Chapter two
The next couple of years were hard , but later on Slade would come to think of them as the best ones of his life.
Money was scarce , since Da barely lifted a finger anymore , so Slade had had to drop out of school and get a job.He managed to get several jobs in the end , once his reputation as a hard worker had spread.
Dropping out of school made it easier to look after Wade , but juggling him and several jobs was not simple.He had almost cried when the old lady who lived down the street took pity on him and said that she would babysit Wade for him for free , seeeing as how she missed having a baby to look after.Keyword being 'almost'.
On some days , Slade found himself missing his Ma.She had always made everything seem better than it was.He knew that she would have been able to calm Da down like he would never be able to.Nowadays , it was up to him to cook and clean so he now sympathised with his Ma in a scary way.
On some days , he wondered if this was all worth it.If he should just turn himself and Wade over to the orphanage.He considered it for longer than he will ever admit.But , then a miracle happened.Wade said his first word.
Slade's Da often reffered to him as 'Lad'.So did everone else.He didn't really mind since it was better than 'Slade'.But then Wade said it.And Slade nearly had a heart attack.He had turned around and there was his brother , holding his arms out to him and saying "Lad".Slade suddenly knew what he was fighting for.He would not give in.
So for the next four years he worked hard , saving as much money as he could.It wasn't as easy as you think.His Da kept stealing the money , claiming it was 'rent' , and spending it all at the pub.Luckily , Slade got better at hiding his savings , though he did get beaten whenever his Da found him hiding money.
Eventually Wade was ready to start school , and thanks to Slade's excellent money management he could.Their Da complainned a bit at first , asking why he should spend his money on something so uesless.
Slade (who was ready to kill this man) just asked his Da if he wanted Wade underfoot when he was at home (which was always) through gritted teeth.That got the man to shut up about Wade , but it also earned him a beating.
But it was worth it , just to see his brother come home smiling and babbling about everything that had happened to him at school.It was worth it.And as the years went by , as Slade took on more jobs , as the money increased , Slade finally let himself think that "maybe things are gonna turn out all right".
This was naturally when everything went wrong.