Blue Moon of Kentucky

Chapter 36

Though their parents' disapproval did lay heavy on their minds, Elvis and Loretta eventually went back out on the road. They traveled from Kentucky to Tennessee to Arkansas, all the way down to the deepest South and back a million times. Loretta had been planning to fully participate the way she did before Erin Love was born but quickly found that to be nearly impossible. Her daughter still needed to be fed every two or three hours, sometimes every hour and a half. She never put her on a schedule the way they did at the hospital but fed Erin Love whenever she was hungry. Her baby seemed so tiny when she was born, so Loretta was content to let her eat all day. But now, on the road, it complicated things, as did the diapers. Laundromats were a blessing, though many times Loretta would dunk diapers into toilets or buckets to get rid of the worst of it before storing them in their old cooler.

Elvis came into consciousness, having slept even though Junior was driving. By now, he had gotten so used to sleeping on the bus that the movement and the sound of tires hissing on dry asphalt soothed him. He opened his eyes, blinking a few times before focusing on Loretta. She was kneeling on the floor and holding Erin Love with one arm while using the other to stuff pictures into record sleeves. Elvis sat up slowly, the movement drawing Loretta's attention to him.

"Hi, honey," she said cheerfully. "I made you a sandwich already and your suit is dry." Erin whimpered in her arms. "And I'm gonna feed you in a minute. You hold on, baby."

The spark of love that ignited in his chest for this woman, for his wife, left Elvis feeling warm inside.

"Do you really think you gotta... " Elvis gestured toward the stack of pictures and records.

"Someone's got to."

"Loretta, we're gonna record an album."

"I know, but we're gonna sell those... " She trailed off when Erin's whimpers turned into indignant cries. "Do you want the sandwich?"

"Yeah." Elvis forced himself to stand and walk over to the counter. Her notebook was laying on the tiny table. Elvis couldn't help but glance at it.

"You can read 'em," Loretta said. "They ain't secret. Most of them is about you."

He twisted around to look directly at her. "That so?"

"Oh yeah. Just don't get no grease or crumbs on my book."

Elvis practically inhaled his sandwich. He washed his hands before grabbing her book. By then, Loretta had moved to their private area to feed Erin Love. Sometimes he wished that he could feed his baby. Loretta talked about bottle feeding when the baby was older a while ago but hadn't mentioned it since.

He flipped the pages of her book, taking in every word she had written. Most of it was exactly what he expected from her. When he came across a song she had apparently titled 'To Make a Man', he didn't know whether he should laugh or be irritated.

"The man I've got loves to be loved on and he likes to wear the britches. He don't like doin' women things like washing clothes and dishes-" Elvis read, only to be cut off by Loretta who exclaimed, "But you don't! That song's just a joke, honey. I don't know why I wrote the stupid thing. I was prob'ly a little mad at you for somethin' and... I shoulda not wrote it at all."

Elvis sighed, his eyes once again on the notebook. "At least you said that I wasn't that hard to please."

"Not really you ain't. Not most of the time. Now this one–" She jerked her chin in the direction of their nursing child. "She cried somethin' awful this mornin'. I don't know how you slept through it."

Neither did Elvis. He did recall being vaguely aware of his daughter's crying, but it sounded as though it was happening in a dream.

"You gotta stop with all of that movin' around," Loretta scolded. "It makes you dead tired. Sometimes I worry that you ain't gonna be able to catch your breath again."