Traveling Vivian

Chapter Eight - Wealth

Traveling Vivian

Part Eight

It has been a few weeks since I was alone inside the foster home. I refused to deal with the nurses and the doctors. I just wanted to go home. Days became weeks and the weeks eventually became a few months. I remembered being taken into here during spring. The sun was shining and the flowers were blooming. Then the summer days came by. Not much air conditioning was used in this place. If we were hot, we would have to go to the living room. The living room was the only place that had air conditioning and that place was swarmed with new parents who were desperate for children or the fat nurses would occupy it to socialize. I slowly began to lose hope of seeing my mom again.

I stared into the cold autumn day as the colorful leaves fall down from the trees. I stared into my lifeless room. Everything was dull. It was the simple routine now. I would wake up at seven in the morning, breakfast thirty minutes after, play in the playroom or exercise room or outside. Then I would come in at noon for brunch. Then we would have story-telling time. After we would have lunch.  Then we would go to the television room and watch a show. This was my least favorite because all the kids seemed to fight over the television and complained about the show and then sometimes they would attack the nurse for the remote control. Shortly after a gruesome thirty minutes, we would have dinner. Then bath time and finally bedtime.  One by one, the children disappeared, mostly the younger ones like my age. However I wasn’t getting any adoption papers. They all seemed to pass me.

One day the nurses came to my room, rummaging through my closet and drawers. They placed all my personal belongings into a bag and threw me into a fresh pair of colorful clothing. I always wore grey jumpsuits when I was here and to actually wear a bright red dress with flowers, it was like a blessing. I stared at the cool fabric and held it firmly in my hand.  I clutched Spencer on my other hand and smiled. Today was the first day in ages that I smiled so brightly. I stared at the nurses as they packed more of my personal stuff up. I wondered why I was being packed up. Was I going away too?

“Did she have this thing with her?” Nurse Sue asked.

“Uh, I don’t think so. The kid came with like nothing except that pink underpants and white dress.” The red-haired nurse said as she fixed my bed up.

“Oh yeah because her mom couldn’t afford any nice things like the other kids.” She giggled. I saw her placed the books into a bag. I hoped she gave me the books. Mommy never buys me books. She couldn’t afford anything really.  

“How the fuck did her mom get out of prison though?” The other nurse asked.

They both shrugged.

When they were all finished packing, Nurse Sue picked me up and wiped my face with a washcloth. She made me brush my teeth and she fixed my hair up. She tied it into a nice ponytail and she then changed my diaper even though I knew how to use the kid potty. Sue placed on new pearly white flats with a diamond-encrusted pink bow across the top on my feet. She took one last look and smiled. “You are good. Your mom will think we took good care of you even though you lost so much weight being here! But your mom is too stupid to know that!” She said as she picked me up again.

We walked down the spiral staircase and into the greeting parlor. I saw a brown-haired lady dressed in nice purple shorts and a white ruffled blouse. She had on a straw hat and a pair of sunglasses.  She was sitting across from the main entrance. Immediately, I knew who it was! My momma!

Sue placed me down on the floor as I ran to my momma. She was reading a magazine and did not even notice me until I bumped her knee.  I stared at her. She was so beautiful. Something about her was different. Maybe it was her weight loss or her hair or maybe the nice clothing that she barely wears. I didn’t know but my mom was beautiful!

“Oh Vivian! Stop being a brat!” My mom hissed.

I frowned. My mom might have left me for awhile but her attitude towards me did not change one single bit. “Momma! Veevee mish yew!” I mumbled.

“Huh? Come on. Let’s get ready to go!” She said as she held my hand and went to the front desk. “Am I ready to leave?”

The nurse looked down at me and nodded her head. “Yes you are. Have fun, Vivian.”

My mom smiled at her and waved goodbye to her. She picked me up and went inside a brand new red Mercedes 4matic. She threw me into the car seat in the back row. She plopped herself in the driver’s seat and drove as fast as she can go. I looked around in the car. I wondered how my mom could afford such a nice car. It looked too fancy for my mom to afford. It smelled so new and with the speed mommy was driving, it felt like I was flying.

When mom was slowing down on the road, we arrived at our destination. I stared into the stone-paved round and up into the apartment complex. Every condo has their own deck and there was five condo’s attached to each other. It was like their own village. There were probably at least twenty to forty of them around the village.  Mom pulled up to the one in the farthest right corner with blue sidings and grey doors. I awed the scenery.

“Vivian, this is our new home!” Mommy said as she put the car in park.

I stared at the door and smiled at mommy. “New?”

“Yes Vivian. New house. One of mommy’s friends help me get out of the bar cell and into our new home.” My mom said as she checked out her phone.

I clapped my hands and smiled. “Let’s go inside!”

My mom got out of the car and walked to my door. She unbuckled me and picked me up. She immediately put me down into the paved road when her phone buzzed loudly. I walked towards the door. The smell of fresh cut grass lingered in the air as the scent of mom’s apple cinnamon candles flew its way out of the windows. Perfect for the season!

Mom finished texting someone then went to the front door. She unlocked it and I was so excited. Mom lived in the end of the condo’s and she had a bigger space. To the right of the house was the television mounted on the wall. A half wall blocked the entrance to the living room. There were leather couches across the half wall and against the window wall. I walked past the living room and into the kitchen. It was a small kitchen but there was a door that led to the deck. I smiled and looked up at mom. I giggled when she walked to the fridge to grab me a juice box. I walked between the living room and the kitchen. To my right was a bathroom and to the left was another door. I walked towards the door when mom opened it.  “This, Vivi, is your play room and bedroom. Mommy has two rooms upstairs. But one is for mommy’s friends when they come over and the other is my personal room. Vivian, you are not allowed up there. You have everything you want here… downstairs. So no need to come upstairs okay?” My mom said as she gripped my arms tightly.

I looked up at her and nodded, out of fear.

My mom patted my head and then spoke, “Good. Go run along and play with your toys. Oh and here is Spencer. We can’t forget about him!” Momma took out Spencer from my belongings bag and placed him in the center of the room.

I walked inside the room and noticed the fine flowery wallpaper that fluttered along the walls. There was a doll house in the corner and there was my crib in the middle of the room. I noticed a toy chest at the end of the bed and a child play table in the center of the room. The room’s floor was covered by a big purplish butterfly rug. There was an easel and plush dog seat. I had my own plush seat? I giggled and I just did not know where to begin! I decided to talk to Spencer.

“Spencer mommy has no much money! Look how big my room is!” I said.

Spencer nodded and held my hand.

Something told me Spencer said good things come to an end. “No! Spencer, mommy loves me now!”

Spencer’s eyes dimmed. He didn’t want to talk to me. I placed him down as started to draw on the easel.