ON ONE CAR ride, Jamie found herself staring out of the window. She didn't notice that in the back seat, Elvis had been offered a small drug to help him stay awake. But Elvis had never questioned it, he simply took it and looked at Jamie.
He had noticed that the girl was a little more jumpy around men she didn't know. She stayed back from the edge of the stage as men had began to do what girls do at his shows, a large crowd of men were now gathering at the edge of the stage in Jamie's shows. But she never let her behavior become too obvious and Elvis was unsure how to bring it up to her.
Soon enough, the Hank Snow show turned into the Elvis Presley and Jamie New show.
Ever since the newspaper misprinted the girls name, everyone began to refer to her as Jamie New. She had lost the 'burn' part of her name.
After one show, Jamie had found herself at one of the carnival games. She stood playing it when a man, around her own age, came over. He stood a little aways and watched as she threw a ball, attempting to knock over the milk bottles. Unfortunately, she missed and so she sighed loudly.
The man, cleared his throat to get her attention. "You're not throwing it right."
Jamie turned to head, making eye contact with the man. He was quite handsome and held a small smile on his face.
"May I?" He asked, pointing to the ball in her hand.
She nodded and gave him the ball, watching the way he threw it and knocked over the milk bottles.
"I think I got it." She said, picking up the last ball.
She threw it and jumped in a cheer when she knocked them over. She was then handed a small stuffed bear.
"Thank you..." She trailed off, not knowing the mans name.
"Oh." He blushed in embarrassment. "My names Adam. Adam Hanks."
She smiled. "Jamie Newburn."
He chuckled a little. "I know, I-I watched your show. You're a really good singer. I thought your last name was New?"
Jamie shook her head. "Oh, no. It's Newburn, misprint in a paper and all of a sudden, it's Jamie New."
The two began to talk and walk through the carnival, Jamie had no idea that Elvis had been watching her. Of course, he was looking out for her. She was with an unknown man and he was worried for her, but he had noticed that the man was being rather respectful. He kept his distance, didn't touch her in any way unless it was to make sure she didn't bump into anyone and he seemed to be listening to her.
Elvis felt a rise of a feeling in his stomach, one he had only felt one other time in his life. When Jamie had been asked out by a guy at their high school, the girl turned the guy down but when he heard the word girlfriend come out of the guys mouth, he felt the need to punch him and drag Jamie away.
"Hey, E." Jamie smiled, walking up to her friend, the man trailing behind. "This is Adam."
Elvis reluctantly held his hand out for Adam to shake. "Nice to meet you, man. I'm Elvis."
"I saw you singing." Adam smiled, taking Elvis' outstretched hand. "You and Jamie are amazing."
"Thanks." Elvis replied simply.
Jamie, sensing the slight awkwardness, looked around for something fun to do. "Hey, come on, let's go in the house of mirrors."
Their band mates suddenly appeared, having had the same idea as Jamie. The small group made their way in, but somehow, Jamie and Elvis became separated from Adam and their band mates.
"Lost?" A voice rang out.
Elvis and Jamie looked over their shoulders, their eyes landing on the Colonal in the manu mirrors that surrounded them.
"Colonel Parker, sir." Elvis said, almost waking into a mirror before a cane came out and tapped him on the shoulder.
The pair turned, now facing the man. Elvis gently placed his arm around Jamie's shoulder, mainly to give him something to lean on.
"You two look lost." Colonel chuckled.
"I guess we are." Elvis chuckled along, his arm become slightly tense around Jamie's shoulders.
"The roar of the crowd. The life on the road. And then calling home to your loved ones, pretending nothing has changed, when everything has."
Elvis felt Jamie slip her hand into his, he gave a small squeeze to her hand.
"Yeah..." Colonel continued. "Lost."
Elvis shook his head a little. "I'm sorry, sir...I-I meant that we don't know the way out."
Colonel stepped towards the pair. "Yeah, that is precisely what I am saying. I...I saw you, apart from the others. Burdened. Like you don't know how to get out of this. But I do."
The man turned and opened a mirror, looking back at the pair.
"Allow me to show you."
Elvis and Jamie looked at each other before deciding to follow the man. Elvis removed his arm from Jamie's shoulder but kept hold of her hand.
"Creatures of the carnival. And I am one myself. Its where I learned the art if the snow job."
"Snow job?" Jamie questioned the man.
The Colonel nodded. "Yes. It's like the trick you do with the wiggling, getting all the girls hyped up, or-or the mysteriousness Jamie gives to get the guys to empty their wallets and leave with nothing but smiles on their faces."
Elvis shook his head. "We're no tricksters."
"Yes you are. All showmen are snowmen."
Soon the trio were sat on the ferris wheel.
"Your future, Mr Presley, Miss New, blazing before you."
Jamie wanted to correct the man but he continued without allowing her to interrupt.
"Recording contracts, television, even Hollywood."
Elvis broke into a small smile. "You're great, Colonel. You are the best person I could ever hope to work with. You know, this is something I ain't said to nobody before...but I believe I can be great too." He glanced at the girl beside him. "Especially with Jamie at my side."
"Oh, no doubt." Colonel agreed. "But we could be even greater together. But to achieve this, I need to represent yo- both of you, exclusively."
Jamie furrowed her brows. "Exclusively? Sir, I-we don't follow. What about Hank Snow?"
"Hank. Yes...He sent me here to fire you both. Hank wants you off the tour. So I will have to leave Hank. We all will have to make sacrifices. We will need a record label with national distribution."
Elvis looked at the man shocked. "RCA?"
The man thought for a moment. "RCA."
"Sam Phillips discovered us." Jamie spoke.
"I know. But we have a way to help Sam understand that it will be foolish of hom to hold you back. Every man has his price. Its jus business. Show business. To achieve truly great things, one must make great sacrifices. You will both have to be free of any entanglements. You see, my boy, show business is snow business. And the fans need to believe that you are both always available. Then, we will need your parents legal commitment. They may need a bit of convincing themselves."
"Colonel, I wasn't foolin' when I told those other kids I was gonna buy 'em a Cadillac one day." Elvis said.
"My boy." The man chuckled. "With me, you will buy them two Cadillacs."
"Two? A hundred?"
"Two hundred. A thousand."
"A million."
"An aeroplane."
"How about a rocketship?" Elvis chuckled. "Well, maybe not a rocketship. My mama don't like me to fly. But me, I-I always wanted to fly. Fast."
Jamie smiled at the boys words. "Faster than the speed of light to the Rock of Eternity." She had heard him say the phrase many times before.
"What?" The Colonel questioned. "To the Rock of Eternity?"
"Captain Marvel, Jr." Jamie said. "Elvis' favourite comic book hero."
"He flies." Elvis added.
"And what about you, Mr Presley? Miss New? Are you ready to fly?"
Elvis and Jamie looked at each other, while the latter was more reluctant, she knew she couldn't fly without Elvis just as he couldn't fly without her.
The pair nodded. "We're ready."