Petty Little Beatles

Act 1: Scene ii

The following morning, thoughts of the past night's drive home returned to Kay Petty nearly the exact instant she had awoken. Her eyes flickered over to where Tom lied next to her, still asleep in spite of the morning light peering in through the window opposite. A small smile crossed her face as Kay continued to stare at him. She had a common thought that his blonde hair was rather beautiful; how ever Tom felt about that, she didn't know. That did not matter to her. When she had first met Tom at a local record shop, she had known he was not the handsomest man in town. Luckily for Kay, she favored personalities over looks, even if other women of her age disagreed. From what she had observed over the years, Thomas Earl Petty was a passionate, laid-back man who was absolutely ecstatic about rock 'n' roll. Particularly the latter had come in handle, as it had been by chance that she had met him in between the stacks of records. It had certainly been amusing when the two of them had had their eyes on the same Elvis Presley record. Tom had his hand outstretched for the record, just at the moment Kay had grabbed it. The moment she had, she had sent an almost embarrassed look to Tom, who shrugged. He had smiled a little and picked up the second copy of the record Kay held in her hands. Then, he had focused his attention back to her. Kay's eyes met his for the first time. She had smiled a bit, herself. The two strangers had stared at each other for a few awkward moments then Kay had a surge of courage and she introduced herself. The blonde man had done the same, and muttered, "So, you like Elvis, don't you?"

Kay had replied, "Yeah, I do." Her eyes shifted to the record she held in her hands. Elvis' He Touched Me. She looked up to see Tom looking at his own copy of the record, and she had to grin. Tom had looked up soon after and he had caught her looking. He had given her a small smile then headed up to the cash register to pay for his record. He had left the store just as quickly, and Kay had thought it was the last she would see him. Her thoughts were shifted after she had paid for her record when she had exited the store to see the same blonde man - Tom - leaning against the side of the building with a cigarette between his lips. He glanced over at her, a smile hanging from his lips. Kay walked up to him, and she was approached with the question of:

"How's school treating you?"

Kay stared at him. "How could you tell I'm a student?"

Tom shrugged. "Just a guess." He ran a hand through his shoulder-length hair.

Kay's eyes glanced over Tom. "How old are you anyway?"

"Twenty-one."

She nodded, thinking that he was quite a bit older than her. At the age of sixteen, naturally, five years seemed like a big age gap.

Tom had surprised her with his next question. "Would you like to go see a movie with me sometime?"

Kay's eyes had widened. "But I hardly know a thing about you."

Tom grinned. "So? The drive-in is always groovy. Don't you want to see Blue Hawaii? I heard they're showing it again for the ten year anniversary or whatever it is."

Kay found herself returning the grin. "Yeah, I suppose I do. Get ready to Rock-a-hula, baby," she joked.

Tom's grin widened.

It would have been odd for either of them to have thought that they would be married in five years, but time had a funny way of turning out.

At the age of twenty-three, Kay smiled at the memory of the day she had met Tom. Just as easily as she had reflected on that day, she thought back to the prior night's drive home from the adoption agency.

Tom had held open the passenger door for her, just as he had had after their first date, and she had taken her seat. Tom had closed the door behind her with a smile through the window. Once he had walked in front of the car to the driver's side, he opened the door and sat down. He had turned the key, with his eyes on his wife.