Hayley awoke to the sound of a heated argument. With a groan she pushed herself to an upright position to reluctantly face the day. Looking around her dim room she saw that her brothers and sister had been roused by their parents' voices as well. Make that half-brothers and sister.
Her mother had died when Hayley was only three, too young to truly feel any loss. Plus, her father had quickly filled the void with a new, and younger, wife to serve as mother. Although this new woman, Isabella, gave Hayley three little half-siblings, she never gave any love. Isabella had married her father mainly for glory, not to embrace his family. Hayley was sure she regretted that decision now.
Hayley's father had been of the upper crust, and a skilled politician to boot. He went on to be elected mayor of Hoboken and would remain such for the next nine years. Almost a year prior to this day that Hayley sat up, awakened by the yelling, scandal had surrounded her father, and lost him his office and the lifestyle he was accustomed to. To cope with his loss, he hit the bottle. Hard.
Hardly anyone would hire this fallen politician, and on the rare occasion he found a job, he never managed to hold employment long. It wasn't unusual for him to come home drunk; all of the barkeeps in the area knew him well and depended on him for much of their business. Isabella's enraged voice brought Hayley back to the present; it sounded as if her father lost yet another job.
Hayley crawled over her younger sister, Beth, and out of the bed they were forced to share. Her brothers had already abandoned their makeshift cots on the floor to see if breakfast had been prepared. Hayley never looked forward to breakfast, or any meal for that matter, now that Isabella was making them. Having grown up in a privileged family, Isabella never had to learn to do much with her hands, including cook. But now she was thrust abruptly into this life of poverty and forced to learn quickly. Isabella was miserable now that she was forced to live in a cramped tenement and help support her family by doing laundry for a wealthier couple, a daily reminder of what her life once was. Hayley got the brunt of her stepmother's rage at being the laughingstock of town.
Hayley did not mind working to help the family, but she could not stand the conditions of the textile factory where she was employed. Dirty, loud, and dangerous, the factory put her constantly in harm's way, but it was the only large industry around that would hire her. Her brothers worked as stablehands for the same couple as Isabella. They managed to scrape by a living, but barely so.
Ignoring the foul-smelling porridge Isabella had concocted, Hayley opted for a stale piece of bread instead. She rummaged around what could barely be called a kitchen and managed to find a hunk of cheese as well. Hayley only stopped to splash some water on her face before stepping over her father, passed out near the door, and heading out to work.