Meeting Elvis

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August 16, 1977; Portland, Maine

It was just another day in Portland, Maine. No different than the previous 227 days that had come and gone in 1977. But the night yet
to arrive, roughly 28 hours away, was special. Very special. To Elvis Presley, it would just be another concert. Another performance. Another city. Another audience. No different than the thousands of performances he had logged since his gargantuan career had exploded some twenty years earlier. But to Dave and Kate Amber, it was a very special occasion. A

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dream come true. At thirty years old, not much younger than his idol Elvis, Dave had scrimped and saved every penny for months after he heard Elvis Presley would be in Portland. August 16, 1977, the day before the scheduled August 17 Portland concert, would be the day that shocked the world. The day when everyone would remember where they were when they heard the terrible news.

Dave didn’t just scrimp and save to buy tickets. Dave worked double shift after double shift at the warehouse so he could surprise his bride of three years with not only front row seats at the concert, but two backstage passes to meet Elvis after the concert was over. This hard-working chap, whose friends told him he was the spitting image of Harrison Ford from the recently released Star Wars movie, was so proud of himself for busting his butt to procure the rare gem of a backstage pass to meet the King of Rock and Roll. This was something Dave had hoped for since 1957, when he first met the King when he was ten and became a lifelong fan. And now it was about to happen again. Kate, a year younger than Dave with dark, shimmering, silky hair and skin that was even softer, knew all about Elvis Presley. Not because she was a huge fan, but because Dave knew every fact about Elvis, his life and his career, and he enjoyed bragging
that he knew more about Elvis than the King knew about himself. Dave knew that before he was famous, Elvis used black shoe polish to color
his naturally blonde hair. Dave knew that Elvis’ three best friends in high school were Buzzy, Farley and Paul. He knew Elvis was a fierce supporter of law enforcement and that if he hadn’t become the world-famous superstar he was, would have most likely been a police officer. In fact, Dave knew that, as a kid, Elvis wanted to be a police officer. There wasn’t any area of Elvis’ life and career about which Dave didn’t know at least one fact. And because Dave knew, it only made sense Kate knew, too.
But Kate was more of a pop-music, Earth-Wind-and-Fire sort of fan. She wouldn’t tell Dave, but she would just as soon have stayed home or gone to a movie. But she knew how important this was to him and how hard he had worked to get these two golden, priceless tickets. And how he would

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finally meet the King again after years of hoping to see him in concert. Dave and Kate stood a foot apart, primping in the same mirror by a

single sink in the bathroom of their 700-square-foot apartment. Only
one night to go from the concert of their lives, or really Dave’s life. Flannigans, a local disco bar, was hosting Elvis Night in honor of the upcoming concert. Dave was hoping they would have a trivia contest because he knew he would surely win. Dave, shirtless, but wearing a
pair of blue jeans, clipped his bangs which had begun to fall over his
eyes. Kate pulled on a light blue terry cloth bathrobe and worked on her eyebrows. Between her ear and shoulder, she cradled a yellow phone receiver with a 25 foot stretch cord while she made herself up and chatted with one of her friends. Dave sang along to Rod Stewart and his song, Tonight’s The Night, that was playing on his battery powered radio sitting on the floor by the sink. Rod Stewart and Dave competed with the garbled voice of the local news anchor coming out of the 19 inch television which sat on top of the dresser in the bedroom with its screen visible in the mirror.

“I don’t know. He won’t tell me,” Kate told her best friend, Rebecca, on the phone while glancing at Dave and then back at the mirror to fix her eyebrows.

“Won’t tell you what?” Dave whispered.

Kate shook her head side to side. Dave clipped a couple of stray eyebrow hairs and watched them fall to the sink. He looked at Kate and smiled. Kate gave her best gag look and mouthed, “You’re so gross!”

“What?” Dave smiled and lightly giggled.

“Only thing I know is for six months now he has taken his lunch to work, hasn’t bought a single piece of clothing, which is very strange because everyone knows how D likes to style!” Kate turned to Dave who shrugged his shoulders in agreement. D was her term of endearment
for her faithful husband, especially when she was teasing him. “He has volunteered for double shifts and as much overtime as the company allows. So, he’s either cheating on me or saving up enough to buy me that

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mansion on the beach!”
Looking at Kate’s reflection in the mirror, Dave lifted his arms in

exasperation and mouthed, “What in the world are y’all talking about?” Kate waved off Dave with her left hand and mouthed, “I’ll tell you

later.”
Kate put the finishing touches on her eyebrows as Dave slapped on

some British Sterling cologne. With the phone still tucked tightly between her right ear and shoulder, Kate whispered to Dave, “not too much.”

Holding the cologne bottle in his left hand and pointing at it with his right index finger, Dave mouthed, “you mean this?”

Kate nodded affirmatively.

Dave smiled at Kate. Then he paused. Then he smiled bigger. Then he paused again. And one more smile for good measure.

“Don’t you do it!” she yelled but in a whispered tone. “Don’t you do it!” she yelled but this time just above a whisper.

Dave took the top from the cologne bottle but never took his smiling face off Kate.

