The two brothers would discuss the possibility of their father's death, and Jermaine revealed that Michael was unsure if he'd be able to cry when the time eventually came.
"He said he don't know if he would or he wouldn't," Jermaine told ABC News.
Jermaine recalled the fear he felt hearing the screams of Michael, his younger brother by four years, the first time he was hit by his father with a switch. He also shared his own conflicted feelings about his father's actions.
"[I was] not so much petrified but -- but just the excitement of him not understanding what it -- what it means," Jermaine said. "He wanted to show us, 'I care about you. Even if I have to whip your butt, I care about you.'
"We wouldn't want to be raised any other way, with the way he raised us. It's hard raising nine kids, bringing them from Indiana out here ... that was his whole thing, to wanting to keep his family together. And if he didn't do anything else, he brought us out, he taught us everything we knew about becoming what we became," he said.
Crying, Jermaine acknowledged the memory made him sad.
"He gets a bad rap and he has feelings," he said of his father. "He's very tough, very tough. I've never seen him cry…"
