Chapter 5: Chapter 5 - Nagging Anita

Elvis nagging Anita or a nagging Anita?

This chapter has a phone conversation between Elvis and Anita Wood, who he dated for five years, starting in 1957. So, I didn't know this, but Anita actually called Elvis while he was in Germany and taped the conversation! Yeah, I know. She berated him about whether he was seeing anyone "over there" in Germany. He got a bit annoyed with her nagging him about it, so he lied to her and said there was nobody. He used a bit of language, too (Elvis swore like a sailor according to some sources, but I never add language in my stories, at least the words he used). This was probably after news came out that he met Priscilla and was spending time with her. Just not to mess the story up at all, I'm going to say that phone call never happened, and the two have a phone conversation with each other while she is in New York after he is already home. She was probably in Memphis for his homecoming, but we'll say she's in NY. Also, I'm not sure when she got the offer from Paramount Pictures. We'll just say it was at this time.

~ ~ ~

"Well, I guess we won't have any beef roast tonight."

The Colonel glanced over at me as he was driving down a main busy street, near to where the studio was located, and the sky was black, yet the streets were lit up due to the streetlights and passing cars. It was getting close to nine.

"I'm sorry, Elvis," he said, "but they wanted to cut the rest of the records in one sitting."

I huffed through my nose, disappointed. "Yeah, I know. It's not your fault. I'm just complainin'."

He glanced over at me again, then looked back at the road and snickered. "You look like a pouting child with your arms folded and that frown on your face. It's not the end of the world, you know." I pressed my lips together. He noticed my silence. "The roast isn't the only thing you're upset about missing out on, is it?"

Nothing got passed him. "Yeah, you're right. I just feel bad that she made a dinner and we never showed up for it, and that's after we left 'er to do all those dishes. She said she likes doin' 'em, but I still feel bad."

"As is your nature. Don't sweat it, okay? Mary's been doing this for a while and knows that more often than not, you have late nights. She probably made the roast, and she, Vernon and Hugh had a nice dinner together. She wasn't by herself."

Dad went home around four since he had a nasty headache and wanted to go home and rest. "Yeah, you're right. Thanks."

We turned a corner. "For what? Not letting you worry about her?"

"I guess so." I looked at him and away from the busy LA streets. "Colonel, you really don't like that I feel somethin' for Mary, do ya?"

Houses passed this time. We were taking a shorter route back to the mansion. He let out a sigh. "Well... I can't control how you feel about someone, but I can control what you do about it."

"So... don't let anythin' happen between Mary and me." I paused, and my heart started racing when I recalled the other night in the kitchen. "Somethin' almost did."

He stopped at another corner, and he looked over at me as other cars went by on the road in front of us. "What do you mean?"

"The other night... I came home late and found 'er in the kitchen. We talked a bit, and... I don't know... there was this moment when we were close and... I could've kissed 'er in that moment. She stepped away before anythin' could happen."

"And I'm glad that nothing did, and nothing better happen in the future. It's called self-control, which you don't have a lot of the time since you always are involved with one girl or another, sometimes two at once. That's not going happen again."

That was another reminder that Anita's call was imminent. She probably already called while I was away. My heart jumped in alarm. What if she called and Mary answered? If Mary felt something for me, talking to my girlfriend would be incredibly awkward and... the things they would talk about...

"I'll try, Colonel, but really, I can't make any promises," I said, and he shook his head like he didn't believe me, or more, didn't have any faith in me. It wasn't my fault I was so women-crazy.

We turned down the street the mansion was on. We eventually turned in through the gate and traveled down the long driveway. The Colonel got out, bid me goodnight, and went on to his own car. I made my way up the stairs and into the house, and the moment I stepped in, the phone started ringing. I looked around. All the lights were on, but Mary wasn't in sight.

The phone continued ringing, and I couldn't help but smell the beef roast in the air. My stomach pinched. I last ate around five, so I was hungry. Maybe there were leftovers.

