So, if you're an Elvis fan, you know that he was very influenced by religion, especially religious music, and loved learning about various religions throughout his life, so I decide to add a chapter that takes place on Sunday. Just FYI, there will be some religious themes in the chapter, so I'm sorry if anyone takes offense. That's all I'm adding, though, and maybe some beliefs that Elvis probably had.
~ ~ ~
Sunlight warmed my eyelids. Apparently, I forget to close the curtains over my windows. My eyes blinked several times as I tried to focus on the time on the clock on my nightstand. 6:55. My alarm would go off in five minutes. It was a bit irritating that my body sometimes woke me up a few minutes before my alarm would go off. This time, actually, it was the sunlight that was to blame.
"Oh man..." I moaned and ran both my hands down my face, hoping to wake up. What day was it? Yesterday was Saturday, so it was Sunday. Maybe the Colonel would let me have a day off for the Lord's Day. It was unlikely. He rarely let me, and he never let me go to church, either, since I would cause a commotion. I missed physically going to church. In the past, I did my best by reading from the Bible and other religious books. I felt like that was okay in the Lord's eyes since I couldn't go to church. Do the best you can in your situation - that was what I was taught.
I sat up and pulled my blankets from off of me. My mind ran through what happened the night before. I returned home and saw Mary and Earnest saying goodnight to each other at the end of their date. What did they even do on their date? Most likely dinner or a movie. My gut pinched in jealousy, but I had to plaster a smile on my face when greeting Earnest. The guy was nice, yet he was, unaware, a part of this little lover's spat between Mary and me. Could it be called that? That was what we were, right? Lovers? Lovers but not technically together, we just had feelings for each other?
My alarm went off, and I silenced it. I glanced down at the books that were on the little shelf at the bottom of my little bedside table, most of them theology books, including the King James Bible. I had the Gideon Bible as well. I pulled up the King James one. I tried to read some verses each day in the army, but sometimes, I was just so tired at the end of the day, I fell asleep the moment my head hit the pillow. I hadn't read since I had gotten back, either, since I had other things on my mind. Currently, it was that kiss I gave Mary after she admitted to going on that date on purpose just to prove something to meâthat we weren't going to happen. That kiss was basically a come-back, saying that I wasn't going to back off. Was that right of me to do? It didn't seem like it. Well, what she did didn't seem right, either.
I sure enjoyed kissing her, though. It sent tingles up my legs, feeling those soft lips of hers.
My own lips stretched into a smirk as my dark bangs fell over my forehead. I opened the bible randomly and came to Leviticus chapter 24. My eyes immediately went to versus 19, 20 and 21:
And if a man cause a blemish in his neighbour; as he hath done, so shall it be done to him;
Breach for breach, eye for eye, tooth for tooth: as he hath caused a blemish in a man, so shall it be done to him again.
And he that killeth a beast, he shall restore it: and he that killeth a man, he shall be put to death.
Now that didn't make me feel any better, mainly because I felt sinner's guilt. Sure, I didn't kill anyone, but I basically did what Mary did to me, to get back at her. It didn't matter if I enjoyed it... it should be made right. I had to apologize, something that I never liked doing.
"Okay..." I breathed and shut the book and put it next to my alarm clock. I didn't have time to sit and read for a while. I had to get ready.
I got to it, and a half-an-hour later, I exited my room, wearing black slack, a white suit coat with a deep-purple shirt underneath, and black and white loafers. As soon as I reached the top of the staircase, someone else did as wellâMary. My heart jumped and started speeding away. She held her head up in a dignified manner.
"Good mornin', Elvis."
I slammed my hands in my pockets, moving aside the white suit coat. It was irritating how attractive she was at the moment, dressed in her Sunday bestâa bright blue dress with a white belt at the waist, and her hair was up in a twist.
"Good mornin'." Silence stood between us for a moment, awkward silence. "You headed off to church?"
"Yes, I am. I'm going to have a bite to eat first, then I'm headin' out."
