ID

THE ASSEMBLY CLOSED the last of it’s record files long drawn for final summary, went off screen and before Sue Lynn could stand from her seat at the rosewood conference table, the room had cleared. The long weekend promised to be a good one, a four-day holiday. She stepped out of the elevator and out into the corridor toward her own car… BMW Convertible. Her ticket had a deadline and she would not be late.

On the far side of Rochester, the cashier closed the register on her largest sale of the day. The customer stepped away with quite a load… appliances that needed “take out” assistance and a cart filled with home decor. The new account needed to be verified and approved by a supervisor but it cleared despite the rushed signature requested for remake. There was a long line and the shift was changing. The cashier glanced behind them to reassure an assistant had come to load the heavy machines and turned back to ring up the next client.

Further out in the suburb… 1610 Greece Road… The five bedroom tudor rang out in echo from a hand gun fired at an intruder. The glass in the foyer was shattered more impressively than the slight prick and pry that had brought the night guest through the front door. The alarm still rang, outlasting the fading echo and the scream of the woman standing just behind the hand that held the gun level. The bullet had hit home. Blood spattered the terrazzo tiled floor three feet inside the door marking the trail that showed a still heaving body of the large white mess just beyond the doorway outside. Clasped in the hand of a body losing it’s fight were papers, a few keys and a necklace… a gold and diamond herringbone chain with inset pave’ studs that had been snatched from the table where “ready for morning plans” had set them. They were part of the next morning’s errands of repairs, pick ups and validations of ownership and membership.

Casey picked her mail from the locked mailbox installed only weeks before by the same contractor that installed her alarm system. There was an increase of home entries going on in the neighborhood. The recognition of a ring of “homeless dimwits” identified by local newscasters caused an alert in her community. Two deaths, both break-ins not far from her condo, and reports of mail theft increasing in her complex in spite of the guard gate precaution. Anyone entering the area had to be screened or at least visually checked out by security. The mail in hand, relocked the box and turned to go back inside. Once there with the door closed behind her, she flipped through the short stack of envelopes… Denny’s Jewelers had a sale on custom designed jewelry… the utilities were due… there was an invite to a new pre approved credit line… and a medical center reminder of her upcoming colonoscopy appointment. The last envelope was addressed to a HILDRED JACOBY and showed her own address. Hildred was obviously being issued a bank card by PNC BANK, but why at Casey’s address? She’d never known anyone by that name.

Susie stepped off the bus and through the door leading into the mall. Her purse swung freely from the slim strap that held it by two large rings looped thru vinyl tabs on each side. It’s buoyancy gave clue that it was not weighed down by a stuffed wallet or loaded coin purse, papers or other paraphernalia commonly found in women’s purses. As she stepped she swung one flaccid arm alternate the other and stepped in awkward uncoordinated steps held fast to the waxed cement floor inside the mall. As she steadied to go inside through the widely open panel doors she glanced up and would have read DILLARD’S onto the wall overhead. There would be many things on her list in this one. A smile crossed her face as she stepped inside pulling a plastic card out of her bag.

“SUE LYNN GRACIE!?”, the escort service called out while glancing over the rush of passengers bustling about at the airport. “Sue Lynn Gracie!” he called once again and caught her ear and gaze. He tipped a placard to his hat and waved her toward himself and the waiting luggage rack for hauling her packages to the waiting vehicle. She followed him to a metallic black Mercedes Maybach 600 Series where she slipped into the door held open for her as he popped the trunk to load her belongings. Inside, she breathed a sigh of relief. The bulk of her exit from the stress of work was done. A relaxed ride into the area… the foothills of the Catalina Mountains. She slid her purse to the floor and braced it with her ankle then lay back for the ride.

