Baby, Let's Play House_ Elvis Presley and the Women Who Loved Him - Alanna Nash [143]
“No, I’m sorry,” she said. “If Elvis wants to see Anita, he’ll have to come to the door and pick her up.”
George went back to the car and explained the situation, and then the two of them came up the walk. Elvis had on his red velvet shirt, black trousers, and a black motorcycle cap, and for a moment, he stole Anita’s breath. “He was effervescent . . . absolutely the best-looking man I’ve ever seen, before or after.”
The protective Miss Patty led Anita’s gentleman callers into the living room. There, she laid down the law. “Now, you have to have her back at a reasonable hour,” she said. Otherwise, Anita couldn’t go.
Out in the car, Anita was surprised to find Lamar and Cliff, too, as she thought this was a date, the kind of thing where a boy and a girl go out together without other people. And where were they actually going? Elvis just seemed to be driving around. Then they pulled up by the Strand Theater, where Elvis showed her a giant cutout of himself as a display for Loving You, which was scheduled to premiere the following night.
They drove around some more, stopping at a Krystal’s stand to get three dozen hamburgers. Anita didn’t like the little square steamed sandwiches, and she was amazed to watch the guys wolf down every one. After that, Elvis asked if she’d like to see Graceland.
“I said, ‘Sure,’ you know. ‘I’d love to.’ I felt really at ease because of the guys in the backseat that I knew.”
As soon as they got in the door, Elvis gave her a pink-and-black teddy bear from a large supply in a box in the dining room. His double-sided single “Teddy Bear/Loving You” had just sold 1.25 million copies in a week, and the Colonel had bought a gross of stuffed animals from a wholesale carnival house.
It was a pleasant evening. Elvis introduced her to his parents and grandmother, and then gave her a tour of the lower floors. Then the group listened to some music, and Elvis played the piano. Finally, he said, “Come up. I want to show you my office.”
There wasn’t much to see in his office, really, but it was right next to his bedroom, and he gently led her inside. She couldn’t believe how dark it was, with navy blue drapes. Then she saw his bed. It was ten by ten feet, and required specially made sheets, he told her. He had mirrors all around the room, too, and light blue mirrors in the bathroom that matched the baby blue carpet.
They were just talking, finishing their tour, when Elvis began to sit her down and kiss her. She knew she was a small-town girl, but she was shocked—people didn’t kiss on the first date then. She didn’t care who he was. And she didn’t like it, especially when “his hands moved just a little bit where I didn’t think they should have been.”
“I think I need to go home now,” she said. He didn’t put up a fuss.
A couple of nights later, he invited her with his parents to see a private screening of Loving You, and then he came by one day in his old panel truck. He wanted to take her down to Lauderdale Courts to show her where he grew up, and then swing by Chenault’s drive-in for hamburgers. After that, he saw her almost every night, even if it was just to go back to Graceland to watch TV.
Five days after that first date, Gladys invited Anita for dinner. She liked this girl, and she told Elvis not to let her get away. Elvis liked her, too. He talked baby talk with her (“I just ate that up. He treated you like you were a doll”), and because she stood only five foot three and weighed 110 pounds, Elvis affectionately called her “Little,” or “Li’l Bit.” He referred to himself as “The Thing.”
Within two months, he was serious about her. He took her home to Miss Patty’s one night and lingered on the porch. “Little,” he said. “I think I’m falling in love