the guy who started furaffinity.net just passed away after being strung around by the medical establishment, accruing tens of thousands of dollars of debt while they never actually figured out what was wrong with him
A response to the writing game prompt: “Do you mind? I came in here to get away from other people.”
Warnings: kissing, fluff, Texas? some historical inaccuracies. All the typos. I literally just finished writing this. It is perhaps the fluffiest and most innocent thing I have ever written.
Summary: Lois is away from home, visiting her family in Texas, when her cousins abandon her after an Elvis Presley concert.
7:15 PM, Thursday, June 16, 1955
Midland High School, Midland, Texas
The sun was setting off in the distance, and the warm, rich golden oranges, yellows and pinks of the dusk sky almost made the oil rig silhouettes look beautiful. Even so, Lois wished she was back in Pasadena, getting a malt in Old Town with Jean and Ruby, perhaps talking with some of the older boys from her high school. Or sitting back giggling with Jean as as Ruby flirted and tried to get someone to buy her fries. It had only been three days since she’d been shipped off to Texas, but she was already homesick. She sighed. Right now, Lois would even settle for a night taking her bratty, unbearable her 8-year old brother Ritchie out to a movie. Anything to not be here, stuck with her cousins, a living tribute from her parents to kiss up to Zeyde. Nate’s snickering brought her back to the present, and Lois pressed her hands into the cold brick ledge and turned around to look at her cousin.
Nate sipped from his flask, and handed it to his friend, what was his name, Ralph? Nate’s sister Sharon lit a cigarette and blew her smoke to the side, her dark red lipstick smudged the tip. It reminded Lois how simple her own make up had been, she touched her purse and pulled out her light pink tinted lip pomade, reapplying it with her finger.
“Want some?” Sharon asked, a sneer in her voice as her cigarette ash fell down onto the concrete floor. She thinks she’s so cool and sophisticated now that she’s graduated from high school. Lois was now the only student among the group, Nate worked for Zeyde, and Ralph did something for an oil company. The boys had been in the same grade, and Ralph was much closer to her cousins than she was.
Lois shook her head, and looked back out over the ledge, this time down to the front of the high school, watching groups of other young people, and some of their parents, walking into the entrance below.
Ralph took another swig of the flask and thumped it in Nathan’s chest. He looked at Lois and Sharon, then back at Nate. “We should do down, I wanna get to the front where we can dance with some of the girls.”
With that, Nate led the way off the rooftop and down the stairs to the back of the high school.
Nate’s voice echoed as he called out in the stair. “Dance? Who’s the cat we’re seeing tonight anyhow?”
Ralph bounced to the bottom stair. “Elvis Presley, he’s on the Hayride radio show, but I saw him in Houston with my brother. He’s wild. I bought all his records.”
“Never heard of him,” Lois whispered.
“Don’ you listen to the Lousiana Hayride out there in San Diego?
Lois shook her head, and whispered, “It’s LA actually.”
“What was that?” Ralph asked, but Nate hit him on the shoulder as they turned the corner.
“Don’t pay any attention to her, she doesn’t know anything, she’s barely 16.”
Lois sucked in her tummy, and hung back, trailing behind them while they wound their way through the high school hallways, encountering more and more people as they closed in on the auditorium. Ralph, Sharon and Nate fell in with some friends they recognized, and Lois trailed further behind, listening to them excitedly talk about their summer plans. One girl asked Sharon when she was moving to Austin for college and Lois tuned out Sharon’s exuberant gush about her dorm and her roommate and the new Cadillac convertible Zeyde had bought her. What a brat, if Zeyde knew what you said about him behind his back he’d give you a slap in the face stead of a new car, Lois smiled to herself. She toyed with the idea of slipping away and seeing if they noticed as the group got farther and farther ahead of her. Several other kids now walked between her and her cousins who had made their way to the front. Lois decided to just hang back and stay, she had no plan for how to get back to the house if she snuck away. So she meandered to a clear spot against the wall, pushed a lock of her dark, brown hair behind her ear and leaned back, picking at her finger nails and scanning across the dark room.Uh. Three more weeks here. I guess I should be happy I got off the ranch tonight, she told herself, thinking of Bubbie back at the main house, probably knitting on the porch or bossing some of the servants around.
