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Getting up in the morning Jim found it harder than usual. He felt like five hundred pounds were in his feet. What was wrong with him? He sniffed as he got off the mattress that he pulled out of the bedroom last night so he could sleep next to aniki. And lone behold he had thrown up once again next to the couch. Luckily Jim had been a foot away from the couch. He sighed. He didn't feel so good. But he still had to take care of aniki. Jim couldn't stop now. Aniki was his responsibility. Now that he was sick he couldn't take care of himself and he's the only person around willing to help this guy so he had to. Aniki's helped him before.

Plus that guy...Spencer. He scared the crap out of Jim and Gene last night. Jim couldn't believe that of all times he had to come to see how Gene was doing. He didn't do the best of things all the time but aniki was still a good person to be around when he wasn't drunk. They weren't doing anything wrong. Just two regular(if you want to call them that) guys trying to survive in this uncaring world.

It was nine in the morning so Jim would just let aniki get his rest. He needed it. When he went to wash clothes that's when it reminded him that they needed money. Badly. They were going to turn off their electricity in two days if they didn't pull five hundred wong out of thin air. Jim needed to get a just. And fast for that matter. But noyone is calling in. Maybe he'd just have to go to the bulletin board that usually had jobs posted on there. Something had to give. God had to be on their side sometime in their life. Jim ate breakfast, took a shower, got dressed in a tank top and shorts. It was going to be hot outside today, a high of eighty, and working would only make it hotter.

Leaving a note on his bed that he would be back as soon as possible, Jim left out the door. Ten in the morning and looking for jobs. Not always the best combination if you aren't feeling good. Which Jim felt heavy and when he felt his forehead he was hot. Oh man! Jim couldn't be getting sick now. Not today. He'd just have to ignore it and go on with the day. No use in being aniki's partner if he couldn't take care of him when he needed it the most! He ran up to the board. There were papers stacked on top of papers. What to choose? What to choose?

Walking dogs. A possibility but not first on Jim's list. Would baby sitting someone's cats for a day be to much? He couldn't leave aniki at home all day. That was out of the question. And then he wasn't going to take care of someone's brats while they went out and partied. That's when the perfect job caught his eye. Fixing a computer! That was great! And for four hundred wong too! Jim was a master mechanic and could do anything he put his mind to! He grabbed the address and was on the way. If he got there he would have only a hundred more to do. Thank goodness! Only a couple of jobs. It was better than making(trying was more like it) aniki get up in the morning, trying to wake his lazy butt up, so he could go to work.

After a short walk he reached a big two story oarnge house with a shriveled up lawn but beautiful bushes surrounding the edge of the house. He sighed. Here goes everything. Hopefully noyone came here before him. Jim walked up and knocked on the door, taking a deep breath in as the door opened, just to stay confident. Fixing a computer was no problem for Jim!

A little girl was standing there, about seven years old, and behind her stood a twenty five year old, beautiful looking, woman holding a baby boy in her arms. Jim smiled at them happily. Looked like there was no father. To bad. Seemed like such a nice family too as they invited him in. But their house on the inside was a bit empty. Guessed they weren't to good in the money category.

"I'm Jim ma'am. Just came by to see if I could fix your computer!" offered the young boy.

"Yay! Thank you so much!" The young girl applauded.

The woman said "Oh, thank goodness. See, it keeps blocking up everytime we turn it on. I don't know what's wrong with it! Could you fix it?"

"Yep. Guaranteed."

"Good. Daddy was supposed to email me yesterday," said the young girl, tugging at her moms shirt as they walked over to it.

"I wouldn't keep your hopes up dear," she replied. Jim sat in the seat and started the computer up. "Right when it gets to the desktop it freezes and gets spots all over it. The mouse won't even move. I don't know what's wrong with it."

Jim watched as it did exactly what she said. Confusing. Maybe a wire in the back. That was the most logical explanation. The young boy crawled behind the desk with the small family watching him curiously. He saw that the most important wire was out a little. Someone must have pulled on it. He put it back in.

"How is it now?" asked Jim from behind there.

The mother said "The spots are gone but the mouse still won't move."

"Well, your son must have pulled that wire loose. Wouldn't doubt it. Maybe you should put a little gate to protect it," Jim warned as he sat down next to the monitor. "My guess would be that another wire has been loose or chewed up. If that's the case I have an extra at home that I can give to you."

"You're to kind," the woman smiled down at him.

Turned out that the genius prodigy child was wrong. The wires were all fine and connected. Nothing chewed up. He checked everything else. And he couldn't get inside of the thing because it was so old. Maybe that was the problem. Jim got an idea and banged it on top of it.

"What are you doing? Are you trying to break it or what?!" shrieked the little girl. She watched as her mother was able to move the mouse once again. "Oh my gosh. You fixed it."

"I know it was a little unorthodox but it got the job done!" said Jim, wiping the sweat off his head.

The woman handed him the money. "It's a hundred short. I'm sorry. But that's all I have for now. When I get my check next month I'll try to pay you the rest."

At that moment when he saw the girl open the refrigerator, there was nothing in there. Not a thing. Not even a crumb. Guilt went over Jim. This had to be all the money that they had. He couldn't go out of this house with a guilty conscious.

"Oh, no-no! Here ma'am," said Jim, handing them two hundred back. That would be enough to help them through the few days until the end of this month. "And don't worry about the other hundred. All I did was plug in a wire and bang on the top of the computer, nothing that great. And tell you what, I'll come over later tonight with a meal for you all. How does that sound?"

Tears went in the woman's eyes. This boy was so kind. He had to have been taught very well. She was so happy. They hadn't anything to eat since last afternoon. And this money was all she had.

"Thank you so much," said the woman. "I'm Miss Merry and it's a pleasure to meet you. My daughter is Cecilia. And this is my five month old son Jerry. We're ever so grateful for you kindness. I hope you aren't going out of your way to help a poor family like us young man!"

"No problem at all," Jim assured her with a wave of the hand. He headed out the door. "Thanks a lot ma'am. I'll see you later. Okay?"

Miss Merry waved and so did Cecilia. "Thank you!" they said together.

Nothing beat the satisfaction that Jim got for helping them out. They could live without electricity for a day or two until he got the money. For now he needed some rest. He wasn't feeling so good. Light headed and dizzy. But Jim knew that he had to reach aniki ASAP because he was having a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach that aniki wasn't doing good.

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Wise words for today-

We are nothing like God, not only are our powers limited but sometimes were a driven to be the devil himself- Nicholas D. Wolfwood (Trigun)

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