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It was early, too early. Agatha grumbled to herself as the first rays of sunshine crept into her window, rousing her from her sleep. She rolled over and tried to prolong the inevitable. It was an exercise in futility, she was restless now.
Agatha headed down the dark hallway to the bathroom, treading lightly and hoping not to wake anyone else. As she brushed her teeth, she found herself staring into the mirror. She didn't like what she saw. Though by most people's standards, she was still very attractive, she no longer felt that way. As she looked at her curly black hair, once full of life, now frizzy and dead looking, a deep sadness set in. This sadness had become all too normal for Agatha ever since she lost her job. She spit out the toothpaste, glanced towards the shower thoughtfully, and decides against it. She simply brushed her hair and left the room.

On her way to the common room, she made a pit stop at the shoe closet. From a pair of shoes still in the box, she pulled several tablets, ingested one, and put the rest back. Agatha settled into her chair in the common room, and turned the radio on shortly after that, relishing her forbidden high. As far as anyone else knew, Agatha had kicked her speed habit when they came over from Italy. Now she had nothing to worry about until the rest of the world around her came to life.

  Ignazio opened his eyes, staring at the roof of the room. He rubbed his eyes, yawning, scooting up, and looked around at some sleeping figures. Large family, not quite as large living spaces. He nimbly made his way up, quietly, and, as to not wake anybody, made his way to the bathroom. "Oh, the lights still on. Zia must be awake," Ignazio thinks, the only other family member who wakes up this early.

  He looks in the mirror, smiling at himself. Young, handsome with the looks of his Italian, and an amazing body. In America, he was king. He quickly jumped into the shower, not having worn any clothes. It was on cold, as it helped him wake up, and kept his skin and hair nice and moisturized. Also, couldn't afford any hot water at the moment. He finished up, got out, and wrapped a bath robe around himself.

  He slowly made his way to the commons, as that was also the way to the kitchen. "Morning Zia," Ignazio says as he kisses her on the cheek. The lights were still off, and he left them off. He quickly made himself to the kitchen and began his work. Having been an apprentice baker, he usually made breakfast for everyone. "Today, we shall have some crepe's," he thinks, turning on the oven and getting out the materials...

Toni walked into the place the Prospero's called home, an aroma of his nephew's cooking engaging his interest. Toni reeked of alcohol and was carrying a small buzz, he had stowed away last night in a Speak Easy and had helped himself to a few bottles of Al's Gut Rot from behind the stowaway. Toni had half a bottle remaining hidden away in his heavy jacket.

As Toni trotted in he made his way into the mostly dark home, noticing his sister lounging in the commons. Toni went over and gave her a pat on the shoulders and made his way into the kitchen. Toni glanced over to his nephew as he was busy fixing the family's breakfast, giving him a soft smile but deciding not to speak. Toni wondered if he would serenade the family later with an old home song. Toni missed his homeland of Italy sometimes, a lot of the time, but he enjoyed being with his family and away from the politics of Europe.

Toni made his way to the pantry and to a subtle, but noticeable to Prospero eyes, board. Toni bent down and loosened the board, revealing the family's stash of alcohol. Toni made a quick inventory of the family's stash; two bottles of Al's Gut Rot, well two and a half now, three bottles of a red merlot cooking wine labelled Ignazio, a small bottle of McBailey's Irish whiskey, and a corked Prospero family wine his great-grandmother had made and passed down the Prospero line for the past century. Toni made sure to check the rim of the wine and the cork to ensure it had not been opened. Toni put the family wine back in its place and walked to the kitchen table, it was a bit too small for the size of the family. Toni drew a newspaper from his jacket and tossed it on the table, it was an outdated newspaper he had stolen from outside someone's home long ago. Toni began looking at it, trying to make sense of the letters and sentences. Toni sighed, he hated trying to learn to read English, he hated everything English.

Matteo woke suddenly and frowned. The sound of running water in the bathroom meant Ignazio was awake. He was the only one who could stand the cold water on such a cool morning. Hopefully the day would warm things up a bit but it was still March and one could not be sure. A quick glance around the room told him that Agatha was awake as well. Figures he thought to  himself.

Quietly he stood and pulled on his trousers and buttoned his shirt. He neglected to pull the suspenders over his shoulders choosing to let them hang loosely at his side. He quickly stuck his feet into his worn, brown boots and started for the door, then pulled up short as he changed his mind. Agatha was awake and he really did not want to see her face this morning. Simply another disappointment to top the multitude of them from the past few weeks.