The lights dimmed, and the crowd went quiet. Looking around, Lois realized that all the seats were filled, and there must have been fifty people so lined up along the walls, more in the back. I guess this Melvis guy must be popular here in Texas.
A bright light appeared in the center of the stage, and Lois noticed the big bass and drums already set up. A man in a bright silver dinner jacket and suit pants ran out onto the stage to take the mic, and the crowd cheered.
“HeyyyOOO there all you Midlander chicks and chucks! It’s me, Moon Mullican, that handsome rascal who sneaks into your bedroom every night…… on KCEK, that is! Don’t pout, don’t be a lout, daddy’s here and the night is clear for us to have some fun. So stick with me, chickadee, we’re gonna have a party!”
Lois, shook her head to herself, he sounded just as bombastic in his sing songy bantering voice as the radio DJs back home, except with a slight Texas twang. The same twang her mama had been trying to rid herself over the last twenty years in the California sunshine.
Moon’s voice rang out again, and the cheering died down.
“I know he needs no introduction, this boy’s records have been skyrocketing right up the charts. He’s only twenty years old, and has a new distinct musical style. An’ I see all the little gals out there are all ready to scream and shout, with out a doubt, so let’s give a warm Texas welcome to that Hillbilly Cat, that Memphis Flash, ELLLvezzzzzz Presley y’alll!!”
A tall, young man ran out from the wings with a big grin on his face, and Lois gasped at his see-through white lace shirt, tucked into a pair of white dress pants with a silk, pink strip down the side. A guitar hung down at his left hand, and he hit Moon on the shoulder, shaking his hand, then turning to smile at the guys filling out the band behind him. Putting the microphone back into the stand, Elvis slapped his guitar and leaned forward, stuttering and tapping his right foot. He exuded a nervous, excited energy, and his voice was low and deep as it cracked.
“He - he - he - hey y’all, How are ya?” he asked the crowd, and they called back with whoops and claps and cheers. “It’s a real honor to be back here in oil country and play for ya folks. A real honor. I always say, Texas people are, are, the bestest people, an y’all make us feel welcomed an right at home and we wanna thank ya.” He smiled as some of the kids cheered and clapped and called out his name. One girl at the back called out “I love you Elvis.” He smiled into his guitar, responding with a smirk. “I - I love ya too, honey. Well, y’all paid for a show, and that’s what we’re fixin ta give ya. So, well, this un was a single that came out last year on Sun Records. Maybe ya heard and if not, well, it goes sumpin’ like this.” Elvis began to strum his guitar, he closed his eyes, and burst in to the loud opening mewl of “Good Rockin’ Tonight.”
The auditorium filled with the band’s music, and the audience began to stand up in their seats. Almost everyone standing near the wall rushed to the front and began dancing and bouncing up and down. The energetic, country picking of the guitar and the fierce urgency of Elvis’ voice grabbed Lois and she found her feet pulling her forward, mesmerized by the way Elvis moved and sang. He was a man possessed as he swung back and forth, playing guitar as his knees seemingly had a life all their own, jerking and squirming their way across the stage. She found her own feet moving side to side, and relished the feeling of crinoline swishing over her thighs under her dark blue navy skirt. Her cousins and Ralph had ended up in the middle of the crowd dancing at the front of the auditorium, and Lois made herself at home, alone, comforted at least being able to see them from a distance from where she was at the right side of the stage. Closing her eyes, Lois let her self move and twist to the music, then smiled awkwardly at the two girls near her when the song finished.
