Blue Moon of Kentucky

Chapter 21

Sending Elvis and Loretta off on their honeymoon was quite a procession. Both their parents, one of Loretta's grandfathers, all her siblings and Elvis' grandmother followed them to the mouth of the holler only to watch them get into Elvis' car which was decorated with a banner that said 'Just Married'.

Gladys, once again, was crying, and the hugs and kisses Elvis gave her did nothing to stop the tears. Despite his mother's sadness, Elvis was giddy with anticipation. It was still difficult to wrap his head around it- how weeks ago he had been a high school student and now he was a husband. Now he needed to take care of his wife, to provide for her. At least he would when they got back, but for now they would focus on enjoying one carefree week together.

"I ain't never been to Prestonsburg," Loretta admitted, staring out at the scenery flashing by the car window.

"Me neither," Elvis said. "We'll go."

"Do we got the money?"

"To just go and look? Sure we do."

Loretta wrinkled her forehead, looking at him with skepticism written all over her face. "Are you just sayin'?"

"We saved, Loretty."

"So we have enough?" Loretta asked again, in a tone that indicated her painful doubts.

"It won't cost so much to just go into town and have a look around."

The windows were rolled down and Elvis was steering with one hand, the other propped up by said window. Most men up in the hollers didn't drive at all and she was marrying one who could do it one handed.

They drove mostly in silence. Elvis turned the radio on and occasionally glanced over at Loretta. When they arrived both Elvis and Loretta were soaked in sweat and Loretta's hair was tousled from the wind.

Another couple - Loretta could tell that they were city folks right away- had just gotten there along with them. The woman seemed to be stricken dumb by the beauty of the surrounding area. Elvis and Loretta were used to nature, for they were surrounded by it in the hollers. The surrounding poverty and despair of the inhabitants did not spoil the beauty of the eastern Kentucky mountains. But this young lady, probably from Louisville, or Lexington or perhaps the state capital of Frankfort, clasped her hands before her and looked around as if she had been transported to paradise.

"This is a nice place, ma'am," Elvis ventured, causing the woman to snap around and face him.

"It is! Oh it is!"

They exchanged smiles and at last Elvis dragged Loretta away to check in. Once inside their room, Elvis put their suitcases in the closet and threw himself down on the bed.

"Come here, Loretty," he demanded.

Loretta was wearing a blouse which Miss Goodwin had given to her - she assumed that it was one of her employers old blouses which she could no longer wear after giving birth to four children. Elvis undid the first button of the blouse slowly. It took him ten seconds to open it and move on to the next. One by one, he slipped open the buttons to reveal her bra.

"Loretta?"

"Hmmm?"

"Do you wanna take a shower?" When she laughed, Elvis added. "You are pretty sweaty and so am I."

"My hair is such a mess," Loretta lamented, running her fingers through her tousled tresses.

"I think it looks neat. I like it long."

"I think it at least makes me look kinda grown up."

She didn't look much different than she did when they first met, when she had been only fifteen. But Elvis wasn't about to tell her that. Though only twelve and a half then, Elvis was certainly interested in girls and dating but this girl, this mature woman, was an unreachable goddess to him. Now the three years that separated them no longer mattered and they were man and wife. Loretta was as tall as him when they first met, but now she seemed almost tiny and fragile compared to himself. Her hand was dwarfed by his when he took it to take her to the bathroom.