Still no Mary. Did she go to bed? I stepped up to the phone and stared at it as it rang. I had let it ring before until the call was dropped, but sometimes...

I picked up the handle and put it to my ear. "Graceland Mansion," I answered, and to my surprise, there was no squeal on the other end from a fangirl like the last time I picked up the phone.

"Elvis! Oh my goodness!"

Not a fangirl, but another girl. My heart jumped at hearing her voice again after two years. We wrote to each other quite a bit, but there was never a phone call. "Anita! Hey, how are ya?"

"I'm absolutely wonderful now that you're home. It's about time that I can get a hold of you."

I leaned against the wall, my back against it, and smiled. "Well, I guess we're both pretty busy, huh? But I was expectin' your call sooner or later. How have you been?"

"Great! First off, I dyed my hair. It's brown now instead of blonde."

My brows rose. It was a bit difficult to imagine Anita as a brunette. "Brown, really? But I liked your hair blonde."

She huffed through the phone, like she was a bit annoyed. I made a comment before I left that I liked her blonde hair and hoped she wouldn't dye it.  "Yeah, I know, I just wanted a change."

"That's too bad, but I guess I can't say nothin' since I dyed my hair back to black."

"I would rather you have your hair that color. It brings out your eyes."

Momma said the same thing when I was considering dying it shortly after high school. "Yeah, I've heard that before. So, you've been busy?"

"Yeah... I've been very busy with work as usual. Actually, Paramount Pictures wants to recruit me, but I don't know if I should do it or not."

My mouth dropped open. "Paramount Pictures wants to recruit ya? Of course you should do it! That would give ya a chance to really use those actin' skills of yours."

"Maybe I'll do it, then. I wanted to wait until you got back to ask you about it."

"It's your life, Anita. You can do what you want with it."

"Just not dye my hair a color you don't like."

We messed with each other like this sometimes. It was like I never left. It still stung when she said that, though. And I really wished she hadn't dyed her hair. "You can dye your hair whatever color you want. I look forward to seein' it."

"That's another thing—when you're gonna see me next. They presented me with the contract a couple weeks ago, but I just wanted to wait to think about it, talk with you about it and with my family as well. I would have to go to LA for it."

"Go to LA? That's not where you're at right now?"

"No, I'm in New York for work."

"Oh. You never told me you were headin' to New York in the last letter you sent me a month back."

She was silent for a moment. "Well, the last letter I sent you was before I even left for New York. I didn't even know I was going then."

I stuffed my free hand into my pocket, and it moved my black suit coat as I did so. "Well, okay, then. So, you're in New York. Hold on..." I checked my watch. "Golly, you're callin' at midnight your time."

"I know, but it's worth it. I missed ya."

I smirked. "I missed ya, too, Anita."

"I couldn't wait any longer. I thought I would miss ya when I called, actually, since you have late nights a lot of the time."

"Maybe you should go on to sleep and we can talk tomorrow, huh? I don't leave the house until eight, and I can be home for lunch 'round noon. I guess that would be either nine or one your time."

"That's okay. And I'm not tired at the moment. I want to talk to you since I haven't in a while, a least by phone. Now, tell me how it's been being home."

I blew air out of my mouth as I thought about the past few days. "It's been a bit nuts. The moment I came home, or more, the moment I came off the train, people were houndin' me, and not just my friends and family. Reporters, fans, the works. I came home and wasn't even able to eat or change clothes since there were reporters waitin' in the back for me for an interview. Then there was a party after that."

"I really wish I could've been there when you stepped off the train. I tried to convince Gale to let me fly over for a couple days and then fly back, but she told me I had to stay put until I made a decision about Paramount Pictures."

Gale was her manager, a gal her mother's age, so... Mary's age, but a few years older. What a wild thought. "I think I would've loved to see ya there after I got off the train."

Honestly, things probably would've been different if Anita were present. Maybe I wouldn't have fallen for Mary right off the bat.