Her head was still held up, showing composure, but her flushed cheeks told me that she was still affected by my presence. "I see. I wish I could come along. I miss goin' to church."
That proper stance deflated a bit, and her eyes had sympathy in them. "I'm sorry. I know it's been like that for a while, ever since you became famous. I think Gladys told me once that you went to church maybe ten times since 1955."
She only knew the amount up to I went to the army, so it was roughly three or four times a year that I was able to go, and a few of those times, I was asked to sing and play guitar for the service. I nodded. "Yeah, that sounds about right. Um... Mary..."
She let out a sigh. "Elvis, can we not talk about that right now?"
"But we need do. At least, I need to say somethin' to ya." I pressed my lips together, not wanting to do it, but knowing that I had to. "Listen... I'm sorry. About everythin'. I was just bein' a stupid lovestruck idiot, and I made you unhappy and mad at me."
She folded her arms over her chest, and her features saddened. "I... well, I admit that you were rather pushy, but..." I grimaced. "I wasn't being very nice, either. I intentionally accepted Earnest's invitation, knowing you would hear it, and that caused you to get back at me."
"Which I feel horribly about. I get why you did it, though. As you said, I was bein' pushy and tryin' to get my way like a child. Really, Momma wouldn't be very happy with me if she knew I did that."
"She wouldn't be happy with me, either."
The atmosphere turned a bit dismal at the mention of Momma again.
"So... sorry," I said again.
"Me, too. And I forgive you."
"Same here."
We heard someone walking around downstairs. It was most likely Daddy. "So... where does this leave us?" I asked. "What happened last night happened, you know."
She nodded. "Yes, but... Elvis, don't push."
"Right. Sorry."
"This means that we're friends, just like we've always been. I know I sound like a broken record, but it's just the way it has to be."
I really didn't like it, but I had to accept it. "Okay. Friends, then. It's gonna be hard since every time I see ya, I'm gonna wanna kiss ya."
"Elvis..." she droned in a reprimand.
"It's the truth of it. But I'll try."
"Me, too."
I smirked, knowing that was a hint that she still felt something for me. Why wouldn't she?
"So... I can take notes for you at church," she said, intentionally changing the subject, "since you can't go. I'll leave them for you on the coffee table in the living room so you can grab them after you get home tonight."
That smirk of mine stretched into a wide smile. "Thank you very much, Mary. I would love that. But don't feel like you have ta copy the whole sermon and Sunday school lesson."
"I'll do what I want."
She gave me a playful smirk, a twinkle in those pretty green eyes. I couldn't sway her. "Okay, okay," I said in a chuckle and put my arm out, pointing it to the stairs. "Ladies first."
She went on down, and I followed after her. Not wanting to push anything, I sat down on the sofa in the living room as she went to the kitchen and said hi to Daddy and started talking with him.
Yeah, it would be hard to stay away from Mary romantically, but if I wanted her to be happy, I had to do it. Or...
Maybe it would make her unhappy. I was unhappy about what we decided, but as she had told me before, the stars couldn't move from their place. A famous guy like me shouldn't be involved with his housekeeper, no matter her age. If she wasn't my housekeeper, her age would be the main cause for concern.
"We both will just have to live with seein' each other and not botherin' about our feelin's... tyrin' to," I muttered as the front door opened. The Colonel came in, telling me to get a move on since we were late to the studio. After shouting my goodbye to Mary or Daddy, I left with the Colonel without eating breakfast.
~ ~ ~
Earnest was at church. This blew me away since I had never seen him there before, and neither had my friends in the congregation. I first saw him as the sermon was just starting, and I was sitting in one of the back pews of the chapel. That made it so I could see people come in and out in my peripheral vision. My heart had jumped when I saw him, and he sat a few rows behind me in the last row, and directly behind me, too, so his gaze bore into the back of my head. It was so unnerving since I was trying to concentrate on the sermon so I could take good notes for Elvis.
