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a week later marie had received the letter that she was rca was dropping her.
she had expected it of course, but even so she felt her heart plummet. everything she had ever worked for was slipping right out of her hands, deep down out of her reach.
daisy had participated in a front page magazine article, painting marie in the worst of lights this caused paparazzi to hound her. they lined the streets at all times, picturing anyone that left the house.
nina was in her senior year and everytime she stepped out of the house they harassed her, questions, pictures, one of them had even attempted to grab her. it was all her fault, the entire situation.
a petty attempt at high school grade revenge was causing more damage than was ever intended and all marie could do was watch, from behind her window.
her father hadn't contacted her and their business meeting had been held without marie even present. attempting to reconnect she had called all of her team, each call hadn't even gone through.
the worst thing of all was the destruction of herself and nina's sisterhood. when nina found out, through an angry elvis, what had happened she had switched of from marie. spending her off days either locked in her bedroom or at a friends house.
not even darla would hold a meaningful conversation anymore. everybody had isolated themselves. it was as if marie was a deadly disease.
marie was sat in the backyard, wrapped in a patchwork blanket, a poetry book in her hand. she had gotten into poetry recently and was attempting to read through it. the early morning sun was beaming down onto her, making her constant saddened face stand out even further.
the back door slid open and marie spun her head around, nina was stood dressed in a pair of dungarees. marie didn't say anything, she still had no idea where she stood with nina. it was difficult working things out when she wouldn't even look at her.
"i'm going." nina's voice was firm and icy and as marie looked further she saw a large suitcase in her hand. she found the entire situation strange, nina would never tell marie when she was leaving, she would always find out through darla that she was at a friends. nina wasted no time in reading marie the situation, she almost seemed proud. "me an' darla are headin' back to graceland. e gave us a call last night, he wants his maid back, n' if darla ain't here i don't see the point in me stayin' neither."
marie rubbed her eyes as though it was a dream. leaving? the constant hum of nina's radio and the sound of feet travelling throughout the house was the only thing keeping her sane. she couldn't leave. darla couldn't leave. marie wanted to remind her of all the times that she had comforted her when elvis didn't answer the phone, or when her letters got sent back unopened.
but she didn't.
they were family, nothing could come between siblings. she yearned for a sibling in this moment or a real unaffected family member. marie would of even taken charlie back, she was aching for someone to care and was so sick of defending herself to people that had already made up their mind.
nina placed her suitcase on the floor and walked over to marie, leaning down to hug her. marie stiffened.
what?
nina rubbed her back a little before standing up. she gave a definitive sniff, wiping her nose with her sleeve. "i left your dress on your bed."
in the same amount of time that nina had appeared she vanished, leaving marie alone. completely alone.
the time in the world was moving as slow as ever, marie felt as though it had been hours since nina left but as she brought herself inside she heard the engine of nina's car starting.
she desperately wanted to say something, she wanted to beg nina to stay, convince her that it was all a misunderstanding. but that would be wrong.
it wasn't a misunderstanding.
the bottom line was that marie had stolen daisy's song. even with the changed lyrics she had released it as her own official work. she wished she could go back and change things, release it as a cover perhaps.
she let her mind flick back to elvis. the songs he released were not his own, although everybody thought they were. 'hound dog' was not his own work. marie scoffed to herself, the patriarchal world was on his side yet again.
if you were a wealthy man the world fell at your feet.
it was late evening, marie currently had one of darla's cook books open and was attempting to light the stove. the cookbook gave her the simplest of instructions, but as a girl that had never had to make anything for herself, she struggled immensely.
trying for the last time without success, marie threw the cookbook down and went to sit in her living room. she opened up her notebook, the record player was humming loudly next to her as she scribbled things down.
she was trying to write poetry, though the book just consisted of scribbles and crossed out words. rain hammered down on the roof and the window was open ajar. to her own relief, the paparazzi had followed nina's car, they had left so discreetly they assumed marie was in there with them.
she had never noticed the silence in mississippi until now. the rain, the creaking of the old house, her cherry blossom tree billowing in the wind. her life hadn't been this silent since the night elvis left for germany.
she flicked her lighter, sparking a cigarette. any other day this silence would of been restful, but given the way things had been left with nina it felt uncanny.
at graceland, the house was finally full again. the hustle and bustle of maids carrying suitcases and chefs preparing the welcome meal. nina didn't know how to feel, she enjoyed the warmth that graceland brought but it didn't feel right. in her mind graceland was haunted.
daisy was in the corner discussing things with darla their voices low. nina could only make out a few words.
they were talking about marie.
daisy caught wind of nina's gaze and broke of the conversation. "it's swell to have you back darla dear."
she moved over to nina, daisy was shorter than her and she didn't seem to like the difference.
"how are you nina? glad to get out of that cramped house i bet." she rubbed nina's arm, a soft yet smug smile on her face.
"yeah... it was- yeah." she gave daisy a small smile and excused herself to greet elvis who was stood with a group of his friends. elvis was only here for a week before he would go back to hollywood.
"nina!" he enveloped her in a hug and nina had missed her big brother. "i've missed having a sane family member round here." he was referencing their father who had shaken nina's hand as though she were a business associate.
candles were lit and flickered lowly, the entire house was sat around the large dining table.
the thing that confused nina the most was the fact that charlie was sat there, his assistant by his side whispering things in his ear. the entire situation gave of a completely bad aura and nina turned to her side to talk to marie.
but it wasn't marie it was charlie's younger brother, eager to talk to her. she damned herself for even turning over, of course marie wasn't here.
"she's best on her own, isn't that right E." daisy was talking about marie, reaching over to grasp elvis' hand.
"wha's that daisy?" elvis wasn't paying attention to her, his mind was elsewhere. nina wished there wasn't all of these people here, she wanted to talk to her brother alone.
daisy was still going on about marie and despite their current feud she still cared for her, deeply.
"thank goodness you didn't end up with her E, it would've been fights all the time!" daisy sipped her wine, her gaggle of friends laughing along with her.
"she done that herself, with that stupid letter shit." elvis had a beer in his hands and it was his friends turn to laugh.
nina scrunched her nose, finally finding the guts to speak up.
"letters?" she said, a bottle of coca-cola in her hand, barely even sipping it. "you never wrote marie, not that i remember."
"what?" elvis had put his beer down, the entire table going silent. "i wrote that girl every goddamn day."
the reality of the situation hit nina like a ton of bricks as she slapped a hand to her face.
"they never sent..." her voice was a whisper. "they never got to you."
"wha?" elvis was stood out of his chair, a sickening feeling in his stomach. "say that again nina."
"she wrote you elvis, everyday n' she never got a reply."
the colonel who was sat with elvis' father started to get nervous, nina could see it. marie's own father patted his face with a napkin.
"you lying son of a bitch." elvis spoke, the air crisp around them. "i've gotta see her, she- i-"
in the same moment elvis had slammed the door, his cadillac keys in his hand.