“Daaaaaave....Daaaaaaaaave.....don’t you do it,” Kate did shout this time as Dave commenced to spraying the British Sterling all over his chest, stomach, shoulders, neck and face. “Ohhh...ohhhh....ohhhh, that’s so nasty,” Kate started coughing and gagging and attempted to fan the strong odor away with her free arm. In typical Dave fashion, he laughed and said, “What? What did I do?”

With her face drawn up like a prune from the strong smell now coming from Dave’s body, Kate turned away from Dave and pleaded with Rebecca on the other end of the phone, “Please come save me! He’s out of control! I can’t take him anywhere! Can’t do anything with him!”

Dave laughed in funny, quick little spurts of laughter he was known for. “What? What’d I do?”

“I will. I will,” Kate told her friend. “I’ll call when we get home. We may have Flannigan’s to ourselves if he doesn’t clean up. As soon as they smell him they’ll make a bee line for the exits!!” Kate turned back around

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and shook her head but smiled at her crazy husband. “Okay. Love you too. Bye now.” Kate put the phone back on its cradle that was sitting on the floor by her feet. “You are certified nuts! You know that. Right?”

“What? I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Dave laughed as he combed his hair to get the part just right.

“You smell like,” Kate paused. “No. Not gonna even go there!”

“Smell like what? Go on. I got thick skin. I can take it,” Dave continued to chuckle with his contagious laugh.

“You smell like a two dollar whore! There! I said it!” Kate laughed along with Dave with her equally appealing belly laugh.

Dave’s eyes opened widely. He opened his mouth as wide as a yawn. “Kate! Did you just utter the W word? Oh, Law! What would your mother say?”

“My mother is the least of my worries,” Kate shook her head, but a huge smile remained on her face. “If you don’t clean up, you’ll run Elvis off the stage tomorrow night in search of a safe haven, or at least a gas mask!”

Dave finally stopped laughing and goofing around. “Fine. Fine. I’ll shower off, but I truly think you’re just jealous that all the ladies at Flannigans will attack me.”

“Oh, they’ll attack you alright. You’re right on that!”

Dave grabbed a fresh towel then turned up the volume on the TV when he noticed a file video of Elvis singing in a concert flashed on the screen. “Tickets to the Elvis Presley concert have been sold out for months and about the only way to find a ticket now is through a scalper. And that could cost you a year’s salary,” the news anchor announced.

“Tell me about it,” Dave chimed in.

Kate, still putting on make-up and fixing her hair, glanced at Dave’s reflection in the mirror. “What?”

“Nothing. Nothing,” Dave said, motioning with his hand.

Kate looked up again at Dave’s reflection, this time staring. “Uh-huh. I heard him. Just how much DID you spend?”

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Dave shook his head. “Un-uh. No way. Not happening.”
“Oh, come on D. No secrets. Remember?”
Dave looked across the room at Kate’s reflection and paused. “Uhhhh.

Nah. Don’t think so.”
“That bad?” Kate quipped.
“Iiiiiiiiiiits...pretty bad.”
Kate frowned. “That bad?”
“Yeaaaaaah. Pretty bad.” Dave answered. “But can you really put a

price on meeting Elvis Presley? I mean we’re talking the King of Rock and Roll here.”

“Uhhhhhh, yeah. I think I could set a price.”

Dave sighed. “You just wait ‘til you meet him, honey. Then let’s see if you feel the same way.”

“So, I take it you’re not gonna tell me how much you spent.”

Dave put his intertwined fingers on the top of his head. “Uhhhhh. That would be a no.” Dave smiled and went to hug Kate. “Just enjoy the moment sweetheart!!”

Kate stiffened her arms out in front of her. “Don’t touch me!! I don’t want to smell like British Sterling for the next month!”

Being the playful newlywed husband, he kept trying to hug Kate for five or six seconds while she kept dodging him. Dave stopped cold when he noticed the reflection of the TV screen in the mirror. Dave stepped closer to the reflection which had a still photo of Elvis Presley which underneath read 1935-1977. Dave’s mood went from giddy to shocked in a matter of seconds. He turned and walked to the television. Kate looked at his expression and saw his eyes glued to the screen. That’s when she realized what had happened. Kate followed and put her arm around Dave’s naked waist.

The TV announcer said it all. “What we have learned is that earlier in the day Elvis Presley was rushed to Baptist Memorial Hospital in Memphis after being found unresponsive on the floor of the master suite bathroom at his Graceland home. Multiple attempts to revive him were

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unsuccessful. And at approximately 3:30 p.m. central standard time, County Coroner, Jerry Francisco, ruled that Elvis Presley, the King of Rock and Roll, was dead at the young age of 42.”

“No, no, no, no, no, no,...” Dave repeated over and over while flipping the old style channel knob with his thumb and index finger to another station hoping this was a mistake and that another station would correct this tragic announcement.

Another talking head continued with Elvis Presley’s image covering the screen. “What we know at this time is that Presley never regained consciousness. Details are sketchy as this is an evolving story and we will get any details to you as we get them.”

