the Presleys

chapter 17 - 1954

ELVIS PRESLEY

"Is this the entertainment?", some guy yelled out from the crowd. I let out a deep breath and moved my eyes on Cece, whose leg wouldn't stop twitching. She was anxious and goddamn, so was I. We were at the Bon Air Club and we hadn't even started playing, the crowd was already complaining.

"You gonna strip for us, honey?", someone else yelled out, earning some laughs.

I looked to my right, meeting Cece's gaze. Her hand smoothed out her cream, oversized blazer, which she had borrowed from me. Despite telling her otherwise, I purposely asked my daddy for his blazer in the same color. He didn't care for it, but my mama pestered me with questions. All of that trouble just so that I could match with Cece.

At her now visibly shaking, I walked closer to her and leaned down. "You say the word and we're leaving the stage, baby.", I said, taking hold of her trembling hand and gave it a squeeze.

She squeezed it back and when I pulled away, I noticed her cheeks gaining a rosy color. I bit back a smile and grabbed a hold of my guitar, waiting for us to be introduced.

"... with their hit single That's Alright Mama and Blue Moon of Kentucky, here's Elvis and Cecilia Presley with the Blue Moon Boys!", the crowd clapped as they yelled out random things. And then it hit my ears what the man actually announced.

Cecilia Presley.

Goddamn.

Why did it actually sound... Good?

I looked over my shoulder and immediately noticed Bill's shit-eating grin, he nodded at me as we made eye contact. Automatically, my eyes moved on Scotty, who kept his head down, though his knuckles were white at how tight he was gripping the guitar.

And then I shifted my gaze on Cece.

Those brown eyes were already on me. I couldn't find the strength to break eye contact with her. I didn't really want to. And once again I was mesmerized by the way she looked — all the lights were shining above us, but really, the brightest light was her. Her eyes turned into honey and her dark hair assumed a light brown color. Aw, lord.

What the hell was I waiting for?

"I said Blue Moon of Kentucky,
Keep on a- shining."

Cece sang into the mic, still maintaining the eye contact. The song was faster than That's Alright Mama, though for some reason she decided to keep it slow for the first couple of verses. I didn't even dare to look over my shoulder as Bill and Scotty hadn't even reached for the guitar strings.

Until she paused and picked up the pace. The boys understood immediately and resumed the usual beat of the song. What a fuckin' rockstar. I looked at her and noticed that there was now a smile on her face, her eyes were closed and her hands were clapping to the beat. The rowdy crowd of men clapped with Cece, some of them even had their beers in the air.

I couldn't believe my eyes. I laughed at the sight before me and joined in, leaving the guitar and started clapping my hands. I sang into my own mic and wasn't surprised that the reaction Cece had gotten from the crowd wasn't the same. She was addicting like never before.

"Well, it was on one moonlit night,
Stars shining bright"

My shoes started tapping, until my knees almost buckled at the beat and that was when my hips lost control. It felt like that dream I had all those years ago. Sure, the crowd wasn't the one I had actually dreamt of, but goddamn if I didn't feel lucky right now.