Hello, my fellow Elvis fan friends! Here's my eighth Elvis story! I've written about Elvis falling for his housekeeper's daughter, but what about the housekeeper herself? Enjoy!
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Being home was numbing. I stared up at the tall white columns to my Graceland mansion, knowing that I would never be able to have the life that I had before I left for the army. My body could physically feel her absence, and it was incredibly saddening. She wasn't there to greet me and welcome me home, just a slew of reporters and the housekeeper.
Someone slapped a hand on my shoulder, and I met the blue eyes of my father. I knew he saw my discomfort. "It's just another interview, and then you can rest a bit."
I nodded, feeling that I had no other option but to go through with the interview, maybe the twelfth one since I stepped off the train. Daddy kept his hand on my shoulder as I ascended the steps up to the front door. It was a comfort having my father there in Germany with me for a time, but he had to come home early to do things for my homecoming, meaning working with my manager Colonel Tom Parker to set up interviews scheduled for right after my return, and later, record making, meetings with various people about upcoming events, such as TV shows and movies I would act in.
The front door opened without me needing to touch it, the door on the inside of the black outer gate to the door. That opened as well to reveal a woman, a woman I hadn't seen since before I leftâthe middle-aged housekeeper Mary. Her gleaming green eyes and graying blonde hair tied back into a bun were a welcomed sight.
"Elvis, welcome home," she said as I stepped through the threshold and into the entryway. It was relieving to see the interior of my home, living room and dining room, but it still felt empty.
"Thank you, Mary," I said and leaned in for a hug. "It's so great to see ya again, and it's great to be home."
I took her into my arms, and immediately, I felt something, something warm, comforting and soothing. I didn't want to let her go because of it. She patted my back as I took in a flowery perfume, along with some type of cleaning chemical. She was cleaning before this.
"I'm so glad that you're home," she said. "This place felt a little lonely the past two years."
Tears burned the backs of my eyes as I still hugged her. I knew she was referring to Momma not being around.
Mary let me go, but she took hold of the tops of my arms. She stared up at me since she was about half-a-foot shorter than me. Her eyes made the same proud look I had seen on Momma before, and it tugged at my heartstrings.
"Wow, look at you..." she enthused. "The army took some baby fat off of ya, and I have to say, it made you so much more handsome and grown up. You're taller, I swear it."
I smirked, touched, and rather liking her southern drawl. I had it, too, but hers sounded better. "Thank you, Mary. And you haven't aged a day."
Pink appeared on her cheeks as she smiled. "You've always been a charmer." She let go of me. "Now go on and do that interview of yours. The reporters are back there now, waiting for ya. I'll be busy makin' you a large welcome home dinner, with a cake to go along with it afterwards."
My stomach rumbled at the thought of good ol' American food, not the German army food. "Thank you so much. I look forward to it."
She smiled again, making the corners of her eyes crinkle a little, the same as what they did on Momma. Her hand lifted and touched my left cheek, and I could feel the slight roughness of the tip of her fingers and see the kindness in her eyes. "Welcome home, Elvis."
Not even thinking about it, I took her hand from off my cheek and kissed the back of it. "Thank you."
That pink in her cheeks remained, and she seemed a little taken aback at my sweet gesture. Daddy and I excused ourselves so we could go meet the reporters. I couldn't help but look back at the entryway and see Mary, the woman who was a good friend of Momma's and became my housekeeper when I first purchased Graceland back in the spring of '57, still stood there near the front door and foot of the stairs, clutching her right hand with her left.
Not thinking much about that, I turned, and Daddy and I made our way out to the backyard, and the reporters were on me like ants to sugar. They all started talking at once, but Daddy had to tell them that the questions would start once we were inside his office and settled. He took the Colonel's place for the moment. The Colonel would arrive sometime after the reporters left.
One of the reporters, a tall man who looked around Daddy's age, opened the office door for me. I thanked him and went on in, and the moment I came in, the first thing I saw was the Christmas tree that was there when I left for Germany. It was my request that it stay there through the Christmas holiday in '57 and on to after I had gotten back from the service.
Plastering a smile on my face, I went and sat in my father's leather chair, and the men in the room readied for the interview, meaning a couple of them worked to get a camera set up, and the others had notepads, pens and pencils and their own cameras ready. I glanced at the tree and its glittering silver tinsel. Maybe keeping it up for some time longer wouldn't be a bad idea.
"Ready to go?" asked one of the men at the camera.
"Ready. Ready when you are," I said.
"All set."
"I'm always ready."
"Okay, is that all?" asked the interviewer. "Okay."
He stopped the camera and put a cloth over the lens. Another man said, "Thank you so much, Elvis, for your time today."
"You're very welcome, gentlemen." I stood up out of the chair, came around and started shaking hands with the men, and they thanked me again and wished me well with adjusting back to my normal life. I wished them well with their lives also, and they were excused. I remained inside the office, leaning against the top of the desk, my hands clutching it, and Daddy returned from letting the reporters out. He closed the door and came up to me, hands in his tan slacks pockets. His fatherly gaze pinched my heart.
"You okay, son?"
I gulped, somewhat difficultly, and I felt my sternum tighten. "Yeah, I um... I'm just glad to be home, Daddy. Really glad."
"But not as glad as you should be." My lips lowered at that. He knew why. "Hey." He came up to me and wrapped his arms around me. Like a child, I wrapped my arms around him, too, and the emotion I was trying to keep in the whole of the fifteen-minute interview came out.
