Viv, Part 4: A few years later. Scene: "Senior Moments Village"

"Here, Edna, just put this around you." Viv offered her roommate a sweater - one of Viv's three remaining ones.  Edna's warm one had "disappeared."  More like, it had been five-fingered.  "Seriously, what the heck!"  Viv then reached for her walker, then headed out the small room, and down the rather narrow corridor.  

She didn't think she'd ever get used to the smell of the place - too many people, not enough staff.  And certainly not enough staff who cared to do anything beyond bare minimal.  Not that Viv could blame most of the staff - the usual, overly tasked, and not paid well enough to cover things ... things like rent.

Viv passed another, typically despondent "guest."  A staffer nugged by as he was in the process of taking down Yuletide decorations - the December 25th holiday was rarely referred to as "Christmas."  Using that term was somewhat discouraged, since the first syllable carried a non-inclusive connotation.  "Well no sheet, sherlock, where'd jua park the squadcar." Viv half muttered as she made her way to the facility's library.

Dear reader, you'd think the dump wouldn't have had anything worth reading.  But speaking of trashcans, it was shortly after Viv's having been railroaded into the joint, she had found, in the metal wastebasket - the one parked over by the light switch, a Bible, a real one.  Needless to say, Viv snatched it up, stuck it beneath her faded dressing-gown, and stashed it among her few remaining possessions.  

Needless to say, most of Viv's nice clothing was gone - in recent years, things like cotton blouses, full skirts (especially, lined garments) fetched a goodly price.  A typical pair of linen slacks (like the burgundy ones Viv once owned...hhmmm) could rather easily fetch $40, if not more.   Of course, her jewelry was gone.  Viv however, draw a hard line on any reason for removing her wedding band.  Oh that was a story in itself - several of the "guests" thought Viv was a stuck up stick in the mud, for well, no better reason than wearing one.  A woman down the hall just a short ways, had put it in, well, less than courteous terms.

Viv perused a bookshelf.  And what do you know!  "Jackie O!"  Viv had heard of the book, but never had quite the chance of reading it.   After Harry's passing, the following decades didn't leave her much time for leisure reading.  

More tomorrow, it's going on 11 pm, and 5 am comes mighty quick, back in 2022.