Pieces of My Life

Chapter 12

They fell into a new routine during the following week. Though Elvis was a night owl, the hospital woke all of their patients early. Therefore, Loretta and Lisa arrived there at eight, after having choked down some of the hotel breakfast. Their lunch routine changed to include Kathy Westmoreland, whom Loretta could no longer dislike. They stayed with Elvis until long after dark, often leaving only once Charlie snored on his cot. Once they got to the hotel, there was no time to do anything but shower, brush their teeth and fall into bed.

But sleep did not always come easily for Lisa and when it didn't, Loretta stayed up with her. They always kept the bathroom light on and sometimes, when she came to, Loretta thought that she'd been thrust back in time, back to the early days of her career.

There was something about the tenth and the men who influenced the course of her life. She met Doolittle Lynn on the tenth day of November and married him on the tenth day of January. Many years later, their divorce was finalized on the tenth day of June. She didn't meet Elvis on a tenth, and if she was ever lucky enough to marry him, she'd make sure that they didn't marry on the tenth. But he had his heart attack on the tenth of January. The day she married her former husband. And now, he would be released from the hospital on the tenth of February.

But today was the ninth of February. Loretta didn't know how it could have possibly happened, but at some point, it was just the three of them—her, Elvis, and Lisa Marie, and Elvis turned the television off and beckoned her over.

"What is it, Elvis?" Loretta asked over the lump in her throat.

"I wanna talk to you about tomorrow. When...you know that there are gonna be a lot of vultures waiting out there to take pictures of me for their paper. And fans. It's gonna be crazy."

"I've done crazy before. We'll manage. Won't we, Lisa?"

Lisa looked up from her book—one of the ones the twins had given to her—and grinned. "Sure."

"You won't," Elvis said in a tone that brooked no disagreement. "I don't want you near this craziness. Tomorrow, when you leave the hotel, you're gonna go to Graceland and wait there for me."

Loretta swallowed. Go to Graceland without him? The last time she went to Graceland, half a lifetime ago in her mind, Vester told her about what happened to Elvis.

"I'd rather we get to Graceland at the same time," Loretta said. "We don't gotta come here and leave with you but—"

"I'm not asking you to spend the night, Loretta. I'm asking you to get there early so—"

"So people don't know that we're dating? That what you wanna say? You're embarrassed of your hillbilly girlfriend?"

"No," Elvis snapped. "You know that's not it. I mean, goddammit, Loretta, you're in the business yourself. You know. It's such a little thing you could do for me."

"Why would she, though?" Lisa spoke up, causing their eyes to snap toward her.

"What do you mean?" Elvis growled.

"Well, the guys—at least some of them—are gonna be there and they're mean to her. And Aunt Delta, who was mean to her too. That was with you there. But you won't be there. Just me. And they don't care what I say. They take me for some kind of joke."

His gaze moved to Loretta. He didn't speak, but his eyes were asking her if it was true.

"Lisa ain't wrong... "

"When what do you suggest, Loretta? Do you know anything better, then?" Elvis demanded.

"I ..." Staying at the hotel until that night didn't seem too appealing either, and that was the only thing she could think of. "Not exactly."