Instead he tugged on his heavy woolen coat and crossed to the room’s lone window and slid it open before stepping out onto the slight pitch of the roof. He gently closed the window behind him and found his favorite sitting spot next to the weathered stone chimney. From his pocket, Matteo produced a small leather pouch and proceeded to roll himself a cigarette. Quietly he took stock of the pouch’s dwindling contents. Enough left for three – maybe four. He had better find some kind of work soon.

Solemnly he struck one of his few remaining matches on the cold stone and smoked while he waited for the rest of the city to awaken. He watched as the smoke drifted away into the distance.

  Ignazio began humming an old folk tune as he continued to make breakfast. The stove was just getting warm when he heard his uncle come in. He smiled as he saw his uncle come through, and put the family store of drinks into the floorboard, and then sit at the table. "Ahh, poor zio,'' he thought, as he saw him open the newspaper he had seen him open so many countless times before. Everyone was at least attempting to learn English,and each at different rates.

  Eventually, he finished the crepes, throwing a tiny bit of powdered sugar from his storage. He put them on a central plate, and went to the dining room table, setting it down along with some other plates. He then went back to the kitchen, and, getting a pan and a wooden spoon began thrumming it. ''Mia famiglia, my family, breakfast. Awake!'' He said loudly, walking a bit down the hallway to awaken the family. He then quickly made his way back to the kitchen to set out some drinks.

Toni closed his eyes as his nephew hummed, taking himself back to when he had first heard the tune as a young child. It was a bittersweet memory. Toni shook his head briefly, coming back to the reality of the world. Toni did his best to avoid day dreaming because in truth it was a wasted activity.

Toni looked at the crepes and made a short inventory, thinking of what his family needed to eat versus wanted. Toni's stomach growled in lustful hunger, the alcohol demanding to be satiated by the crepes. Toni looked for a piece that fitted his needs, broke off 1/4 of it and placed it back on the plate. Toni retrieved water from the kitchen and enjoyed his breakfast standing next to the table, the food delicious as ever.

As Toni saw his nephew come back towards the kitchen he smiled and said, "Grazie Ignazio, the pastry was very good".
Toni let his nephew get back to his work and made his way into the living room. "Mia Sorella, you need to eat", Toni said as he slid into his favorite chair. It wasn't a particularly comfortable chair, but it was the first thing he had bought coming to the US of A. Toni let himself drift off into a sort of sleep, his buzz satiated by the crepe and water. Toni half dreamed briefly, trying to catch a nap before he had to go back into the city in search for work.

The smell of crepes wafted to Agatha's nose, permeating her high, as she sat in her chair. Her stomach had been rumbling, though for how long she couldn't say. She made her way, rather unsteadily, to her feet and headed towards the kitchen.

"Ti ringrazio tanto, Ignazio."
Thank you so much, Ignazio
Agatha mutters more to herself than anyone else as she takes more than her fair share of the crepes. She sits down at the table, and in a not so lady like moment, the food is quickly devoured. Having finished breakfast, Agatha was all but done with the family for the day. She grabbed her tattered coat, and slid her shoes on as she headed towards the door.
"Torno piu tardi, non aspettare fino" 
I'll be back later, don't wait up
she called out, again to no one in particular.

As Agatha walked out the door, the crisp Detroit air brought her renewed life. She set off down the street, looking for whatever opportunity presented itself.

Vicenzo awoke with a groan, being awakened unnaturally by some kind of noise and yelling. Within another moment, he recognized that the voice belonged to Ignazio and was accompanied by the smell of crepes, signalling that breakfast was ready. With some effort, he pulled himself out of a warm, cozy bed and then fished around for the book he had fell asleep reading in the dark, carefully folding the page to bookmark his place and setting it on the table beside the bed. As much as he would like to sleep in, he knew that if he didn't get to breakfast on time there may not be much of it left.

Slowly walking down the short hallway to the common area and then to the kitchen, Vicenzo looked through the window out onto the street that goes by their yard, watching a few people walking the sidewalks bundled in their coats. It was the middle portion of autumn, and the weather usually started out freezing in the morning and warming up to something just shy of mild during the day, and it appeared today would be no exception. He wondered idly where the people were going...if they were going anywhere at all. As it did every morning, the question merely reminded him of their own predicament and ignited a surge of worry that he had to fight back. At least they have food and a roof over their heads, so he should "count his blessings", as he overhears people put it.

Once he made it to kitchen area, he made a bee-line for the table, sit down at a chair, took a small piece of crepe, and chowed it down while still fighting waves of drowsiness. Finally, he looked up and recognized Ignazio fiddling with some cups and drinks. "Morning...any coffee today?" he asked in what passed as his friendliest voice for this early in the morning.