Lois looked up at the stage, noticing how Elvis clutched the guitar close to him, tightly, as he began to sing “That’s All Right Mama.” During the guitar solo, which the skinny little man in back played, Elvis staggered over to where Lois stood and she moved to lean up towards him against the stage, entranced and unable to stop herself from the gravitational pull of his quirking smile. He bite his lip, and locked eyes with her, muttering a low “How you doin’ tonight, darlin?” from the stage. The air hitched in Lois’ throat as she laughed nervously and breathed a “good” up to him in reply. Elvis winked, then moved back to the mic and finished the song, pulling his hand through his hair and looking back at Lois with a wide, beaming grin. The girls behind her squealed, and told her that they couldn’t believe how lucky she was. Lois didn’t hear them. She was transfixed, and let her self go, bouncing up and down as the band continued to play song after song, “Blue Moon of Kentucky,” “Heartbreaker,” “Baby, Let’s Play House.” Lois had never seen anyone like Elvis, his legs were spread out wide, he swiveled his knees and thrust his hips up into his guitar, and the girls next to Lois screeched when he swaggered near them, reaching out to try and touch his white hush puppy shoes.
Elvis began to strum his guitar and then stopped to speak into the microphone.
“Hold it now, fellas, let’s get real, real gone with this one.”
Smirking, he started playing the guitar again, singing “Milk Cow Blues,” and shouting out “Let’s Milk it,” as the lead guitar player began his solo and Elvis began to swing and wiggle vigorously across the stage. After the solo, Elvis held his guitar aside so he could yank up his belt, laughing at himself and how his shirt was coming out of his pants. Lois blushed, as she caught herself staring at his groin. As if sensing her eyes on him, Elvis looked up at her, and grinned, walking back to the mic to finish singing.
Elvis thanked the audience after that song, and Lois leaned harder against the stage, watching as he wiped the sweat from his face and into his quiffed pompadour. Elvis and the band walked off the stage, and he shot her a kiss as he walked off. Lois stood there, giddy, her whole body felt charged with an electric fire. She steadied herself, catching her breath for a few minutes, then turned around to watch the audience slowly filter out of the back. Lois’ heart started to race when she realized she had lost sight of her cousins, they had not hung back like she thought they would. She started to slowly pace around the side, looking for their faces in the crowd, before quickly walking outside gasping as she saw Sharon’s new convertible pulling off from the parking lot. Lois blood began to beat in her ear drums, and she walked back in, looking around the auditorium for any face she might recognize from previous visits to Texas. Or a kind smile she could trust. She got back up to the front of the empty room and suddenly felt very frightened and abandoned and alone and could feel the tears welling up behind her eyes, so she ran out of the side door and into a nearby stairwell where she sat down and let it all out.
“Ughh, I hate Texas. And I hate Nate. And I hate Sharon and her stupid new car.” Lois stammered to herself through the tears. Then she heard the door to the stairwell crack, and yelled over her shoulder.
“Do you mind? I came here to get away from other people.” Lois wiped her eyes, and turned around to see the singer, Elvis, standing in the doorway behind her.
“Well, hi ta y—you, too, baby.” he smiled, and walked over before plopping down next to her. “Jus loading up the car, and I thought a cat was dying in here. Came to save its life.” He put his arm around her, instantly familiar, and squeezed her waist. His thumb rubbed up and down to soothe her. Lois had never been this close to a boy before, and she trembled at his touch but didn’t pull away. “Hey, sssh, ain’t gonna hurt ya.”
She turned to look up at him, a soft chuckle escaped her mouth as she said, “I know, I’m not scared of you.”
“Huh, well, ok then, fearless wonder. Tell me why you’re in here crying, hate to see pretty girls cry.”
Lois leaned into his shoulder, embarrassed. “Ughh, I got left here and I don’t know what to do.”
Elvis patted the top of her hair. “Yeah, I saw you from the stage, looked like you were all alone through the show. Ain’t ya folks coming to pick ya up?”
“Nuh uh, I came with my cousins. They didn’t want to be near me during the show, I guess I cramp their style, then they left afterwards without me. Sorta a practical joke, I suppose.”
