Elvis on the Titanic

Chapter 9 - Being Fought Over

People started to trickle in. My heart hammered as I saw mostly men come into the large room, most of them a decade older than me and up. The women they were with were probably their wives. This was different, singing for people who weren't younger than me.

"Are you ready, Edward?" asked Raymond as he came up to the stage. "You're supposed to be background music, but with your talent, this will be sort of um..."

"A concert?" I put in.

"Exactly. So, are you ready?"

"I'm ready, Raymond."

"Alright, well, I'll stand up here and welcome everyone, and then you can get going."

"Sounds good to me."

I stood to the side as he came up to the stage that was about three feet off the floor. He clapped his hands. Golly, these people needed microphones.

"Ladies and gentlemen, welcome!" he shouted, and that got most of the people's attention. "Welcome to Titanic's Diamond Saloon. I am Raymond Diamond, the owner, and I hope you all have a grand time enjoying yourselves and the music that will be provided for you. This young man here is Edward Tussle, a singer from America. I hope you enjoy."

He hopped down, and the people looked away and started talking among themselves. This reminded me a little of when I did that talent show at school, and people were dismissive of me. Well, we would see what the outcome is.

"Good evenin', ladies and gentlemen," I announced as I held the guitar. "As was said, I'm Edward Tussle, and I'm from Memphis, Tennessee. It's such an honor to be on this grand ship with all of ya, and I hope you enjoy this music that is a little different than what you may be used to. I'm gonna song about goin' home, what a lot of ya are doin' right now, bein' on this ship."

I noticed that I definitely had the attention of all the women in the room, and some of the men. My heart jumped up to my throat when I saw the Astors walk in. They themselves caught some attention, but they sat in the back as to not be noticed be everyone else. Mrs. Astor wiggled her fingers at me like she had before. I cleared my throat.

"Well, I hope you all like the music tonight."

I gave the boys a note, and I started playing the guitar. People who weren't looking at me before were looking at me now. I started singing as the band played behind me.

As I played and sang, people stared at me with wide eyes, like they were shocked. Yes, that was the reaction I expected to get. Some of them moved to the beat. I grinned at that as the piano, drum and guitar solo came, and as I started singing again, I saw smiles on people's faces. They liked this new music—new to them.

I ended the song, and people all around the room clapped, and I even heard someone cheer. "Thank you, ladies and gentlemen," I said, and I noticed a man sit with Mr. Astor. Could that be that Mr. Samuels he was talking about, the one in charge of entertainment in the 1st class social areas? Oh boy. "I'm glad you enjoyed that. Here's another one for ya."

I played and sang a few more songs for them, mellow ones from my earlier albums. Of course, these people wouldn't notice a difference in my voice from when I first sang those songs.

After I finished "Any Place is Paradise," and the audience clapped for me, Raymond came up to me. I excused myself from the stage and went down to him. He handed me a glass of water. "Thank you," I said and drank it down.