Toni awoke what seemed like moments later, noticing a draft from the front door. Toni yawned and worked his way upstairs. Looking about his small room he found a suitcase that contained his one and only suit. It was his grandfather's, so it was quite out of style, but when Toni briefly had money he had it refitted to his own form. Toni set the suit in pieces on his bed and disrobed his alcohol soaked clothes and tossed them aside. Toni glared out the window for a moment, watching his naked reflection as he observed the street below.

After a moment Toni grabbed a towel, wrapped it around his waist, and headed for the bathroom; he noticed the bathroom was humid and there were droplets of water rimming the tub. Toni surmised it must be one of his nephew's doings. Toni turned the nozzle and the water started to pour out of the shower faucet. It was cold, Toni hated that. "Vorrei essere a casa e caldo" I wish I was home and warm Toni spoke softly as he climbed into the tub. Toni made quick work to scrub the sour smell of alcohol from his body and wash the grease from his hair.

Once Toni was done he finished his toiletries in the bathroom and returned to his room, careful to be dry before walking in the hall. Toni began adorning his suit. Briefly glancing at the mirror he smiled, he would laugh "Siete abbastanza bello, Antonio" You are nice enough, Antonio. Toni made his way down stairs, smiled at the family he saw and walked out the front door, the crisp morning air breathing refreshment into his lungs. "Here is the land of opportunity" Toni thought to himself.

  Ignazio smiled halfheartedly at his Aunt as she began eating some of the crepes, before she got up and made her way out. He knew he should have made a bit more, but he was running low in certain places, and was trying to ration until he found his next paycheck. He saw his brother come in, and ask if there was any coffee. "Si, Vicenzo, coffee," Ignazio said, pouring him some, about 3/4 of the mug, and, moving to the table, gave him his cup. "No milk, sugar, or cream. Running low,'' Ignazio said, grabbing a crepe, and sitting down to eat. His English was getting better every day, and he correlated it to singing.

  It was then that he noticed Matteo was still not out. He audibly sighed. They had planned to look for an offer today somewhere. He quickly got up, and headed towards the room. He knew he would be outside the window, and seeing the window open, assured him. "Matteo, breakfast!" He said loudly, before moving back towards the dining room.

The early morning breeze was brisk against Agatha's exposed skin through her tattered jacket as she meandered down the street. Agatha didn't have anywhere to be, but she needed to make some money. Things were getting desperate at the house, but she couldn't worry about that right now.

A car pulls up beside Agatha, and slows to match her pace. The driver calls out through his open window.

"Hey, you selling that body of yours??" The John asked voraciously.
"No. Not here. Not. In. America" Agatha replied in very broken English.
"Fucking aborto! No one would touch you even if you were, bitch!" He screamed as he accelerated away from her, leaving her very angry.

I may not be as pretty as I once was, but I'm no aborto, I could pick up a guy if I wanted to. she thought bitterly to herself.

A few feet down the road another car stopped her. This time, she asked the driver before he could even open his mouth. He accepted her offer, and she got in the car. Twenty minutes, and a blowjob later, she was walking away with a lofty $5 in her pocket.
By now, Agatha was beginning to come down from her high, and was feeling guilty about over indulging in the crepes. With the cash she just earned, she stopped in to a store to pick up several things for the kitchen at the house.

Agatha hadn't really wanted to go home this early today, but she had a plan that would help her pay the bills, and maybe even meet Mr. Right. She was excited to share her news.
She walked into the house and hollered "Sono a casa! Io porto regali!" I'm home! I bring presents!

She walked to the kitchen and took out the few Groceries and handed them to Ignazio. "I felt bad. Had money. Here. Sorry." She was going to get the hang of this English thing if it killed her.

OOC: $5 in 1929 would be worth about $70 today. Oh happy day!

Vicenzo greedily took the mug and took short, quick sips of the piping hot and bitter liquid, feeling it flow down into his stomach and opening up his mind and all his senses. After a few sips, he managed a friendly smile to Ignazio, both in appreciation of the crepes and coffee and in recognition of his steadily improving English. Vicenzo had already knew some English from studying and reading the international newspapers that would find their way to the old library back in Italy, but the need for English had been rather abrupt for the rest of the family, and he was genuinely impressed at his brothers' ability to quickly take it up relatively quickly.

Before he had had enough coffee in him to be able to start a proper conversation with his brother, he heard the front door open and then saw Agatha enter the kitchen with what looked to be several grocery items, and at this he raised an eyebrow at her in curiosity. He wasn't exactly looking a gift horse in the mouth, but it was still early in the morning, and he couldn't help but wonder how she had been able to get groceries after only being out for perhaps several hours. After a few moments, he goes back to sipping the rest of his coffee. It doesn't matter how, it just matters that the family will stave off hunger for another day.