The smallish apartment house at the rear of the inner city lot was seeing it’s first tenant. It was a convert… garage remade into living space with kitchen and bathroom fully functioning. The new tenant wheeled his prize purchases, a freezer, stack washer/dryer and an apartment scale range in from the trailer attached to a rented truck. The refrigerator provided by the property owner was the only furnishing that came with the rental. A friend had come up with his means for furnishing necessary fixtures for the move into independence. He would need furniture, but these were mandatory for saving on food and cleaning expenses. His possessions inside, James left him. The truck and trailer his friend had was a godsend; and now he set to unpacking. The garage space at the back of the lot cost a major portion of his income, but he now had an undying source of credit… as long as he was careful with it. Today had cost him just over $1000 for appliances, food and home decor, bed linen, towels and toiletries. The mattress his friend had found for him was nothing fancy and the boxes they had fashioned as seating were temporary satisfaction for this new lifestyle. He was on his own for the first time in his life. This was going to be a good life and he would see to it that it was. John folded the empty bags and closed the pantry door. He needed someone who could make food fit to eat. He was leaving a complete care facility... an institution which was downsizing; independence would be sweet! There were others who had gone on before him. Some he knew, others he did not. Success had found several… like Peter, a middle aged man with a family of attorneys. Two brothers in law and a cousin who worked in banking. He’d gone out of his family’s large home, had money given him as a gift and was running his own business helping others straight their lives. John would need someone like that in his near future. HIs own family was a bit on the low side. Two brothers… his twins, and a sister, all in the same predicament. Only one family member, his father, had made a productive outcome of the family situation. He had gone into the military during the draft for Vietnam. After leaving through POW status and being found by a rescue squadron, his dad had come home missing part of an arm and being offered jobs and training. He was now someplace back overseas living with an oriental woman he had met while serving in the military before being rescued. John sat down on the box chairs to gaze across the room at the kitchen and his bounty muttering, “Someone else to make it good… make it good… make it good.” Then, “Edmund and Greg should be here.” The three had always survived in the presence of one another. The others had always been someplace nearby. At the facility they were only doors away from his own townhouse unit. Belin, their sister, was a different issue. She was nearby but always on the verge of being taken out by James or other workers. She was reaching independence faster than her brothers; but then most women do. It was a gender thing.

Police and paramedics arrived after what seemed like nearly half an hour after the alarming call placed by Mrs. Schluter. Her husband had shot the intruder and was too stunned to put the weapon down to phone for help. Their alarm system had not tripped on with the breaking of glass and the motion detector seemed off cantor; most likely not aimed low enough to capture motion. The emergency had caught them off guard. Neither stopped staring at the scene long enough to take note of what was missing or disarranged.

Police clambered around the front yard outlining the figure and measuring distances. They sampled blood spatters, body fluids and trajectory matter which had been blasted off the body of the limp victim lying in the grass and sprawled across concrete. Photos were taken of facial expression, body angles and evidence in and near the lifeless hand. Letters, cards, keys and jewelry… a necklace, documents… proof of license renewal, voter card, continuing education notice, insurance cards… were all dropped into a bag labeled and taped shut. EMT’s loaded him and he was carted away. Yellow tape was strung around the area and the couple left home as the police cleared the scene for compiling notes of their investigation. He’d taken credit cards… a visa, Mobil gas and bank cards. Letters addressed to the couple were in the evidence package but the reasoning was unclear as to what intention was in regard to using another’s mail. The keys would allow access when the owners were away. This was only one of several recent, similar break-ins in middle income neighborhoods. They weren’t breaking into the more “well to do” communities, and oddly enough mail was taken from inside or at postal delivery sites at single family or community living areas. The intruder/victim was recorded as homeless for lack of his own identifying documents on the body.

Casey’s appointment went smoothly except that a stand in for her regular physician was made. A staff member conducted the colonoscopy, Casey’s first, and there were two nurses in attendance who seemed to know more than the doctor. When the doctor stepped out during the procedure, the lead nurse completed the scoping session. They recorded any “unusual” visuals and pulled the tube free from her bowels. On their instruction to get dressed, Casey stood and pulled the gown up around her before going back out to the small dressing room near the lobby waiting area. On notice by the lead nurse that imaging was clear and acceptable, Casey was waived out to the cashier’s desk for payment and follow-up appointment.

Belin dropped the card she’d been fingering into an envelope and licked the edge to seal it shut. Her brother’s birthday was coming in a few days and he was putting together his new man cave. The gift card would close her buying spree, but with all she had considered for the past three hours, a gift to let him choose his own gift was her last option. As she waited for the bus to arrive, she smiled in thought of her own “good find.” Dillard’s was having a sale, and delivery within a few days of next week was going to lighten her own spirits. The bedroom set and new bed linen would give her a new purpose for pulling her life together. John may have found most of his things by now and her choosing for him would only complicate the matter.

