Swapping Around

Chapter 8

"Please don't go," Roxanne begged from the doorway, delivering yet another stab to the heart of a man who was so consumed by his guilt that he could hardly form a coherent thought.

Elvis forced himself to take a deep breath before answering. "Honey, I gotta go and you gotta stay here."

"But I wanna be with you."

Elvis' doubts about this increased with every passing second. It had been quite some time since Roxanne had such a strong reaction to a short separation. Elvis had made an effort to slow down when Little Elvis was born. Spending time with his children was his number one priority now. They would fly out to be with him every weekend while he was filming; there were no more events or concerts on holidays.

"Daddy," Roxanne whimpered, shuffling further into the room. "Just please don't leave me here with her."

"I leave you here with Cilla all the time."

"But we don't even know her. She won't take good care of us."

"She's been takin' good care of you the last couple of days." Elvis abandoned his task of packing to lock eyes with his daughter. "Come here," he beckoned.

Roxanne perched herself onto his bed, frowning all the while.

"Now look." Elvis grasped her chin between one palm. "Daddy's gotta pack and get ready to go."

"But-"

"No, just listen for a moment, Roxanne."

Roxanne froze as he never did call her by her full name. It was always Buttercup, or Roxy or some term of endearment.

"Now we finished supper and you're just gonna take your bath, maybe watch a little bit of TV-"

"I have to do my reading practice. Miss Stuart said so."

"Well, I'm sure Miss Loretta is gonna do it with you."

"She won't know how."

"Honey, she's got a bunch of kids that are older than you are. Thing is, it's not too long till it's time for bed and then tomorrow you're gonna go to school and once you had your snack and did your homework I'm gonna be back. It's not a big thing. I wouldn't leave you if I didn't know that you're gonna be safe, alright?"

"No," Roxanne said, displaying the stubborn streak she had inherited from Maxine. She couldn't be reasoned with when she got like this, same as her mother.

"I need for you to behave yourself. I'm not gonna have you bein' rude. You're gonna be good for Loretta and when she asks you to help with somethin' or wants for you to get up or anything like that you're gonna listen."

"What if she asks me to jump off the roof?"

"Roxanne," Elvis said her name through gritted teeth. "Just...none of that. You gotta be a big girl and show your little brother that everything's fine. Do you want him to get scared?"

"I'm scared."

Maybe he shouldn't go. Maybe leaving them here with someone he had known mere days, no matter how well she did look after them, just wasn't a good idea. He had only ever left them with relatives, Mafia members and Priscilla. Trust was a dangerous thing and this involved his precious children. Yet Little Elvis, who was so shy around even those he knew, absolutely adored Loretta.

"Do you want me to call you tomorrow before school?" Elvis asked. "How about that, hm?"

Roxanne didn't respond. Elvis suppressed a sigh. "Alright, then give me a hug and kiss goodbye."