Once the sermon was through, and people dispersed to Sunday school, Earnest came right up to me. I knew he saw me when he first came in. He stuck to me like glue throughout Sunday school, and my fellow churchgoers definitely noticed. That was when the questions came. "Just friends" was the main thing I told them, the same with Earnest, but he added that we were on a date the night before. It was true, but I wished he hadn't said it.
I never liked being the center of attention. That was the reason why only two people in the whole two-hundred-member congregation knew that I worked for Elvisâmy good friend Betsy and Pastor Hicks. They hadn't said a word for the three years I had been working at Graceland. I had been pretty good about keeping it a secret, the same with Sandra and Randall. Things became a little more difficult with the divorce, mainly since I became the center of attention since people were concerned for me. So, after they all found out I went on a date after some time of being divorced, I became a discussion topic again.
We walked out of the white, pointed church building and into the parking lot at around 10:30, and the sun was out and shining. I clutched my black purse strap. Earnest noticed my uneasiness. "Hey, are you alright?" he asked me.
"Yes, I'm alright."
He put his hand on my arm to stop me, and we stood there in the middle of the parking lot as people went out to their cars. "It doesn't seem like it." He put his hands into his black suit pants. He looked really good in his suit and red tie. "This was my doin', wasn't it? Me showin' up out of the blue."
Maybe fibbing would be alright. No, it was Sunday. It was bad on normal days, but on Sunday, lying felt even worse. "I was just... I was surprised at first. And people askin' about our relationship and all... after all of 'em know that I went through a tough divorce..."
And fighting my feelings for a man eighteen years my junior...
"I'm sorry, Mary," Earnest said with sad eyes. "Maybe I shouldn't have come."
My heart sunk a little at seeing how badly he felt. "No, Earnest... I just don't like bein' the center of attention. That's all. That's why I..."
"That's why you never tell people you work for Elvis Presley," he finished, leaning in and said quietly. "I gathered that since all the young girls in the congregation would be houndin' ya."
I nodded, smirking. "Yes, exactly. Plus, I don't want to put that on me and Elvis."
"I noticed that you were writin' rather rapidly in Sunday school. Let me guessâthose were notes for him."
"You're right. He's sad that he can never go to church because of how busy he is. I don't know why I didn't do this before when I first started working for 'im."
We suddenly heard a loud gasp near us, and we looked over to find one of the teen girls in the congregationâEve Gregson, a girl I knew since she was ten, and she was a rather giddy, boy-crazy girl. Her brown eyes were wide with shock. Oh no...
"Mary, did you just say that you work for Elvis?!" she demanded, her whole face pink.
"Um..." was all I could get out before Eve yelled into the parking lot, "Hey girls, Mary works for Elvis!"
That definitely got the attention of not her other teen friends who were with their families, but everyone who was in earshot. Earnest and I suddenly became swarmed with mostly teen girls.
"You work for Elvis?! How long have you been working for him?!"
"Do you live Graceland?!"
"How come you never said anything?!"
The questions came, and I figured this was pretty similar to how Elvis experienced being bounded by reporters and fans.
"Earnest, have you met Elvis, too?!" Eve asked. She knew his name since she sat in the adult Sunday school, even though she was supposed to be with the youth. Earnest looked at me, and I nodded, not liking that I had to.
"Mary and I met as I was movin' in some television sets into Elvis's house. So yes, I have met 'im. Twice. Nice guy."
"That means you live at Graceland!" another girl shouted, referring to me, and all the girls around us squealed and demanded that I get them autographs or arrange meetings with Elvis.
"I'll do what I can," I told them, and Earnest, probably much like what Colonel Parker did for Elvis, moved us out of the crowd and into the safety of my car. I sat at the wheel and let out a large sigh in exasperation.
"Oh good heavens..."
"Now I know how Elvis feels."
"Yes, I do, too, now," I said and started the car. "How he does it, I have no idea." I looked over at Earnest in the passenger's seat. "Wait, you took your own car."
He snickered. "I don't really want to brave those teen-aged girls again. I can come back for it tomorrow before work. I don't live far. If you wouldn't mind, you could drop me off."
