Fair Trade

While the tour boat was docked, the children—nine of them, identical but for height—would board and crate the scraps. The improved industry meant two cruises a day, and two meals a day.

They tossed most of the trash overboard, making quick work of it, saving what could be re-purposed into something useful for the home. Home. It was nothing more than strung-up tarps and towels, discarded for a stain or a rip, and beds of years of flattened boxes.

It was an unspoken contract: the children cleaned, the family ate, and the captain didn't report the illegal encampment.