"I can only wait until our next meeting now. So, tell me about this party."

Here we were, telling each other everything like before. "It was a lot of fun. Lots of my friends and extended family were there, and Mary made this really impressive cake. It looked like a guitar, and it said 'Welcome Home Elvis' on it."

"Mary has always been impressive with her cooking. Was her daughter there, too?"

Anita had bugged me before about Sandra, even though I told her many times I saw her as family. It almost became annoying how much she was nagging me about it. "She wasn't since she was busy takin' a test for school."

"School, as in college?"

"Yeah, her first semester. And, Anita, she's like my sister. You know that."

"I know, I just worry. I have a right to."

I gulped as my pulse picked up. Priscilla would come up next in the conversation, I could feel it. Nothing got passed Anita when it came to my pursuits of women.

"I just read about some things while you were still out there," she told me, and her tone worried me. "Things about you being involved with other girls. Could you tell me if all that is true or not?"

"Well..."

"C'mon, Elvis. I heard and read those things, I just wanna know if the press was making up stories."

"The press always does."

"But were they this time? Tell me. You never tell me things straight out."

There she goes with that nagging. I should just get this over with. "Anita, the girl the papers talked about, the girl who I met over there, that's nothin' to worry about. As I said in that interview, it was nothin' serious. She was fourteen, someone far too young for me."

"But the papers said otherwise."

I pressed my lips together. How horrible it was that I felt like I was lying to Anita. In fact, I was. I even fibbed to the press when they asked about Priscilla. We spent quite a bit of time together over there in Germany, like went on dates, and we kissed on occasion. It was also horrible that Mary came into the picture as a woman who stole my heart, a woman almost thirty years older than Priscilla. It was mind-boggling when I thought about that.

"Anita, look..." I should just tell her the truth. She deserved to know. "Yeah, I met a girl named Priscilla over there, and we went out places a few times."

She was silent for a moment, then, "I knew it. I knew you were lying through your teeth. Elvis, really..."

My chest pricked, but this time, it was in annoyance. "I know, I know I messed up, Anita. You don't need to go tellin' me what I did was wrong."

"But it was," she shot at me. "You were still technically in a relationship with me when you saw those girls over there—the papers also mentioned you saw other women while you were out there, too. People would call that two-timing. Or three-timing."

I pulled my free hand out of my pocket and ran it down my face. This was what I got for being too attracted to women—getting into an argument with my girlfriend. "Yeah, people would call it those things, but also, people would call what you're doin' nagging."

"Only because you need to hear this. You need to learn not to go behind your girlfriend's back. Now tell me, who else is there?"

She was hurt, and that was why she was accusing me of having someone else. She wasn't too far off, though. "Those other girls out there weren't serious at all, the other ones you read about."

"But is there anyone else?" she prodded, and I felt my throat pinch. This wasn't how I imagine our conversation would be. That wasn't a good sign, at least for our relationship.

"I'm such a sleazy jerk."

She said nothing for a moment, and her silence wasn't comforting. It told me she agreed with me. "Elvis, look... as much as I hate it, women love you and you love them. Really, you could have any woman you want."

"But you're still thinkin' I'm a sleazy jerk who cheats on his girl."

"Those were your words, not mine. But you're basically right."

That hurt like someone harpooned my heart. "I really think we should stop talkin' and get to bed. We're both tired."

She probably heard that irritation in my voice. "You just don't wanna talk about this. Now tell me, Elvis—is there anyone else I should know about other than those girls in Germany, including that girl Priscilla?"

I had a feeling she sensed that there was. "I don't know if Priscilla and I will continue our relationship, but... yeah, there's someone else, but nothin's happened between her and me."

"I knew it. Who is she?" She gasped. "You lied again about Sandra! It's her, isn't it?!"