A woman stepped up beside her just as the bus neared the stand distracting Belin from her focused thoughts. The woman was a little off balance and unsteady with her grasp of the small purse she carried as she fumbled for her token, raising a leg to enter the bus. Though she had stepped into the bus before Belin, she stepped aside to continue looking for the token pulling packages aside as she did. Belin thanked her, dropped her coins into the hopper and brushed past her to a seat near the middle of the bus. Moments later, Susie followed her and sat in the empty seat next to her, both women’s packages crowding them and the aisle next to them. The bus began its journey and Belin Spoke up. Motioning toward the other woman’s packages saying, “You shopped Dillard’s sale?” The woman next to her smiled and returned with, “Yes.” When she turned back toward the window, Belin prompted her again. “They had some great sales since last week! I had to check them out. You too hmm?” The other woman turned back toward her. She steadied her expression as if being examined, before speaking. “I don’t go shopping often. I don’t get the chance to. I did find most of what I went to get, but the sale was not what I was looking for.” She turned her gaze back out the window. She had learned to say little to strangers and keep her hands and thoughts to herself. This woman sitting next to her was trying to pry and Susie wasn’t going to allow it.

The woman spoke up again, “I’m Belin, I’ve never seen you around, but… what’s your name? Maybe we could stop out tomorrow. There’s a new sale starting at the mall. The store next to Dillard’s is going out of business, they have nice carpets… area rugs and wall art. Looks like you’re decorating… so was I. I think they deliver for a fee. What’s your name again?” Susie half listened to her and half avoided responding. She didn’t have many friends. The shopping excursion alone was just the result of James helping her get a way out. The weekends were always free time and tomorrow was the best of “free time” before James and the other workers would come back. The office was closed until Tuesday, but the main houses were staffed. She spoke up, “Sure, I’ll come out. Meet me at Dillard’s tomorrow.” She paused, glanced through the glass in the opposite direction and began to stand. This was her stop. She pulled the stop notice cord and teetered to the aisle past Belin before turning back to say her name. “I’m Susie… just call me Susie,” and stepped out through the rear door heading home. The doors closed behind her and the bus started up the road again. Belin tried to get a view of where the other woman was going as “home” but could not see her for traffic, trees and another passenger steadying his way to exit. She consoled herself, “I’ll just have to be there. Nothing like lunch at the mall!” The bus bumped along until it reached the outer edge of Rochester before Belin pulled the cord for herself.

Sue Lynn stepped out of the escort service vehicle onto the landing of one of many pink houses in the gated community high above El Conquistador Resort. Her escort and host suite were owned by the principal, one of the principals that owned the resort. She was buying into a resort development. The Condos on resort site were sold on sight to those invited by their local realtor on a package deal. The deal was a three night stay and a tour of the resort property which hopefully resulted in a signed contract for purchase. Sue Lynn consigned to purchase a land condo lot near the golf course with a lake view from her back balcony and patio. It would be her retirement home… or that was her plan. She had set up several retirement accounts on her job optional income plan and held a few in outside investment packages. She was set to retire to this or any other cushioned lifestyle. She had planned on it since her early 20’s, she was working for it. At the right point she would retire from her government job and go solo with her realty license. This trip was just to taste the coming pleasures of old age. She found her way to the concierge desk ,picked up her information package and key. :Someone will be here shortly to take you to your lodging, Ms Lynn. Take a seat at the bar or”, the desk clerk motioned toward a gathering of seats at center room, “...simply have a seat and get your bearings. They will call your name.” She turned to gaze toward the area left of the desk. There were circular bench seats and a baby grand piano with a bar and barstools in the distance. A few high tables clustered the bar area. Sue Lynn turned back toward the concierge to nod and issue a whispered, “thanks,” then stepped away from the desk. Before she could take more than a few steps she heard her name called out near the door she had just entered. “Ms. Gracie, your livery is here. She turned back toward the door and raised a hand mid air. The porter approached her, took her bags and escorted her out to a sporty golf cart where he loaded her things into the back carrier and motioned for her to step in. The ride was short. One block into the small community and up a short embankment toward a low crest of the Catalinas was a row of pink villas landscaped with tall bracts of ocotillo cacti and olive trees. A barrel cactus and large stone with an engraved set of numbers told her she was home. He helped her unload her belongings and get them inside before driving off back down the slope toward the main entry. Sue Lynn smiled at her bounty and uttered a low contained chuckle at the aspects of “just making it” on yet another goal set in her youth. She sauntered over to the nearest window folding her arms across her waist and sighed. “I done good.” The view of the golf course far below revealed her soon to be neighbors busily cavorting across the courseway, to the opposite direction lay the resort with it’s equestrian stables and rider’s paths. She planned to venture off trail into the low foothills surrounding Mount Lemmon and through the scattered river trails, starting with Del Oro… the river of gold!

