Baby, Let's Play House_ Elvis Presley and the Women Who Loved Him - Alanna Nash [221]
Chapter Twenty-Three
Nungin, Thumper, and Bug
“The first time I saw Priscilla,” remembered Elvis’s cousin Patsy Presley, “she looked like a little doll. She was exquisite. She was standing in the stairwell and Elvis came out of my grandmother’s room. He was so proud of Priscilla. His eyes were filled with love.”
He had just told Vernon’s mother she was there.
“Come on,” Elvis said to Priscilla, taking her hand. “Someone’s waiting to see you.” Then he led her in to Minnie Mae, who sat in a chair, a yellow crocheted throw on her lap. She wore dark glasses to keep out the light.
Priscilla hadn’t seen her since Germany, and the old lady hugged her and asked her to sit down and chat. She had a lot to talk about, especially Elvis’s dislike of Dee Presley. The more she talked, the more she dipped her snuff, and pretty soon, she was telling Priscilla to call her “Dodger,” as Elvis did. “I feel like I can confide in you,” Priscilla said. “You can, young’un,” Grandma soothed. “You’re family now.”
The teenager had brought along little gifts for everyone that Christmas, especially Elvis, to whom she gave an ornate three-tiered wooden box for his cigarillos. In return, Elvis gave her a diamond ring and a puppy, which she named Honey. But he also gave her something else: two 500-milligram Placidyls, since she was jet-lagged from her trip across the ocean, and hadn’t slept, trying to keep up with Elvis. “These pills will relax you,” he told her.
Two days later, she was still out. “It scared the hell out of Vernon and Grandma,” remembered Billy Smith, who thought Elvis would have learned his lesson from Gene’s episode in the motor home. “They wanted to get a doctor in there, but Elvis said no, he’d just walk her around. But that didn’t do any good, either. She finally woke up on her own.”
Priscilla opened her eyes to see Grandma standing over her, her craggy features bent into a frown. Then Minnie Mae breathed a sigh of relief and chastised her grandson for overmedicating his guest.
“How long have I been asleep?” Priscilla asked.
Elvis told her.
“Two days! I’ve missed Christmas!”
“Naw,” he said, “you haven’t missed anything. The fun’s just starting!”
“More and more,” Priscilla says, “I was getting used to Elvis’s notion of fun.” On New Year’s Eve, he watched her drink four double screwdrivers through a straw and never cautioned her that she would be sick in the ladies’ room afterward.
Most nights, he merely scared her silly, taking her on all his usual thrill-seeking activities, including the killer roller derby parties, which Priscilla found unnerving. Back at Lauderdale Courts, he had climbed the tall sign outside Billie Wardlaw’s window to get her attention, and now he showed off for Priscilla at the Fairgrounds. He played a trick on her on the roller coaster, getting out at the top when it teetered for a minute, making her think he’d fallen to his death. He just wanted to see her face when the car returned without him. Then he broke into a big laugh and grabbed her and held her.
Patsy could tell right off that Elvis acted differently with Priscilla than he did with his other girlfriends. He was less intense and more relaxed. “You got the idea she was his one true love.”
Other of his relatives also saw it. Billy Smith remembers Elvis would say, “Here she comes. Isn’t she beautiful?” And Ricky Stanley, Elvis’s stepbrother, saw how excited Elvis was that she was coming to visit, that he was “like a fifteen-year-old kid with his first crush. It was like prom night.”
Marty Lacker, who had temporarily left the group to work for WHBQ Radio, got another impression when he stopped by the house soon after Priscilla’s arrival. Elvis was sitting out on the front steps, which was unusual for him, and he was up early, which was also out of character.
“We sat and talked for about an hour, and then I said, ‘Well, I’ll see you later. I’ve got to go.’ And Elvis said, ‘No,