the king and the pauper

night time memories

I walked into my dimly lit house and I knew that mama was still up as it was now nearly 11 pm and I knew she wouldn't be asleep until I arrived home. She always worried sometimes a little too much about me.

I'm now their only child that lives at home. I do have an older brother called Henry who would be 22 now. We as a family don't talk about Henry anymore to anyone because it hurts our hearts but I miss my big brother.
Henry was your stereotypical big brother and he was so overly protective of me. He took care of me and even though there is a 5-year age difference we were best friends and I told him everything. Henry fell in with the wrong crowd and would always get into trouble. It was always petty stuff and nothing too serious but my mother is proud and didn't like how the neighbours would gossip about what trouble Henry got into. I would always tell mama to not be so tough on him as he was just going threw a phase and that he was smart and would come out the other end and be the loving boy he was again but mama wouldn't listen.
She was always scolding him and she never let up. Her own stubbornness meant that mama was a like a dog with a bone and wouldn't let anything lie. Even when Henry did something simple as being 10 minutes late mama would throw a fit and be too hard on him. It was all done with love as she felt he was walking the path towards the devil and was trying to change his path but she went too hard and it made Henry rebel more.
One day Henry came home and told us he fell in love with a girl who was 5 years older than him. Henry was a 15-year-old boy who fell in love with a 20-year-old and his mum thought she was too old for him. Mama did what she always did she disapproved and always told  Henry how she forbids it and she refused to meet her this went on for months and one day Henry had enough and he and his girl ran away in the dead of night and we haven't seen him since. It's been 7 years since I have seen him and I miss him. I was 10 the last time I saw him and I often wonder how he would react to me being 17. I think he would lose his mind as he was so protective of me.
Mama learned a valuable lesson with Henry and she is more relaxed and forgiving but I'm afraid she learned the lesson too late and I wonder if I'll ever see my big brother again.

I entered the living room to find her sitting on her chair doing some mending and I could see the worry on her face.

" hi, mama," I say bringing her attention to me and I could see the concern melt away from her face.

" Where have you been young lady? It is very late?." She sternly said.

" Well Elvis thought I finished work at ten so I decided to walk home but there were these men who started to harass me."

" Oh my word child please tell me nothing happened?." mama asked interrupting me

" No nothing happened Elvis came in his car and he and his friends scared them off. He then drove me home."

" I am so thankful for that young man."

" I know mama and so am i. He knows I finish at 9 and has promised to be there tomorrow to pick me up."

" Well, tomorrow when you see him please tell him he has to come for dinner on Saturday as a thank you for everything he is doing for you."

" Mama that is nice but will we have enough food for someone extra?."

" That isn't for you to worry about. He has already done so much for you that one hot meal isn't enough but it's a start and I want to meet him."

" Well he is awfully busy with recording but I will ask him tomorrow."

" Thank you now you rush off to bed as it's late and your up early tomorrow again."

" ok mama," I say leaning down to kiss her on the cheek.

I walk into the kitchen and got myself a glass of water and I enjoyed the feeling of it quenching my thirst. I quickly got washed and ready for bed. As I lay in bed all I could think about was Elvis and how lucky I am to have met him again. We were never close in school we might have shared a smile when we saw each other in the corridors but that was about it. We were both shy and I was so painfully shy that none of us would have said hello first so a friendship would never have been formed. I was also struggling threw school as I was bullied a lot by the other girls. They said I was too plain and that I was so poor that they were surprised I would even come to school looking as poor as I did. The bullying and name-calling did not help with my shyness and with the feeling of I didn't belong. I noticed that Elvis was also bullied by the other boys about the length of his hair and how he dressed but Elvis never let it show that it affected him and once the school discovered how well he could sing he was mostly then left alone.

I sadly didn't have a talent that drew people to me. I just had an oversensitive heart and you would always find me in the bathroom crying because I couldn't deal with the sadness and the hurt. I think that all that torture has left a lasting effect on me as I don't let people in and I shy away from people which is why my saying yes to Elvis taking me home is so out of character for me. I think you need to be around Elvis to understand the effect he has on people. He puts me at ease with one smile and although I barely know him I feel like I trust him.

I find myself thinking about Elvis a lot lately I think about that beautiful smile and those blue eyes. I think about his dark blonde hair and that jaw that's so sharp it could cut paper. I think about how his laugh fills me with so much joy and that being with him makes me feel a bit more whole and that I'm not invisible. I don't know how it feels to have a crush on a boy but I have a feeling that it might just feel like this. I know putting my emotions onto Elvis is pointless and will end up with me hurt because Elvis would never be interested in me when he could have his pick of any of the pretty girls. I told myself that having a crush on him is ok as that is harmless right?