Belin stepped into her room past the small bathroom and kitchenette to drop her bags on the bed, then back out to grab a bottle from the case of frappuccino from the refrigerator. The bedcovers from Dillard’s White Sale set her back just under $500 and tomorrow’s trip was expected to close out the suggested expenditure of $1200… her month’s rent budget. The agreement made with James’ friend… her “may date'' was proving to be a good job. His payment made through gratuities were more than she could have ever expected to find in this normalized life existence. Her sister had been locked in an institution for most of her days, the old days. In the old days, someone like her sister… a woman who “had it all” and lost it because she couldn’t handle losing her family… her baby and her husband could end up in a hospital for mental breakdown and never see the outside again. Belin was the baby… youngest of two girls in her family when it happened. Her older sister had gone into the hospital to have a baby and stayed… the baby taken and her husband gone. The nurses never came out after the birthing room to show the newborn to the waiting mother. Instead, she was left lying in recovery until she could stand then hosted to the exit door. Her husband did not show up after she was first admitted, not during the wait thru contractions; not nor was he there when she awakened from the gas. She was said to have called home to find the number disconnected. There was no one to pick her up from the hospital and mom and dad were having nothing to do with the life she had chosen to bring upon herself. The husband had sold the baby. The delivery was his final cue. The newborn was hoisted out of his woman’s womb and into the arms of a waiting customer for the hefty price of $1000. He had left the city. He’d left the state, his fictitious name and identity at the close of sale. Eileen snapped. He had been there during the latter months and she had seen him during her admission to the hospital. He stepped into the lobby, gestured to her and then darted back out. She assumed he was going for a smoke. “Men... expectant fathers, always get nervous and go for a drink or a smoke to steady their nerves…” a reporter had said, “It’s normal.” She expected that reaction from a soon to be father. He never returned.The taxi that arrived on call to take her home retreated when she came to the curb arguing and cursing flailing arms so violently that she struck the assistant wheeling her chair. Another medical attendant who had come to assist, pushed Eileen back into the wheelchair and the end of the struggle found the new mother readmitted until she could calm down. She was hemorrhaging from the struggle. They would release her to go home once she calmed down. Until then she would live in the hospital’s ward for the overstressed. She was checked back into the hospital for psychiatric care.

Belin barely knew that sister. She had grown up with her brothers and their father. Mom had suffered a heart attack sometime early in Belin’s childhood after the boys were born… triplets, all with moderate retardation from strangulation by tangled birth cord. Delivery began by normal procedure for twins until the first to come could not pass for the cord around its neck. She was given a c-section to remove the other and the third was found. Untangling the first complicated removal of the other two but all were delivered as live births. Successful delivery of triplets and the mother stitched back up. They were kept at the hospital for a while longer than usual. When their father was drafted into the military, their mother eventually became stressed and depressed, could not handle the load and took an overdose and died. The children were placed into foster care and closest relatives contacted, their father still overseas in the military. Their older sister would not be well enough to raise her siblings, so they were put into an institution for their best interest… the boys and Belin. That was the routine procedure for the day… for the 1950’s. They grew up on the welfare of the state’s citizens at the institution. They could be there until age 18 whereby their status would be reevaluated with potential for being sent to an adult facility or into independent living. Belin was enjoying her independence thanks to Bob. He was given Belin’s file and several others to assist with gaining and maintaining an independent lifestyle outside of the facility as a regular promotional part of his job. Belin was the first to accomplish a living space… this comfortable two bedroom condo. She also had the luxury of spending cards for food and miscellaneous. Before now everything had come from the administrators. They sent the food packs, dictated medical appointments and transportation there and back. The Administration did shopping for clothing and even provided education along with income for those who could not work, and job referral for those who could work well in the community workshops. Belin worked six hours a day in packaging operating a heat sealer and labeler in a small packaging plant for her income which was saved in a banking account at the facility Admin office. Now that she was an independent she paid for her own of everything including transportation to and from work. She was no longer on the state welfare roll for food and clothing. Housing, though shopped with assistance of caregivers assigned to her file while on facility grounds, had to be covered of her own capability. She did still hold the job at the packaging place; but that would need to be replaced with a job in the community… a real job. Those in line behind her would fill that role for training to become an independent. Belin was not lucky enough to have learned to cook as part of facility training, nor did she specialize in cleaning house. She did get out often now to buy prepackaged meals at a local grocery store. Those fit nicely into the shared refrigerator freezer that held mostly only what she bought to eat. Other items such as the case of frappuccino and an eventual take out dish from burger shops and Chinese food restaurants were brought in by Bob on his days of “reproofing” her established independence. He rarely spent a night in the extra room but to make up for his visits there, he supplied everything she could not afford on her own. He was very nice about it all and usually very appreciative of her patience with his sometimes very lengthy visits. At times he became overly emotional at her success, lack of success, his needling her to “be the best one out here” and in those moments she could be the therapist and comfort him. That part she truly loved. He could become very affectionate and very “loving.” He’d told her that at some point in her future she would find someone to love and be loved back. It was a “normal” path in life and he “could help her through that too… if she liked.” She never quite knew when he was scheduled to stop over but made him a priority whenever he did. He had become her favorite focus in life.

