*

He's the expendable one, and he knows it.

It's not like he thinks he's the glue that holds the family together, that's a laugh. It doesn't even matter. He's going to do what he can to help the family anyway.

They need the money.

They need it to buy a better apartment, a safer place for Sam and Angela to live in.

He likes the happy feeling he has when he brings Angela home a present. She hasn't stopped playing Life since he gave it to her.

He wants things to be better for them. He wants them to go to school, and work hard, get opportunities that he can't even imagine.

He knows he is destined for the streets, it's the only thing he can do. Who's going to hire an ex-con? They don't even see the "ex" part, just the convict. That's what he looks like to them anyway, even if he didn't have a single mark on his record, they would think he was and he just never got caught.

So, he goes out at night when the dealers aren't afraid to be seen because they have the shadows to hide in and the users roam the sidewalks and alleys looking for people just like him. It's becoming very easy to him. It doesn't bother him, it's his job. He's getting pretty good at it, he's making more money. It's not exactly honest money, but nobody is honest anymore. At least that's what he tells himself.

Maybe he *does* deserve to be looked at like a convict because technically he still is. But all of those people, they don't see the reasons behind it.

They don't see his Aunt and Uncle's faces as they worry over their children. They don't see the look in Sam's eyes everyday when he comes home from school, another day having to deal with the disgusted looks from kids who think they're better. They don't have to see Angela go without the littlest things kids are supposed to have. They don't know what it's like, and if they did, they would understand everything.

Sam doesn't understand, but he's not supposed to. He's better than that. Uncle Henry is better than that.

So why not him?

Somebody has to do it.

And he's the most expendable member of the family.