the Presleys

chapter 6 - 1947

Once John Martin had taken Cece to live in California with him, nothing was the same anymore. Everyone thought John was gonna last a week with the little girl, since they had been apart for years. Pandora gave him a month in total.

But Cece had been living in California for seven months now. Seven months of loneliness for Pandora, who barely woke up every day without the presence of her daughter. Her anchor, her strength. There's not a day where she woke up without regretting not fighting enough for her to stay. But how could she fight a man as persistent and as manipulative as her ex husband? Though Pandora was lucky to have a neighbor as thoughtful as Gladys. She checked on her every day after work as they drank their coffees together. Somehow she managed.

Elvis on the other hand was a different story. He didn't know where California was, so he thought he'd be able to visit her every weekend or vice versa. Days and weeks passed from her sudden departure, but not a day passed without him asking Pandora when Cece would be back. The answer was always the same.

"I don't know, darling."

But who knew then? The boy needed answers. He couldn't find them in his mama or Pandora. So he looked for answers in music. Cece's guitar had been sitting in her room at the same spot. Elvis occasionally stopped by, secretly hoping to find Cece waiting for him.

"Oh, sweet, sweet, Cece Flora."

His fingers pinched the guitar strings as his eyes shut. Emotions he had been burying suddenly resurfaced. How could she leave him? Didn't they have letters in California? She left and couldn't write back. Didn't he deserve an answer?

Oh, sweet, sweet, Cece Flora.
How could you leave without (telling) me?
Oh, I've denied
Your departure, hopin' you'd be comin' back

Elvis was in denial and quite hopeless, since that was the first time he had picked up a pen and wrote something he felt was worth jotting down. Though he never finished the song or whatever that was gonna turn out to be. His words were fumbled and the guitar didn't sound as good as it did in his head.

But one day he chose to just write. And he wrote until his hand ached and his fingers had little bruises. He wrote until Pandora sent him home. But before he went he kindly asked her to send Cece the song as one of his never-answered letters.

"Could you please send Cece this song I wrote for her?"

Pandora smiled and nodded at his sweet gesture.

"Of course, Elvis."

And just like Elvis had predicted, weeks passed and she never wrote back.

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Despite what people were thinking of her, Cece's life had become a living hell. The hot California weather, which she wasn't used to, was slowly killing her and unable to let her get used to it.

Her daddy, John Martin, brought her to live with his new family, tearing her away from her own. Her heart ached every time he laughed and joked with his new kids. Was she difficult to laugh with? Is that why he left in the first place? Because she wasn't funny enough or because her jokes weren't as hilarious as theirs were?

Either way she never got along with, what they now legally were, her step siblings. They never cared for her either so the feeling was mutual. Her little escape was her room where she spent hours writing letters to Elvis about her day and ideas of their future once she got back to Tupelo.

Seven months and her letters never got an answer. Was he hurt by an action she had no control over?

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