The day was starting to grow late. Meredith had ventured out to pick up her sister Annie, and bring her home. Her parents were having one of their fights and had forgotten the youngest daughter was at her friends. Dressed in her favourite white dress, Meredith walked swiftly through the streets of the city to reach her sister's friends house. As she arrived the door opened and Annie flung herself into Meredith.

"Whoa there. How come you are so anxious to leave? Is everything alright?" She asked her sister.

Before Annie had time to answer the friends dad came stumbling out of the home, apparently drunk and unsteady. The young ladies regarded him warily as they watched him stumble down the steps and towards the garage. Once he turned the corner it was like a weight lifted and Annie could speak again.

"He is a good for nothing rotten drunk! He pulled at my pig tails. I thought Mother was picking me up an hour ago. I've been waiting so long..." Annie trailed off as she looked up at her older sister. Noticing now that her sister looked worried and she put her hands in one of the older girls. Squeezing it gently she tilted her head up. "It's not any better at home is it?"

Leaving the question unanswered, Meredith began the slow walk towards home. They walked the longest route that passed a candy store and Mere noticed Annie's eyes light up as they passed the door. Only to darken once more when they passed. Feeling bad about not having any money Meredith silently vowed to start looking for work the very next day. Up until recently her only job had been to care for her sister while her parents worked. Once the fights started though the drinking started too and soon they had become so poor that sometimes they could just barely make the morning biscuits.

The trouble at home had taken its toll on Meredith but she had always been able to shelter Annie from most of it. With a present here, or a few stolen goodies there, she was always making the days a little brighter for her younger sister. But Meredith worried. She worried that if she didn't soon get a job the light would go out of Annie as it seemed to be making its way out of herself. They'd get through tonight with smiles on their faces and Meredith would begin in the morning.

Next morning, Meredith drew out her most appropriate job searching clothing. It was conservative and neatly ironed. Taking the time to tie back her hair and to polish her shoes it took her the morning to get ready. After sending Annie to school, Meredith had begun to start knocking on doors. She offered her services as a care giver but no one seemed to be looking for one. With school under way and people too busy to meet their bills it was one rejection after another.

Disheartened by her lack of ability to land a job taking care of children she moved onto wherever had a help wanted sign. She had never washed other peoples dishes, denied. She had never served before, denied. She had never worked a factory line in her life, denied. There seemed to be no where hiring in her city and she was soon ready to give up. Her feet ached, and her back was beginning to hunch over. Finding an alley she pressed her hands to her eyes and slid down the wall until her ass met the ground. With a sigh she sat back and re-evaluated her life and plans.

As the days passed with no hope of a job, the family life seemed to get more and more volatile. Her parents were drinking more and soon Meredith wouldn't be able to keep Annie away from it. She needed a job and fast.

One night she stayed out later than she had planned. There was talk of a few jobs to be done around the city from a part of town no one really went to much. Meredith's ears had caught the talk and she wondered if maybe doing a few odd jobs would lead her to a more permanent line of work. One that might increase in wage over time so she could afford to look after Annie. Catching sight of the men she had heard talking about the jobs she decided it was now or never to ask someone about them.

"Excuse me...Pardon me." She called after them. Racing to catch up until she was nearly out of breath. "Hi. I overheard you lads talking about a job where might I apply for this job?"

"Ma'am it's no work for a lady like yourself. You should find easier jobs then these." The older man replied.

"Where do I find these jobs?" She persisted in knowing where to find the jobs regardless of their warnings. She needed work and even if it wasn't something for a lady she needed it.

"Race Street Pier, but when it turns out too tough to handle don't say we didn't warn you."

And just like that they were gone. Departed and left her standing there in the alley. Murmuring to herself she tried to think if she had ever heard of Race Street Pier before. It was that place she was never allowed to go wasn't it?  Standing there the night air got colder and she began to shiver. Meredith would need to muster her courage up before she began looking into these jobs so she headed home for the night. Home, back to Annie and the room they shared.