Pieces of My Life

Chapter 1

"Maybe she sucks and doesn't know the order of her own set."

"Even if she sucks, they suck too."

"She said that she don't care."

"She didn't say that," Elvis snapped.

"She did," Billy shot back. "Didn't you hear it?"

"No. I don't hear voices, unlike you."

"She did say it," Joe said. "In the middle of the song. Just stood right there and said 'I don't care'. I heard it too."

Elvis didn't argue, but his ears perked up in time to hear Loretta start over in the middle of the song when she realized that they were in fact playing one song while she was singing another. Loretta managed to perform her last song, 'Coal Miner's Daughter', without mishaps though the band's performance was mediocre and devoid of any feeling. The guys were not wrong to wonder why she chose to support a group of musicians no better than the ones performing at Karaoke Bars across the country.

Loretta walked off stage, throwing a forced smile in the direction of everyone in the surrounding area before demanding that the band follow her. Most of them dragged their feet and bowed their heads. One, however, refused.

"Heck no," he said. "I'm not gonna let her chew me out like it's our fault. We didn't know any of her damn songs and she can't even tell us what key she does it in. 'You're in the wrong key, boys'. The nerve. She's a washed up has been, little bitch—"

Something within Elvis snapped. He stalked over to the young man. "Did you say what I think you did?" Elvis demanded.

"It's none of your business. You don't have to work with her, do you? She's talking about us playing in the wrong key when she can't even read music."

Loretta turned to the young musician. Heat rose to her face, not from embarrassment but from anger. Her blue eyes were as sharp as glass. "You don't work with me anymore now, honey, that's for sure. And you're not gonna work with no one else either if you keep this up."

"Well, it's the truth. At least none of us stood there saying we don't care. If you don't care, why the hell should we?"

"It was real easy to tell that you didn't care any and you wasn't gonna prepare but you still wanna get paid. A lot of people are losin' their farms that their families had for many years right now and we're here tryin' to help them."

"Cry me a river, then."

"Shut your mouth," Elvis snapped. "The lady's right. Have some respect. You messed up. If I was her I wouldn't have hired you in the first place."

"Oh, I didn't hire him," Loretta said. Elvis' confused gaze snapped toward her, then back to the man. The rest of them had scattered.

Elvis placed a hand on Loretta's shoulder. "Are you okay, honey?"

"Yeah, just mad as heck." She managed a small but genuine smile. "I made the best out of it. Thanks goodness I'm only a small part of the whole thing. I—" She tore off her satin jacket. "Sorry, I'm hot."

Elvis grinned. His expression faded when he caught sight of something stuck to her jacket. "You lost your... " He squinted. "Fingernails?"

"Oh." She peeled one fake nail off her jacket and pressed it back down onto her nail. "They're supposed to be press-on nails but they shoulda called 'em pop-off nails."

Elvis gave her a somewhat amused look as she stuck the other nail back on. "I didn't know there was such a thing as...what did you call, 'em? Press-on nails?"

"That's what they is. Ain't I a hot mess? First you hear me mess up my set, then I get a real nice hot flash and my nails start poppin' off. I musta made a real good impression on you."

Elvis grinned. "Yeah, real good."

Her frankness and ability to open a conversation so very wide surprised him. He couldn't recall if this was what she had been like back in the day, when they were both still young and on top of the world.

"Elvis?" Loretta's voice pulled him back to reality.

"Yes?"

"Are you on next?"

"No, it's..." As if on cue, Tanya Tucker came strutting by. "Tanya Tucker."

"Ah. Hi, honey." Loretta gave Tanya a smile as the younger woman walked past her. "I was thinkin' 'cause you look nervous already—"

"That bad?" A laugh belched out of his mouth.

"Well, that's just what happens sometimes. Even to the best of us."

Elvis glanced over at the guys, surprised that not one of them had been trying to smart mouth or insert himself into the conversation yet. They were too preoccupied with Tanya.

Elvis and Loretta engaged in small talk during Tanya's set, but were rudely interrupted when the aforementioned singer walked off stage and Lamar hollered, "Does this cowgirl want a cowboy?"

Tanya whipped around and looked him up and down before responding with a cool, "No, not really."

The guys hooted with laughter.

"God damn!" Jerry exclaimed. "And you thought you had it easy 'cause that one flirts with everything that's got a penis."

Elvis sent an icy glare in their direction, then turned back to Loretta to take in the confusion written all over her face.

Elvis grabbed her by the elbow and led her away from the guys. In a hushed tone, he told her what it was all about. The words simply flowed from his mouth without much thought.

"Is that right?" Loretta exclaimed.

"I got you. But I'm not... I think it's stupid. If I was playing their game I wouldn't have told you."

"Well is that right?" she repeated.

"Yes... " Elvis swallowed.

Loretta grabbed his arm and pulled him back over to the guys without another word. They stood there in somewhat awkward silence. Just as a few of the guys turned, Loretta grabbed hold of his face and placed a lingering kiss on his lips. There was no tongue involved, but someone watching from a distance wouldn't have been able to tell. Still, it was a nice kiss, and in his shock, Elvis responded by wrapping his arms around her.

The guys stared, rendered speechless for once in their lives.

Elvis and Loretta broke apart, a wide grin on her face as she wiped her lipstick from his mouth.

"I'll see you." Loretta gave him a barely discernible wink before walking away.

~*~

Author's Note: Some of this is based on what did happen at the real Farm Aid. What I wrote about Loretta performance is true (and she wore that outfit). I just decided that Farm Aid would be the best way for them to meet though Farm Aid itself won't even be significant to the actual story. And yes, for the purpose of the story, Loretta and Doolittle are divorced and Elvis is alive in 1986.