“Well, c’mon, let’s go find a phone and get you daddy to come getcha.” Elvis stood and Lois pulled herself up on his outstretched hand. His face still gleamed with a slight sheen of sweat in the dim glare of the stairwell, and his hair had a glossy radiance to it. She leaned on him for balance, and he put his hand on her waist as she adjusted herself. A blush crept up her cheeks, and Elvis’ lips quirked.”What’s your name, lil’ gal?”
“Lois. Lois Stern.”
Elvis spoke slowly, and softly, stepping back and talking her hand to walk out of the stairwell. “Well, alright then, lil’ Lois, let’s go call ya dad.”
Lois gasped as he walked her in to the hallway. “That’s just the thing, I’m visiting from Los Angeles, and, and, I don’t know my grandparent’s number, or my aunt and uncle’s…”
Elvis stopped for a minute. “Hmm, know where they live?”
“Not the street, but… they live at Quien Sabe Ranch, people round here might know where that is.”
Elvis stopped to think. “K, this is what we gonna do.” His voice was low and playful. “I gotta take the boys back to our motel, then I’ll drive ya home. Sound good?”
Lois nodded, she couldn’t help the dizzy feeling of relief and excitement and attraction that radiated from her face, and Elvis chuckled as he pulled her into his side and walked her out the back door.
Dipping her french fry in her strawberry shake, Lois looked up to see Elvis’ horrified expression. She giggled.
“What? Never seen someone mix savor and sweet before? It’s delicious, you should try.” She reached across the table with her half eaten fry, and giggled more at his scowl.
“Uh uh. No thankee. No ma’am. These are potatoes and this is a shake. Sometimes they mix in my mouf, but uh, somethin about dippin it in.” He shook his head. “Nope, just don’t sit right with me.”
“C’mon, I promise you’ll like it.”
Elvis shrugged and sat up, and smiling. “Ugh, alright, can’t say know to you, lil’ Lou Lou.”
Then opened his mouth, and Lois fed him the rest of her strawberry milkshake covered fry. He sucked back up over her finger with a devilish glare, and Lois laughed, pulled her finger out of his mouth,
“Ya right.” He said licking his lips. “S’good. S’perfect. Huh, shudda known, the lil’ Lou Lou special would taste just… mhmmm.” He grunted.
Lois chuckled uncontrollably. Then stopped when she noticed an older couple at a booth down the restaurant looking over at them with disdain, and then whispering to each other. She looked back at Elvis, his lace shirt, eye liner and greased back hair made him somewhat of a spectacle in Midland, Texas. Lois slid her left saddle shoe along the inside of his hush puppy, her knee grazing his slightly. It was the second most forward thing she had ever done. The first being getting in his car with him and three men, dropping them off at a hotel, and then riding alone with him to grab something to eat before he drove her home. Elvis leaned his knee back into hers, arching his left eyebrow up.
“Mhmmmm?”
She nodded her chin at the booth behind him. He turned his head to look as she said, “I think you got some fans?” The couple scowled and looked away when Elvis waved at them.
“Aw, they just sore I got a fancier shirt then them.” He took a big bite of burger. “Sow, whads yoar sthorry, darglin?” he asked, mouth full of food and eyes full of mischief.
The door bell rang behind her, and more people came into the diner. Lois didn’t notice. She breathed deep, savoring the spectaclar turn of events, the sweetness of the strawberry shake, the warmth of Elvis legs as they slide tighter on either side of hers and she breathed in with a smile, feeling her blush return.
“Hmmm, well, I’m 16, I love in Pasadena, California, and I’m stuck here in the middle of nowhere Midland Texas for three weeks.” She sipped her shake. “My mom grew up here, met my father in Houston, and he took her back out to Pasadena where he’s from, and that’s where I live with my kid brother. But my grandfather, well, my mom says if I want to go to college or have a wedding, Zeyde’s the one who’d pay for it, so its my job to come visit and make nice.”
Elvis hand moved over Lois’ knee, rubbing the top.