Casey was back at home from her appointment. She had previewed the procedure before attending but was still skeptical and a bit nervous about having a camera enter her bowel. The unexpected reminder was a red flag adding stress to the situation. Now back at home and the procedure accomplished, her belly felt a little tender and she was having a little nausea that was being waved off as the result of tension at the sudden announcement of the undesired intrusion to her personal space. Her privacy was a cherished possession not readily given up for even such as this medical event. The “nothing found” could have been accomplished with an occult stool kit in the mail. Aside from not remembering having set or agreed to an appointment, she was astounded to see that the doctor didn’t even know her, didn’t seem to really know what she was there for or have interest in the procedure being done. She groaned, clenching and wrenching the flesh at her abdomen in aher attempt at relieving the nauseating gut feeling. The clinic near the office where she worked had been her chosen medical facility for years. Although the staff changed infrequently, there were new primary care physicians and support staff on site. The doctor that handled her routine appointments had been in place as her primary care physician for several years at two locations and two health insurance providers. This recent appointment came unexpectedly, seemingly unprepared for by the physician she’d never seen and maybe, according to her annual charts, unnecessary. She normally did the simple COLOguard, a stepped up version of Hemoccult test. Her lower abdominal pain grew to a burning sensation; she went for a pepto bismol.

The facility was working toward reduction in beds and staffing, that best opportunity being by pursuit of original goals of the state for NORMALIZATION for long term patients between the ages of eighteen and sixty five. Those already at the age for retirement could simply continue living at close quarters with others but in the public sector. Their sustenance covered as always had been, by government stipends from the general public unless there were family provisions which could supplement the new lifestyle. Living Chance was a major partner for the progressive move of patients. They were typically known for addressing the needs of elderly, disabled veterans and the chronically ill from injuries sustained in the processes of living life. They provided a direct line to medical facilities and nursing, but no nurses on staff. Transportation service on grounds for fee with pre documentation and proof of residency. There was also a cafeteria which provided regular meals on schedule at a dining hall where residents of the facility could opt to dine with other tenants or dine in the privacy of their own moderately priced leased space. Living Chance was recommended by hospitals in the area for their attentiveness to sensitive needs of patients leaving their own care. The one feature setting them above others in the area was their optional provision of casting calls for production of stage acts at the local theatre. Their residents provided a source list of interested parties to portray varied age character roles for varietal stage plays free or in exchange for gratuities.

Alternate arranged placements tended to fall upon apartment complexes with Section8, Adult Group Homes and once or twice, there was an escorted immersion into public lifestyle by a homeowner willing to bear the total burden upon themselves. In that event, the homeowner would be issued the social welfare funds for that client and a regulation-specified allowance by the state government issuing their welfare payments. To date, the program was a success with no complaints or hazards. Their latest successful move, with the professional planning of administrative employee James Tourner, was John. James Tourner was a fifteenth year state employee now, Administrative Supervisor who had come up through the ranks from paraprofessional, educated himself at a local university, initiated the lagging state plan to normalize lives for facility residents and now spearheaded the program along with two other personnel… Bertrand Guild, facility psychologist and Jesse Aime, MD. The latter two functioning in “paper mode” for procedural operations only.

Susie was back in her dorm room now with all of her purchases. John would be too excited to see the gift selected by her for his special place… the new apartment arranged by James. She had heard his good news… spacious, ground level for ease of access and partially decorated. There was no mention of color or size. Her roommate would be sidling in from the workshop soon and she would have to get a rush on to avoid answering questions on what she’d bought and why. The wardrober closet lock was an easy one twist with the small key given her by the house supervisor. It kept the other women in her dorm out of private belongings but permitted access by any employee working the house. Of the eight women living in Felicity Dorm… house number 904… Susie was the only one in line for being set out to public lifestyle. Her shopping trip was a part of the initialization in the independence function. She had to go out on her own with a list of items, self-select appropriately and return home in a reasonable time period.