Pieces of My Life

Chapter 11

 In the doorway stood a man whom Elvis, who seemed to fear no one, feared. Loretta saw more than enough pictures of Colonel Parker, yet somehow he didn't look the way she expected him to. She certainly didn't pictured a little fat man dressed in board shorts that exposed his hairy legs and a loud Hawaiian shirt that did not match the rest of his clothing.

"Colonel, get outta here," Elvis snapped.

Loretta, Lisa Marie, and Kathy stared, all rendered silent by the presence of this man. Loretta understood now. She understood how he got Elvis to play his games for all those years. But he took it all one step too far in the end, and Elvis exploded.

"Is that how you speak to someone who's visiting you in the hospital?" the Colonel asked. "I came all the way from Las Vegas."

Loretta looked over at Elvis. Veins sprung up on his temples and the sides of his neck.

She had brought this about by thinking of it yesterday. Now Elvis would have another heart attack in front of her, Lisa Marie and a pregnant woman. They'd have to admit all three of them, all because of this nasty man with his shabby fishing hat.

The Colonel pulled a large cigar and a lighter out of his pocket.

"You can't do that here!" Kathy exclaimed just as Loretta exclaimed, "Put that away."

The Colonel laughed. "I see, boy. You got two of 'em again. You coulda gotten yourself someone calmer. This one already didn't work out the first time." He pointed at Kathy as he spoke. "If you—"

Lisa Marie grabbed the metal bowl on the nightstand and threw it at the Colonel.

The fat man yelped as he jumped out of the way. "You watch what you're doin', girl. If it wasn't for me, you'd be the daughter of a Memphis electrician who had a few songs out back in the '50s."

"If it wasn't for you, he probably wouldn't have had a heart attack," Lisa threw back.

Finally, Loretta found her voice. "Colonel Parker, you gotta go."

That scornful laugh again. "I don't gotta go anywhere. I wanna talk to Elvis without women not giving him a chance to speak."

The door burst open once again. Five of the Mafia guys fell through, carrying the stereo for Lisa Marie. Someone managed to wrap the whole thing in colorful paper. They dropped the present at once so they could grab the Colonel.

"Out with him!" Elvis thundered. "Get him outta here."

It occurred to Loretta then that they should have pressed the call button as soon as the Colonel appeared in the doorway.

Loretta ran her fingers over his red forehead, alarmed by how hot it felt. The commotion drew not one, not two, but four nurses to his room.

Once the nurses left, Elvis and the guys discussed what should be done now. It was decided that the hospital security team was not doing a good enough job at guarding Elvis since the Colonel somehow managed to get through to him. From now on, his own people would guard the room and one of his guys—Charlie—would stay at the hospital over night.

Lisa Marie's features scrunched up into a look of discomfort that did not seem to leave her face. It wasn't until Elvis went to physical therapy, flanked by the guys, and Loretta, Kathy, and her were alone in the hospital room, that her disapproval of this burst out of Lisa.

"I don't wanna sleep in here with Charlie. That's gross. I get that he's gonna have to be guarded but why does someone have to sleep in here. Charlie snores."

Upon finishing her speech, Lisa whipped around to face the two women. Earlier they had been unsure about each other, but now Loretta Lynn and Kathy Westmoreland only had to look at each other to know that they were thinking the same thing.