I'll Follow The Sun •Elvis Presley•

23: Graceland

"Elvis I don't know if I can do this..." I said while squeezing my sweaty hands together. I was minutes away from going onstage to perform songs from my new record. I had performed before but this was a bigger crowd. At least it's the last performance before we go back home.

We were in Hollywood as Elvis had finished Loving You.

In one part where Elvis was performing Gladys, Vernon, and I sat in the audience sorta as a cameo.

Elvis grabbed my hands. "Remember when I was in the same spot and you told me they will love me and I had nothing to worry about? Well listen to yourself now. I'm telling you, you are the best female singer. Not even June Carter can compare to you, darlin." He said.

He kissed me on the lips. "Be cool." He whispered in my ear. "I don't know how yet." I said. He smiled at me and kissed me again.

"Liz, get ready!" Dalaina called to me. I looked at her and nodded.

There was my band on the stage waiting for me. I ran out and adjusted the microphone to my height and turned around to my band.

There was Nikki on drums, Mackenzie on bass, and Clara on guitar. We had all gotten closer while I was here in Hollywood again and they were delighted at joining me in my musical career.

We were announced and then the curtains rose and my heart pounded. The crowd cheered for us, which helped relieve the tension for me a little bit.

{I don't really know lanas music from her first album or whatever so I'm going to skip this}

"You were so great!" Elvis said as he pulled me into his arms after the show. "Thank you," I said with a huge smile and our lips collided. I hugged all of my band mates as the excitement of just playing a show coursed through us.

"It feels good, doesn't it?" Elvis asks. "What does?" I asked.

"The feeling of everyone singing along with you. To your songs. To dance along with you."

I thought for a moment. Then nodded. "It does feel good."

*******

March 1957

"I know who did it," my brother stated. "I know damn well who did it." He stated again.

"Colonel Mustard in the kitchen with the rope." He concluded. My father reached for the envelope containing the murderer, the weapon, and the room where the crime where it was committed. He pulled out the cards and looked up at my brother.

"Wrong." He said flatly and burst out laughing. Garret threw his pencil down. "That's a lie." Garret pointed a finger at our father. "I'm kidding ya. You're right. You win."

Garret threw his arms up. "Garret wins again." He cheered. Sandy scowled. "Garret always wins. It not fair!" She said as she bobbed Lolita up and down in her lap. "Don't complain that you're a sore loser!" Garret stuck his tongue out. Sandy threw her fist up in front of his face. "I'll hit you."

"Alright calm down," my mother interjected.

Then the phone rang and I jumped up to answer it. "You guys are too much for me." I said while walking away.

"Hello?" I asked.

"Lizzie, baby, I have good news!" Elvis shouts through the phone. "What?" I asked.

"I found a house. A big one. Huge. Baby, I finally found one! Well, my momma found it. Some guy called her. But it's perfect for us!" He said. I smiled. "Where?" I asked excitedly.

"Three-seven-six-four Highway fifty one south." He said. "That doesn't sound like a house address to me." I said.

"But it is, I swear. You're gonna love it. Do you wanna go see it? What are you doing now?" He asked impatiently.

My eyes flashed back to my family where Sandy and Garret were still arguing over the board game.

"I'm playing Clue with my family. It's a real joy." I said. "And of course I wanna see it." I said.

"Okay, I'll pick you up in a few minutes." He said and hung up. I stood there holding the phone, letting it all sink in. I was going to move out. Actually move out.

I looked back at my family and it brought tears to my eyes. I may sound like a baby, but you don't realize how fast life goes by. I've never not lived under my parents roof before.

I brushed it off and went to my room to change into an outfit Elvis would approve of and quickly did my makeup.

I was ready to go and when I walked into the living room I saw Elvis' pink caddy parked in the driveway through our window.

"Alright, bye guys. I'm going to look at a house with Elvis." I said.

"Oh? Okay..." My mom said. I grabbed my bag and my jacket and went outside and got in Elvis' car as fast as I could to avoid the rain.

"Where's Red?" I asked. "Since when do you go somewhere without a bodyguard breathing down your neck."

"He's at that house. I just came quickly."

"And we found big houses nearby for all your friends to move into."

****

"Oh Elvis," I said as we pulled up the long driveway to the huge house. "I know right?" He responded.

The house sat on top of a hill in a grove of oaks with rolling pastures surrounding. The house was white and there was a balcony over the front door. Long white columns stood on both side of the door.

Elvis pulled in front of the house.

"I put a thousand down on the house so far." He said as we got out of the car.

We walked inside hand in hand. Gladys and Vernon stood inside talking to the real estate guy and Gladys smiled when she saw us. She pulled her son into a hug and then me.

"It has a lot of remodeling to do, but it can work. It really can." She said excitedly. I smiled at her. I was happy to see Gladys so happy.

Elvis gave me a quick tour of the house but kept reminding me it needed to be remodeled to be 100 times better and more homey.

"-And we'll get a pool and we'll each have our own dressing rooms and ooh- we can have beds in our dressing rooms. I'll have an office and a big bathroom." Elvis rambled on about the house.

"Maybe we can even have horses!" He exclaimed. He pulled me outside and pointed to the vast space in the backyard. "That's great for horses. And daddy and I can build an office,"

****

An hour later, Elvis signed the contact for the house. Gladys and I were bouncing will joy. Vernon was happy too. Everyone was. I didn't know where Dodger was but I was sure she'd be glad to have this huge house too.

~~~

Sorry this chapter sucked. I didn't know what to write about Graceland. I searched multiple websites to get a description of how it was in 1957.