Playing House Away From Home

Chapter 10

On Monday morning, Elvis woke with a dull headache and an unpleasant feeling he couldn't quite identify in the pit of his stomach. His mood wasn't improved by a long shower or a good peanut butter and banana sandwich.

"Good morning," a familiar, high pitched voice sounded. Elvis twisted around to look at Priscilla. Her hair and make up where done to perfection despite the fact that it was barely 6.30 A.M. Usually Priscilla didn't get up until it was closer to noon. Elvis, who stayed up all night, wasn't one to complain about it though (at least not as long as Lisa Marie was taken care of).

"Good morning," Priscilla repeated.

 Elvis mumbled back a good morning of his own. He didn't realize that Lisa was present until a small giggle drifted into his ears. He looked down to find her with her hands wound around her mother's legs.

"Hi, Daddy," Lisa thrilled with a mile wide grin. Elvis responded with a smile of his own, but even his sweet daughter's happiness did very little to improve his rotten mood.

Priscilla gave her daughter a small push in Elvis' direction. "You go and tell your daddy what you wanna do today."

"Have lunch wif you at the twailer."

Priscilla looked at him expectantly. "So, can the three of us have lunch today or not?"

"Cilla," Elvis ground out. "We spend all weekend talkin' about-"

"Lisa should be able to see a little of you at least. By the time you get back here, she'll be in bed. And that woman-"

"I told you more than once that I can't tell her that she can't sit at the cafeteria."

"Why can't she eat in her own trailer? She does have one doesn't she?"

"Why should she do anything to accommodate you?" Elvis shot back. Lisa toddled over to where he sat, her small hand landing on his thigh. Elvis pulled her onto his lap, using her as a shield against his own impulsiveness.

"You're the one who should be doing things to accommodate your own family," Priscilla spat.

"You ruined it by behavin' the way you did on Friday."

"That woman was going to beat me up."

Under different circumstances, Elvis would have laughed at both her indignant tone and her expression, but this wasn't a laughing matter.

"Did she beat you up?"

Priscilla let out a huff. "Well, no."

"You embarrassed me. Now they're all gonna be talkin' about my wife and how she made it impossible for anyone to work-"

"How did I make it impossible for anyone to work? Now you're just exaggerating. I was sitting there and reading a magazine."

"And you could have read that magazine in the trailer while Lisa was asleep but you had to sit right there and be rude to Loretta-"

"Do you think that her husband would treat me like a queen?"

"What the hell does that have to do with anything?"

Lisa paid her parents no mind but found herself occupied with Elvis half eaten sandwich. She tore off small pieces before popping them into her mouth, occasionally pausing to lick her sticky fingers. Meanwhile, Elvis and Priscilla glowered at each other. Their gazes hung together like a curse, neither willing to be the first to look away. If Lisa was aware of the tension in the room, she wasn't bothered.

"She is not going alone. Either the three of us have a nice lunch together-"

"How is she alone when she's with me and the guys?"