Some Stick Around

In a quiet hospice room that smelled of antiseptic, musk, and death, Odetta Brown lay dying, surrounded by hand-me-down flowers. No one would mourn Odetta when she passed. One of the funeral homes on rotation for taking care of the unwanted would hold her body for up to 30 days, then cremate her on behalf of the county. There would be no rituals. No minister. No last words. Odetta Brown’s nurse, Elena Lopez, was Odetta’s only visitor. Not even the hospice cat came to bother her. That’s why, with