I nodded, feeling like I didn't have much of a choice. I drove out of the parking lot, careful not to hit anyone, including those excited Elvis fans who found out someone they knew for years personally knew their favorite star.
"After all this time of keeping it a secret..." I muttered. "Knowin' Eve, she's going to blab it to everyone she knows, and the story will spread. I never wanted to be in the newspaper or behind a camera. The closest I've been was the newspaper article that outlined Elvis's coming home party, and the fact that his housekeeper made the guitar cake."
"There was nothin' else before that? I thought that since you were there all the time, and were his mother's good friend, you would've been somewhere in the newspaper."
I thought back on that, and Earnest told me to turn right. "Okay, maybe there were a couple of times, but I was never mentioned by name. Now, I will be."
Thankfully, I wouldn't be known as Elvis's older girlfriend. That would never happen. Having the papers come out with a story about his housekeeper Mary Pendleton wasn't too bad in comparison.
"Okay, turn here," said Earnest, and I turned right again into a neighborhood. He told me to stop in front of a quaint white one-story house. "This is it. I guess you know where I live now."
"I guess so. Well... have a good Sabbath, then."
"Thanks. So..." He halted opening the door. "When are we gonna have our next date?"
Honestly, I didn't want to have a next date with him. The notebook in my purse suddenly felt very heavy, the notebook containing the notes for Elvis. Earnest had no idea about the relationship Elvis and I had.
"How 'bout Friday night?" I asked.
He grinned rather handsomely, showing white teeth and some wrinkles near his eyes and mouth. "That would be wonderful. I'll see ya then."
"Okay. And Earnest..."
"Yes?"
"You never told me, and I apologize if this is pryin', but have you been a member of Pastor Hick's congregation for a while and just never went to church, or..."
He smiled guiltily. "Well, I admit that I wanted to see ya, and I figured that you would go to that building since it's closest to Graceland. Turned out I was right. And to answer your question... yes, I have been a member of the congregation, it's just, I haven't practiced for a while. I think now is the time to start doing so."
I saw the twinkle in his eyes. I knew what he meantâthat I was the reason to come back. Well, whatever worked to get him back to church. "I see. I'm flattered."
"It's kinda embarrassin', comin' to church for a woman."
Guilt pinched my gut. "God has a way of bringin' His children back."
"Indeed. You were his tool. Have a good Sunday, Mary. I look forward to Friday."
"Me, too. Goodbye."
He got out of the car and shut it. I watched as he came up to the house, unlocked the door, and entered it with a last wave to me. I waved back and drove on back to Graceland.
What a Sunday, and it wasn't even noon yet. I would become famous as Elvis Presley's housekeeper, thanks to my big mouth as I talked about him in a crowded parking lot, and I would go on a second date with Earnest, even after the guy told me he tried to find me by going to what he thought was my church building. He was smitten, that was for sure.
Guilt pinched my gut again. Elvis's words came to mind... I wouldn't lead on Earnest. He's a nice guy.
He was right. I wasn't being fair to Earnest. I was accepting him mainly so I could try and dismiss the feelings I had for Elvis, feelings that a person couldn't just get rid of on a whim. Maybe saying something on our date would be wise, just so Earnest wouldn't be heartbroken after me leading him on after several dates. But Elvis would find out why I stopped the relationship. What then?
~ ~ ~
A single lamp was left on in the living room when I came home that night around ten. The first thing I went to was the coffee table in front of the sofa. I grinned. There was a little black book sitting there. I took it up and opened it to the first page. There was a torn-out piece of paper there, one that she put there on purpose. I read the curvy handwriting silently...
Elvis,
This notebook has notes from my church meetings since before you left for the army. I admit that they are not as copious as the ones I wrote for you today, but they still bring me peace and strengthen my faith whenever I go back and read them. I hope your faith strengthens and you feel more peace when you read them as well.
Mary
I sat down in the sofa, feeling more love for this woman than I had since I started to feel something for her. She was such a kind soul. I turned the page and started reading... and reading until the clock on the fireplace mantle chimed midnight.