"I miss 'er, Daddy..." I sobbed into his white shirt, and the hot tears seared my eyes. "I really miss 'er."
He sniffed and patted my back. "I do, too, son. I do, too. It's not the same without 'er here, at least in person. You know that your momma's here in spirit, and she's so darn proud of ya for gettin' through the army with flyin' colors. I can feel it."
I nodded into his shoulder. "I can, too."
He rubbed my back, and it eased my aching heart a little. "Hey, how 'bout we go see what Mary's cookin' up, huh?"
"Okay, sounds good."
We came out of our embrace, and Daddy wrapped an arm around both of my shoulders. It was hard to believe, but Mary was rightâI grew a bit in the army. I was maybe an inch or two taller than my father when that wasn't the case before I left. It was the German food.
We walked out of the office, through the grass and back into the house. The moment we did, we smelled beef. I held my sniffer high. "She's makin' homemade hamburgers."
"She knows ya too well. Next to your peanut butter and banana sandwiches, you always love a good hamburger, homemade or bought at a burger joint."
"The homemade ones are better. So... how has Mary been? I mean, she sent me a letter about a year back, talkin' about the goings on here and such. She also mentioned that she was gettin' a divorce. She never revealed the details."
"I think that's somethin' you would need to ask 'er yourself. She didn't tell me much, either, after I came home. I just know that Randall became quite the scoundrel and caused the divorce."
Feeling badly for our sweet housekeeper, I nodded as we came through the hallway, and Daddy still had an arm around my shoulders. The smell of that beef became stronger once we entered the den and went on through it and entered the kitchen. We came in and saw Mary hard at work at the stove, and a round patty was in a frying pan. She saw us as she had a metal spatula pressing onto it. Her brows rose.
"Oh, hello, gentlemen. Is the interview over already?"
"Indeed, it is," said Daddy, and he sniffed. "It smells mighty good in here."
She smiled, and I blinked at it. When had I last thought that her smile was attractive? I never thought that before, even though she was a rather pretty gal for her age.
"You look like you need a burger, Elvis," she commented, and I snapped out of it. "Did those reporters run you ragged like they usually do?"
I smirked, amused, and I leaned against the counter near the stove and folded my arms over my black shirt. "Nah, it was a rather pleasant interview. They just asked about my experiences in the army and my upcomin' plans for work. It didn't take too long."
"That's good. Now you need to rest. I heard from Vernon that you have a couple of weeks until you're back into the thick of everything."
"Yeah, I still have things to go to durin' the next couple of weeks, like makin' records and such, but as far as startin' anythin' huge like TV shows or movies, that's after."
"I see. In other words, then, you don't get much of a break."
I only shrugged to that, knowing it to be true. I didn't have a real break, like a vacation type of thing with no work.
Mary took the sizzling patty off of the frying pan and placed it on a plate right next to me that had a few other cooked patties on it that smelled delightful. "Well, since that interview wasn't that long, I was only able to get the patties done. I haven't gotten to cuttin' the vegetables or gettin' out the condiments."
"We can help ya out with that," I said.
She waved her hand. "Oh, no, you don't do anythin'. You just go on 'n' rest. Go upstairs and change and this will all be done by the time you have freshened up a bit. I just cleaned all your bedding, the floors, your bathroom, and the clothes that you left here are all washed as well."
I smiled, extraordinarily grateful. "Oh my, Mary, you didn't need to do all that."
"I wanted to. Now get on upstairs, and your father and I will prepare the rest of the meal, okay?"
That green gaze of hers was daring me to go against what she wanted me to do. I let out a chuckle. "Okay, okay, I'll go freshen up. Thanks again, Mary. You're wonderful."
Again, her cheeks turned a bit pink. I wanted to think that it was because of her working on those patties for a while, but I felt like it was because of something else. Why else would a female blush after a man complements her? Even a much younger one than herself.
"Thank you, Elvis. Now off you go."
She made a shooing gesture, and I laughed as I leaned off of the counter and left the kitchen. As I hiked up the staircase, I heard her and Daddy talking. I couldn't hear what they were saying, aside from my name. I wanted to listen in, but I just continued onto the second floor and through the hallway. Once to my room, I could literally smell the cleanliness.
"Mary really did clean the whole place. Everythin' is spotless."
My bed was made perfectly, with the tan comforter flat and pristine, and the burgundy carpet was clean as well. I went over into the bathroom, which was gleaming, then on through to the walk-in closet. Once in, I smelled the fresh scent of laundry detergent. I smirked.
"She really out-did herself, didn't she?" I ran a hand over the hanging shirts and coats. "What an amazin' woman."
A woman that was the housekeeper, as well as a good friend to the family. She was there when Momma got sick and was there at her bedside when Daddy nor I could be there. I would forever be grateful to her for that. She was even there when Momma passed and I wasn't.
I cleared my throat, not wanting to bring back that horrible memory of walking into the hospital room and seeing the sad, forlorn faces of Daddy, Mary and a couple other family members. It was Mary who placed her hand on my shoulder after I dropped to the floor near Momma's deathbed and wept.
My body weakening with emotion, I went back to my bedroom and sat on my bed, not bothering to get out of my clothes and shower. Burning tears stung my eyes and fell. I rolled onto my side and did as I did after Momma passed...
I wept.