I leaned off the wall and started walking around in the entryway as far as the tight curled phone cord would let me. My throat was tight because this conversation wasn't going well at all, and she was accusing me of all sorts of things. My voice came out emotional: "Oh my Lord, no, Anita! It's not Sandra, it's..."

I snapped my mouth shut. I felt so bad for her, that she had to go through with this. She was a saint before for putting up with women always being around me and loving me and me loving them, too. She probably had it.

"Who?" she prodded. "You know what? Maybe I shouldn't know. Gosh..." She sniffed, and I frowned because she was getting emotional, too. "I love you, Elvis, and it may be selfish of me, but I want you for myself. It hurts that you're always being pursued by women and you pursue them when they happen to catch your eye. Maybe... I don't know... maybe I should just go ahead with the Paramount Pictures contract."

I knew what she meant by that, that going to LA and not to Memphis to see me was the better option. I gulped hard. "I guess I've put ya through the ringer with all this. Well, if it's what you want."

"I told you—I want you! But it's clear that you don't want me anymore, so... yeah, I'm going to sign on with Paramount Pictures and go to LA."

This time, tears stung my eyes. Desperate, I said, "I never said I didn't want you, Anita."

"It sure sounds like it."

"But that's not it. I just don't like it when you nag about things, and..."

"My nagging is a far cry from cheating on your significant other," she cut me off. I couldn't respond to that, and it irritated me that I couldn't.

"I'm sorry."

"So am I. Now, yeah, we should get to bed."

"Can we talk some other time?"

"I don't know if that's a good idea, considering you're chasing another girl, and after chasing a few while you were in the army."

"She's not a girl, Anita."

I snapped my mouth shut. That was an instant response to her accusation, and it came out of my mouth before I could stop it.

"Wait, what? What do you mean by that?" She paused, and I grimaced. She was a smart girl—she could figure it out. "Oh my heavens, this is a woman, like a woman-woman. How old is she? Please don't tell me you put me to the side for both a younger and older woman."

This would be difficult to say since I was still feeling hurt from it, and probably would for the rest of my life. "Listen, Anita... you know I lost my mother a couple years back..."

Honestly, it would have been a whole lot better if Anita was there when Momma was sick and after she passed away. I was a wreck, and I felt like I really needed my girlfriend beside me for comfort.

"I know, and I'm so sorry I wasn't there for that, but what does it have to do with you falling for an older woman?"

Again, this would be difficult to say, but in a different way. "Well... you know how close I was to my mother, but there was another person who was there as a mother figure as well."

"You mean Mary."

I could already hear the disbelief in her voice. "Yeah. She was the first person I greeted when I came into my house, and..."

"Elvis," she cut me off again, "you're seriously not telling me that Mary is the woman you fell for."

I nodded, even though she couldn't see me do so. She wouldn't like this, given how heated this conversation became. "Yeah." I imagined her sitting down if she was standing up while talking to me, like she lost her strength from the shock of finding this out. "I really don't know what happened. Both the Colonel and Daddy think I felt somethin' because I miss Momma so much and clung to Mary because of it, but... there's more to it. While what they said is true to a degree, I'm feelin' things towards Mary that no one should feel towards their mother figure. Maybe the army made me lose my mind, I don't know. I just know that this is what's goin' on right now, and it's gettin' worse."

"What do you mean by that? Are you in love with her?"

That night came back to my memory again, as well as other times I felt something with Mary. "I think so. I've really gone insane."

She was silent for a moment, probably thinking this through, and having tears in her eyes while doing so. That hurt my heart even more so. "Elvis," she started, and I could hear that emotion in her voice, "you haven't gone insane, you've always been like this, falling for girls. Women," she corrected. "Mary is very beautiful for a woman of forty."

Anita forgot Mary's age, but I wouldn't correct her. "Yeah, she is. This never happened to me before. It was just after I got back, and that's why I think the army has somethin' to do with it."

"Whether it was the army or not, it's how you're feeling now. Really, it doesn't matter how it all started."

