She'd been just old enough at the time to understand the implications of what her mother meant when she said her boss had fired her. And she could see for herself the effect it had on her mom. She saw the stress on her worn-out face, she heard her crying at night when her mom thought she and her brother couldn't hear her.

What Tory didn't understand was why her mom had been fired. All she'd done was bring home leftover food, so they wouldn't go hungry. What kind of world would punish someone for that? Where was the mercy?