“Hmm, zeyde, you Jewish?” Lois nodded. “Ya know, my neighbors back home in Memphis are Jews, or they were, ‘bout half ma friends are. They taught me yid-a-yish, ya know.”
“Hmmm.” Lois flipped her hair to the side, tucking her dark curls behind her ear. “I hope they taught you yiddish, too, might come in handy if you ever play Brooklyn, or LA for that matter.”
Elvis squeezed her hand. “I know ya aint makin’ fun of the way I talk, are ya Lois?” Then moved his fingers down to pinch her knee.
Lois squealed, inviting another sharp look from the other couple at the back.
“No, no no. I swear, I didn’t mean it,” she yelped as he ticked her leg, she almost fell over giggling when he stopped.
“Whoweee,” Elvis exclaimed, catching his breath from laughing. His eyes locked with Lois’ and his expression became more serious. “Whoweeee… hmmm. Ya got a boyfriend out there, back in Passsa -a -dena?”
Lois shook her head, sucking up the last of her shake.
“Ever had one?”
She shook her head again, looking down.
“Ever been kissed?” his voice cracked as it hit a higher register.
Another head shake. “Nope, I’m preparing for life as an old maid. Weighing my options, librarian or school marm?” Lois smoothed down her white blouse, straightening the dragonfly broach above her breast. The light glinted off of the rhinestones in it and she looked back at Elvis. He pursed his lips, his hand now moved under her skirt and over her bare her knee slowly, firmly, insistently.
“Mhmmmm, I think you could probably do whatever ya set ya mind to. But I promise ya, you’re too pretty to be a spinster, Lou Lou. Mhmmm. Someone’s liable to grab ya up, when you least expect it. I bet you’ll be married ‘fore you’re twenty. If that’s what ya want.” He squeezed her knee. “Right, let’s blow this popsicle stand.”
Elvis’ pink Cadillac Fleetwood drove up the road, passing the large metal sign with Quien Sabe Ranch hollowed out. He had stopped at a gas station to get directions, thankfully the property was a well-known local landmark, and once they had got to a certain point, Lois had been able to help with directions. His arm tightened around her shoulder, and she rubbed her head into his arm, hating the prospect of leaving the warmth of his touch, the delicious feeling of being enclosed in him completely.The large house at the center of the property was aglow, and little lights twinkled from the other houses and buildings around the compound. A small pond sat beside the big house, and Elvis pulled next to the tree there, about twenty yards from her grand parents front door.
“You didn’t tell me you lived in a manshun.” Elvis finger traced along the top of her arm.
Lois turned into him, her mouth next to his ear as she whispered. “I don’t. I live in a small, three bedroom house in California. Think you’ll ever come out that way?”
Elvis pulled her into him. “Hell yes. You know.” He drew back from her, turning to look into her big brown eyes, his large fingers feathered over her forehead, and his face lit up with tender excitement. “You should start a fan club. I don’t have one there yet. Start a fan club for me, out in Los Angle - les, mhmm?”
Lois looked up in to his eyes, the earnest emotion she saw there was so intense she immediately acquiesced, shaking her head. “Yes, of course, gosh. Me?”
Elvis smiled. “You’re swell, you know that? And pretty.” His fingers trailed down to Lois’ waist, it felt like the whole side of her body fit into his large hand as she pushed into it.
“I bet you say that to all the girls”
Elvis leaned in closer, his nose hovered above hers.
“Nope. Only tha pretty ones.”
His hand moved up, and his thumb slid over her torso, coming to notch right below her breast. Lois exhaled slowly.
“Can I kiss you, Lois?”
She answered by leaning up, and kissing him first. Smooshing her lips fervently, awkwardly, roughly onto his. Her arms snaked around his neck as Elvis smacked off, laughing, both hands at her waist.
“Whooooa, whoooo.” he leaned in, and softly kissed Lois’ cheek. “Slow down, baby, slow down. This ain’t the Kentucky Derby.”
