Never Again

That Diane Von Furstenberg suitcase is back, safe and sound.

Costing me around 50 bucks back in the day, I’ve had it for so many decades that it’s become a treasured object. So much so that I immediately regretted loaning it to Red Light.

Thinking the airlines might screw up, lose it, I looked online to see about a replacement — should that become necessary and learned the suitcase is now considered vintage, worth a couple hundred dollars.

Glad to have it back and, having learned my lesson, never again will I risk lending it out.

Next Door Neighbor happened to be returning to her unit, as Red Light was returning the luggage and, inasmuch as both are supported by the county, began talking about a rent increase letter received today.

Seems management has notified county recipients their rent will increase a whopping $500 in January.

Jesus f__king Christ!!!!

All of a sudden, my next year’s projected increase of $110 doesn’t seem all that terrible …… that is, unless it gets increased to more, and I'm thinking it will.

But either way, they can’t saddle me with an increase in January, along with the others. I’ve already looked up the law and management has to wait until July to put the screws to me.

From conversations I’ve had with others, county recipients receive their increases in January, so no way around it; but many on the county roll are already having trouble making their 24% of the current rent.

I’m terrible at math, but I figure a $500 increase, means those residents will have to come up with an additional $125.

Red Light is already talking about her daughter finding her somewhere else to live, and Di — the resident who’d been a brilliant woman, employed in a high-functioning job, something to do with working in a lab, until an automobile accident left her brain damaged, prone to seizures, is really struggling to make the current rent and said she wants to just hurry up and die.

Di is still very close friends to my old buddy Apache. In fact, I’m told he’s been taking the bus over here, picks her up, they go to lunch.

So, maybe she and Apache can work something out, become roommates at where he's now living; except, Red Light is telling me Apache has been "using".

"I don’t believe it", said I.

"You can see the track marks on his arms", said she.

I won’t believe it until I see his arms myself or if the Baker, who is also still very close to Apache, confirms it.

Waking up at 1:50 this morning, because I felt a disturbance in the force, I could not get back to sleep, felt weak, drained of energy all day.

I'd thought the disturbance was coming from a family member, but perhaps it was my senses alerting me to what I was soon to learn about Apache and what the county residents are facing.

At any rate, things are really heating up around here. The complex is fast becoming NOT affordable low-income housing. Quite a few residents may, of necessity, be moving out come January or willing themselves to transition from this life.

My head is spinning trying to figure out the end game.

Is the county going to pony up an additional $375 per resident on their roll?

Is management's end game to weed out the poorest of poor ... those who cannot afford the rent and bring in those who can?

Has my buddy Apache become an addict and why?

All will be revealed in time.