My Little Friend

Chapter 6

August 13, 1958, 6:45 P.M.

Elvis paced the length of the room like a tiger stuck in a too small cage, fingers locked in his hair, which was already tousled (quite a feat considering its short length) while his mother sniffled and his father watched on. It would be an understatement to say that Elvis was frantic at the loss of Lynn Rose. Hearing her scream for him from down the hall could only be described as having his heart ripped out and subsequently tossed into a meat grinder.

"They didn't even take her shoes," Gladys broke the tense silence upon catching sight of the small pair of shoes beside the bed.

"They're animals," Elvis yelled, "I'm gonna go down there and get her back. That's what I'm gonna do."

"You won't do nothin' like that," Vernon said, a desperate firmness behind his voice.

"You bet I will. And I'm gonna write a complaint about them. Get them fired."

"They had to take her, son. We ain't her kin."

"Not like this," Gladys argued. "You didn't see how upset the poor baby was. She kept thinkin' that she did somethin' wrong."

"And now she thinks that we don't want her, either," Elvis sobbed. "She said that she was no good. How can we sit here and tell her that ain't true and then let her be taken away."

"Elvis," Gladys said gently, beckoning him over. Elvis gave a firm shake of the head. Gladys went on. "You never did nothin' wrong."

Elvis crouched down on the floor and buried his face in his hands. "She's gotta be so scared now."

"She'll be fine," Vernon offered, receiving a glare from Elvis in response.

"Her mama died. She's four years old and all alone in the world. She's not fine. Nothin' is fine! I wanna go see her!"

"They wouldn't let you," Vernon said. "Remember when you was gonna go down there to give the kids teddy bears and they wouldn't let you?"

Elvis sniffled as the memory drifted back to him. They had asked for the teddy bears to be given to one of the nuns at the gate. Of course Lynn Rose had to be taken to that orphanage of all places. They only let couples who were considering adoption and medical professionals see the children. The place was stuck in the Dark Ages, reminiscent of Oliver Twist rather than modern orphanages.

"We'll go see her," Gladys said and though he could tell from the tone of her voice that she truly meant it, it simply wasn't soon enough. A few days would be an eternity for a child as young as Lynn Rose, a week like a lifetime.

He remembered the nun he had given the teddy bears to at the gate. She had such cruel and unforgiving eyes, making him feel pity for the children that were entrusted to her care. He thought of the unfortunate faceless youngsters for a long while or at least that was what it felt like. Maybe it had been only a few days but either way he eventually pushed it to the back of his mind and went on with his life.

The lingered knot in his throat got tighter and tighter. Soon, he wouldn't be able to swallow, then he wouldn't be able to breathe...

Images swirled around his head. They didn't even spend two full days together. It couldn't be normal to become so attached to each other in such a short period of time. But they had been through so much together in that little time. Taking care of Lynn Rose kept him sane when his mother's life was hanging in the balance.

All that little angel wanted was to be loved and with her mother gone, who could possibly love her like he did? Who could understand what she had been through the way he could, having witnessed and shared her pain? It connected them in a way Elvis couldn't explain.