Lois giggled, then moaned as he kissed her neck and peppered a trail of soft kisses from her jaw to her mouth. She moved, slowly, with the rhythm of his body as he kissed her again on her lips, this time pushing his tongue into her mouth, and grinning as she jerked back, wiping her mouth with surprise and catching her breath.
“S’called a French kiss.” Elvis announced, rubbing her arm.
Lois grinned. “You know, I’ve never been kissed before. I …” she smiled sheepishly. “I think this is the best night of my life.
Elvis smirked, and squeezed her shoulder.
“Tell me your number baby, I’ll call you when I come out to California.”
“Do you have something to write it down with?”
Elvis pointed to his head. “Nu uh, this is all I need, just tell me your number. C’mon now, I gotta get back, heading on to Abilene early. Reckon the boys already put an ABP out for me” He cupped his hand over his mouth, as if talking into a police radio. “Look for a young gal, dark, dangerous, pretty as heck—”
Lois slapped his shoulder. “Ok, ok, ok. My number is FA 3- 2780, that’s FA for Fairoaks, 3- 2780.”
Elvis bent over and kissed her cheek, then leaned across her lap to pull her door open. “Alright Lou Lou, FA 3 - 2780, got.” He grinned, as she got out of the car and turned around to see his eyes following her as she walked up to the house and went inside the door. A low whistle came out of the car as she swished her hips a little more and she grinned into herself. Later that night, after explaining most of what happened to her grandparents in thebroadest, vaguest terms possible, Lois would go on to collapse upstairs on her bed, and spend the night replaying her time with Elvis, trying to conjure up the feeling of his arm around her and his lips on her mouth.
8:35 PM, Sunday March 25, 1956
The Stern Household, Pasadena, CA
The sound of her mother answering the phone stirred Lois from her homework, and she stared ahead at the TV.
“C’mon Ritchie, put the Ed Sullivan Show, huh?”
Her brother turned and stuck his tongue out at her.
“Thought you were doing homework, four eyes.” He laughed, nodding at her new glasses.
Ugh, glasses, an annoying brother, I really will die a spinster.
Just then, her mother leaned into the living room from the hallway.
“Lois? There’s a young man on the phone for you. He said his name is Elvis Presley….” Lois jumped up off the couch with a shriek. Marjorie Stern looked with alarm at her daughter as she dashed for the telephone. “Wait… that name sounds familiar, is he in your class?”
Lois grabbed the phone, waving her mom away.
“Hello?”
“Hey, Lou Lou? That you? Where you been, I've been calling you all day. I just got to Los Angle - less. When can I pick ya up? Been hankering for that Lou Lou special. Ya know, something sweet and savory mixed ta gether.”
Pov: imagine being the runt (shortest/smallest) of all your ward mates and you just want to be a knight like your dad that you dont know cause you’re an orphan but you end up with grumpy old grandpa instead who has a caffeine addiction and hates human interaction (but its ok you have the most important job of all of the kingdom now lol)
Tala always had a hard time adjusting to new things. He enjoyed a routine. He liked knowing what was happening and what was going to happen. He was a fan of boring. He didn’t mind the mundane.
It helped calm him. Less things going on inside his head when he knew what he was expecting. He was always filled with uncertainty when he was growing up. Boris loved keeping them on their toes. Waking them all up at odd hours. Withholding food. What they were going to be put through that day. What training. It was easier to just dissociate and get through it than think about it.
The things in his head didn’t get quieter until they all left the abbey, but after the arrest, things were silent.
That’s until Tyson decided to reenter his life.
Now everything was a whirlwind. He felt overwhelmed and confused. Tala had a routine. A routine that Tyson constantly liked to ruin. Tyson had no fear of him, and it infuriated him. He would touch Tala, like that was an okay thing to do. He would tug on Tala’s hand to get the redhead to follow him.
Why wasn’t he afraid of him? Even Bryan had a fear of him, but Bryan knew what he was capable of. Tyson didn’t.