“Un-uh, un-uh, un-uh, un-uh, un-uh,” Dave stuttered, almost in a panic. “This isn’t real. This is not happening.” With her arm around his waist, Kate pulled him tighter to her side.

One more news personality simply confirmed what Dave knew was true. “We are going to take you live now to Graceland where it appears Elvis Presley’s father, Vernon Presley, is about to make a statement.”

Dave sat down on the floor but never took his gaze from the television screen. Kate joined Dave on the floor and wrapped both arms around him and laid her head on his shoulder. Dave watched as Vernon Presley spoke of the tragic news. Kate stroked the back of Dave’s head then lightly brushed his long hair from his eyes.

“You okay?” Kate whispered tenderly.

Dave let his face fall into his cupped hands. “Un-fucking believable.” Dave glanced at Kate. “Sorry.”

Kate hated the F word with a passion, but she knew Dave was devastated at this very moment, so she let it pass. She reacted by hugging him as tight as she could. “I know you’re upset.”

“Of all the days, they picked this one to kill him,” he said firmly. “Babe. Elvis died. No one killed him.”
“No. They killed him. As sure as I’m sitting here, they killed him.”

Dave stood up and pulled back his long brown hair tightly with both 7

hands. He watched the screen as Vernon Presley finished his statement. Kate, still sitting on the floor, peered up at her distraught husband. “D.

I know how upset you must be, and I know how much tomorrow night meant to you. And God knows how long you saved to buy those tickets.”

“It’s not about the money, Kate!” he firmly interrupted. “Well, it is! But it’s not!” Dave raised his arms and placed his interlaced fingers on top of his head looking blankly at the silent TV screen as it flashed image after image of Elvis Presley in concert. He took both his hands and rubbed his face before dropping both arms to his side like two dead weights. “I could have managed him so much better than the leeches around him did.”

Kate, still seated on the floor, half smiled. “You work in a warehouse. You don’t know anything about the entertainment business.”

Dave glanced down at Kate. “Maybe not, but I don’t give a damn. Neither did the morons that managed him.” Just then an image of an overweight Elvis Presley appeared on the screen. “Look at him! Look
at him, Kate!” Dave paused and watched the world-famous superstar performing in his white suit adorned with hundreds of multi-colored gems and stones and a long white scarf hanging from his neck down to his belly. “Nobody ever said no to him. The only thing they cared about was his money and getting their grubby little greasy hands on it. Everyone just wanted a piece of him. Wanted to be in that inner circle. They wanted a piece of his fame. They didn’t give a shit about the man.”

Kate reached up and caressed Dave’s fingers with her own.

Dave squeezed Kate’s fingers but never took his eyes off the unhealthy image of Elvis on the screen. “I could’ve done it so much better. I would’ve watched out for him. THEY should have watched out for him.”

“I know you’re upset, D.”

“Hell yeah, I’m upset! Shouldn’t I be!” Dave answered, but it wasn’t a question. “All those greedy little turds who sucked the life right out of him cost me the chance to meet him again. Can’t get that back. Gone! Just, friggin’ gone!” He pulled his hand away from Kate’s and walked over to a table where a half-full fifth of bourbon rested. Dave unscrewed

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the cap and started swigging straight from the bottle.
Kate quickly stood up. “That never solves anything.”
Dave peered back at Kate and purposefully took another long guzzle

from the bottle, never taking his eyes off of her almost as if he was trying to irritate her.

“Really?” Kate protested.

Dave raised his hand toward Kate in a non-verbal shush. “Un-uh. Don’t wanna’ hear it. Not tonight.” He took another long drink with the bottom of the bottle straight up toward the ceiling.

“You always think that’s gonna’ help. Gonna’ solve all your problems,” Kate preached. She moved closer. “Only thing that’s gonna give you is a migraine hangover. And in the morning, guess what?”

“What?” Dave said sarcastically.
“Elvis will still be dead.”
Dave pulled the bottle away from his mouth and glared at Kate. Kate knew her mouth had spoken before her brain filtered it. She

apologized quickly. “Babe! I’m so sorry! I did NOT mean that! That was SO ugly! Please forgive me. I was NOT thinking.”

Kate rushed the several steps to Dave and grasped his shoulders. He jerked away from her, glared into her eyes before pushing the bottle hard against his lips and downing the equivalent of at least five shots of the smooth Tennessee bourbon. Turning his back on her, Dave sat down on the somewhat tattered brown couch, still holding the bottle of bourbon in his hand. Upset with Dave, Kate shook her head at him and disappeared into the bedroom and slammed the door. Dave’s body jerked slightly reacting to the slamming door. He looked back and thought about following her but didn’t. He just sat there, drinking sip after sip and watching images
on the silent TV screen of Elvis in concert, Elvis in movies, Elvis in the military, and Elvis at home at Graceland.

After watching what seemed like endless clips of the King in different settings, Dave looked at his watch and then at the bottle that was almost empty. Twenty or so minutes had passed since Kate slammed the door.

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He held the bottle by its neck and swirled the bottom in circles. Then he tipped the bottom of the bottle skyward, allowing the last