Out of the Frying Pan [Tom]

Tom had always put faith in Kathryn, in everything she told him and every praise she spoke of the city and how much better their lives would be once they moved there. She built up in him the belief and hope that they would move there and be free of the abuse and torment of their mother. When she finally came to him and told him that they could finally leave, it was like a dream come true, where all of their hopes and all of her ambitions would finally come true.

And now things were...Better. Tom couldn't say if they really were better or not, they weren't home, but they were also living in damn near poverty, with barely enough to keep the shitty room they shared much less enough to eat. He felt that it was half his fault, with no skills and poor health, on top of his age, there was little other than miserable gruntwork that he could do, and he barely earned anything off of those odd jobs.

But he kept his worries to himself, Kathryn was stubborn, and proud, and he knew that trying to tell her that maybe she should have done more research only caused fights that he never had the energy for.

He sighed, looking rather worn down as he stepped out of the back door of the place he worked, it was different every day, but always around the same strip of shops that sat along the street. He'd done a lot of heavy lifting today, and his movements were stuff and tender as he threw Kathryn a tired smile, "ready to go?" He always tried to get out as quick as he could, he didn't trust the streets either, and the sooner they could get back to their room the better.

She was quick to smile when she saw her brother come out, but felt a pang of guilt when she saw how tired and worn he looked. He was looking more tired and worn each day lately. She tried not to think about how it was all her fault.

"Yes, let's go home." She nodded, falling in step with him. "But we should stop at the market first...I got some good tips today, we'll be able to get some of the good stuff tonight." Her smile lit up a little more at this, being able to have something nice, and do something a little better for him then they usually could.

They stepped quickly through the streets, obviously walking with purpose. "How was your day?" She asked. "Hopefully okay?" She asked, although she knew his days typically weren't great. She kept her ears open all the time for something that might be a better fit for him. For her too while she was at it. They'd make it. They needed to make it, she had to think it was possible, and they wouldn't end up having to just go back to Wyoming, admitting defeat. Or something worse.

Tom glanced up at her with a slightly brighter expression at her words, it was such a small thing, but it was still more uplifting when they were able to make enough to eat better than what they normally had, "Manchez gave me a better pay today..." He dug into his pocket and held the money out to her, "still not much...Especially not for the ass busting I did." He paused, then added, "but it's better than usual!" He tried to sound optimistic, but there was a pained strain in his voice, and he really wasn't sure it was worth the sore ache in his muscles.

His face settled to a tired smile again when she asked about his day, "okay...Manches had me rearranging his store...I'm so sore..." He knew it would be worse tomorrow, "The lady next door wants me to help her do the same tomorrow..." He glanced up at her with a smile and tilted his head, "what about you? How'd your day go?" He glanced sidelong at her as they walked, giving her a curious smile.

She grimaced a little as she heard about his rough day, but brightened a little as she remembered something she'd wanted to share with him.

"I talked to someone today...they own a car lot, they're looking for someone to help keep the cars washed and cleaned...it's not a lot...but it's pretty much every day. And it'd be easier than just moving furniture all day." She offered, she really wanted to help him to get into something better on him. "I remembered the name of the place, if maybe you wanted to go talk to them?"

She shrugged a little when asked about her day. "It went alright. I mean, it's the same thing every day, fancy rich people wanting everyone to know how picky and rich they are..." She laughed a little. "Do me a favor...when we get rich, if I ever start being a jerk about it, you'll let me know, right?"

Tom glanced over at her with interest as she spoke, hanging onto her words and nodding, "that sounds worlds better'n breaking my back for pennies, that's for sure!" He didn't expect much of a difference in pay, but at least it wouldn't feel like he was doing more work than he was getting paid for, "I'll go down and check it out!" He chuckled, "better washing cars than lifting things I'm barely strong enough to lift..." He puffed, "I'm gonna hurt worse tomorrow and I have to move more heavy stuff..." That tended to be what he did a lot of, heavy lifting, cleaning nasty places, the things people put off because they didn't want to do them.

He wrinkled his nose and grinned at her recollection of the day, "blech, picky rich people are awful!" He didn't see as many of them in the shops, but he ran into them on the streets, looking at him like he crawled right from the gutter, "don't worry Kathryn, moment I see ya acting like that I'll slap the snob out of ya!" He laughed, giving her a playful nudge.