CHAPTER 5
After Kimmie fixed her stepdad’s breakfast, she added his dirty dishes to the ever-growing pile in the sink and then went back to her room to wake up Pip. Working the morning shift meant that she and her brother could count on both a hot breakfast and lunch in a single day. There probably weren’t all that many nutrients in the microwave croissant sandwiches or canned SpaghettiOs they served at the daycare, but calories were calories. At least Kimmie’s job gave her brother more to live off of than the sunflower seed shells his father spat onto the floor.
She knelt on the mattress, leaned over her brother, and nuzzled Pip’s ticklish neck with her nose. “Wake up, Buster. We get to play today.”
Pip rolled over and blinked at her, his expression momentarily vacant until his face br