She had a point—a good one. It didn't matter where or how or why it happened, it did, and I had to deal with it, as well as Anita, the Colonel, Daddy, and even Mary herself since it happened to her, too. I was curious, though, how it started for her.

"So, does she feel the same way?" Anita asked. "Has anything happened between the two of you?"

Of course she would want to know that. "I don't really know on the first question. I think she does, which is insane, too."

"What about the second one? Tell me, Elvis. I deserve to know."

She was right. "No. Nothin', I promise."

She let out a shaky breath. "I believe you, I just can't believe this whole situation. She even lives with you! That's horrible! You should relieve her or something."

Relieve, as in, fire her. "I'm not gonna do that. You know she was Momma's best friend."

"I know, it's just... this isn't fair. I've been true to you this whole time, while you go falling for other women. I get that it can just happen, but with you... Golly, I'm at my wit's end."

Those stinging tears of mine leaked, and I felt one fall down my left cheek. I knew she had enough of all this. "Okay, then. So... what do we do?"

She sniffed again, and a whimper escaped her. That made me feel worse. "You have a trail of a few women here—a couple while you were in the army and now Mary. I don't want to add to them all, so..."

I knew what she was getting at. "You want a break."

"I think that's the best thing right now, at least until you figure everything out. This isn't fair to me."

"Yeah, I know it's not fair that you have to deal with all this, girls and women throwin' themselves at me, and me with the curse of fallin' so easily for women." I rubbed my tears away. "Okay, we can take a break, but honestly... I don't know what will come of it."

"Meaning you might actually start something with Mary? Really, the thought of it... a forty-year-old woman..."

"She's forty-three," I snapped without thinking again, but mainly because I heard the slight disgust in her voice.

"You think that's any better?!" she shouted at me. I gritted my teeth, pretty annoyed.

"I guess to you, maybe not."

"Okay, then, I guess this is it. I'm going to sign on with Paramount Pictures."

"I said that you should do it, Anita. You deserve somethin' amazin' like that to further your career."

"I just didn't know that learning just how much of a cheat my boyfriend is would help me make that decision."

Ouch. "Okay, well, goodnight."

"Goodnight."

She hung up the phone rather loudly, like she slammed it down, but I just stood there, the handle still to the right side of my head. I slowly lowered it, my lips far from a smile. I again gulped hard, and it felt like I was swallowing a pool ball. Hot tears ran down my cheeks as I recalled all the fun Anita and I had before, how happy we were, but also how often I would see that hurt and jealous look on her pretty face every time girls would come up to us, wanting my autograph and throwing themselves at me for a hug.

This was the end of it. Mary had no idea she was part of the whole thing. I hoped Anita wouldn't say anything about Mary to the press or anyone. She wasn't spiteful—she was a good person—but women who are hurt can do things they wouldn't normally do.

I didn't blame her, though. I went behind her back. If I ended up getting another girlfriend in the future, I wouldn't do that to her, just to save her from the hurt Anita was feeling... and the hurt I was feeling at the moment as well, hurt that felt like someone was tying all my chest organs into knots. It severely irritated me that I was more like Randall who cheated on his wife, that I became that type of person. Momma would be appalled with me.

Something had to change. No more seeing other girls when I already had one, no matter how tempting. Did that mean I would have to try and forget my new feelings for Mary? I told Priscilla before I left that we had something special, and maybe something could happen for us later.

I had no idea. I should just go to sleep. I wasn't hungry for that roast anymore.

~ ~ ~

Here is the phone conversation that I mentioned at the beginning of the chapter, and it took place in 1960, the year this story is taking place. Warning: bad quality, swearing and an unhappy Elvis. I personally think he's just stressed about having been in the army for so long, and he lost his mother pretty recently, which I think broke him and changed him quite a bit. I honestly don't blame him for being snippety, especially since Anita was nagging him. I couldn't blame her, either. I would want to know if my boyfriend was cheating on me.