Swapping Around

Chapter 3

"What did you think of E's Cilla replacement?" Lamar Fike asked as the Mafia sat assembled around the kitchen counters to sample the brownies Mary had made.

"She seemed nice," Joe Esposito said with a shrug. "Hard to tell when she just got here and none of us really talked to her."

"I don't know, man," Red West said. "She seemed a bit...I don't know...country. Like over the top."

"Yeah," Lamar agreed. "Like she just crawled out of a holler somewhere. Like..." He switched to an exaggerated Kentucky accent, speaking in a high pitched voice. "Hi, my name is Loretta Lynn and I was borned in a holler and my daddy's a coal miner..."

"My daddy was a coal miner and I was borned in a holler," a female voice rang behind them. They swiveled around, some displaying expressions of amusements while others exuded only shock. "And I'm proud of it too, just so you know."

Lamar scratched the back of his head. "I'm...I'm Lamar Fike, ma'am. We kinda..we met earlier."

"A few moments ago you were makin' fun of me and now it's ma'am? If you're gonna go around talkin' why don't you just say it to my face?"

"Don't mind him," Charlie Hodge intercepted, desiring to smooth things over. "He's a Hillbilly himself."

"What is goin' on?" Elvis' voice sounded from the doorway, where he stood with Little Elvis in his arms.

"Nothing," Loretta assured him.

"Well..." Elvis let his eyes trail over the Mafia before looking back at Loretta. "There is someone who wants to show you something else."

"Ya," Little Elvis mumbled around the finger in his mouth.

Elvis gently pulled down the digit and held the miniature hand captive in his own. "What do you say now?"

"Come..."

Deciding that this was good enough for now, Elvis explained, "He wants to show you our pets, especially the horses."

Loretta favored the little boy with a smile. "I'd love to see your horses, darlin'."

"Later." Elvis drew the word out as much as he could while throwing the Mafia an icy glare.

"Did they make fun of you?" he asked Loretta once they were out of the house.

"It's alright. It was nothin'."

Little Elvis wiggled to be let down and positioned himself in between them once his feet hit the ground. Grabbing one of their hands with each of his he declared, "Swing."

His sweet baby laughter rang, clear as a bell, when they obliged. They repeated the process a few more times on their trek to the stables. Sometimes, very rarely, Little Elvis would walk in between Priscilla and his father in the same way. One had to catch Priscilla in the right mood for such an interaction. Most of the time, she didn't care to hold Little Elvis' perpetually sticky hands.

The little boy dropped their hands and rushed forward when they reached their final destination.

"You ride?" Elvis wanted to know.

Loretta hesitated before saying. "I don't know if you wanna call it that." She laughed softly when Little Elvis tugged on her hand.

"He likes you," Elvis said.

"Well, I'm very glad." She bent down somewhat to look at the little boy. "What do you wanna show me?" Following the delicate point of his finger, she caught sight of a butterscotch colored pony.

"Mine!" Little Elvis crowed.

"Really?" Loretta sounded suitably impressed.

Elvis sidled up beside her to whisper. "Not really. That's Roxanne's pony. His name's Buttercup. It's kind of a joke...cause that's what I call her."