For Better or For Worse
"Come on, kids," cried Rose, pushing her three
triplets (Mickey, Ricky and Jack) out of the front door. "We're going to be late
for school.
Holding baby Lynda under one arm, she fidgeted around her pockets searching for her keys. She sighed. It would be so much easier if John (John Smith - the assumed name of the Dr Who splinter that she adopted in this parallel universe) was still with her.
But he wasn't. Rose had left him. He had been too violent. Too often he beat her (and occasionally the kids too ). For their own safety she had to leave him. Now she was 30 and a solo mother to four naughty children. Her days were the same. Walk the triplets to school, drop little Lynda off at day-care, then up to Malone's Club where she did the day shift. It was a strip club cum whore house. It was ok money. Enough to put food on the table for her young family and to pay the rent. But Rose was concerned that she wouldn't be able to keep it up for much longer. The strain of being a solo mother was adding years to her appearance. And her drug addiction (vraxoin and meth were her favourites) didn't help either. She only had a couple of years left before they'd sack her and she'd have to find a new job. Life was most definitely not smiling upon Rose Tyler.
***
On the other side of the city things were just as bad for John Smith. Still wearing that crappy blue suit, he woke up, dreading the upcoming day. He was in rehab. The departure of Rose and the kids had hit him hard (though not as hard as how he had hit and thrashed her). It just escalated his drinking problem. This, combined with his out of control gambling soon left him bankrupt. He had lost his family; now he lost his home too. He tried continuing his life, living in his decaying white van, but the financial woes due to his whiskey and vodka problem meant that he had to sell his van too. He was fired from his job at IKEA when management realised that he was stealing from the tills to pay for his alcohol. Rehab was his last hope, but it was like torture for him. Like Rose's, his life was shit too.
Holding baby Lynda under one arm, she fidgeted around her pockets searching for her keys. She sighed. It would be so much easier if John (John Smith - the assumed name of the Dr Who splinter that she adopted in this parallel universe) was still with her.
But he wasn't. Rose had left him. He had been too violent. Too often he beat her (and occasionally the kids too ). For their own safety she had to leave him. Now she was 30 and a solo mother to four naughty children. Her days were the same. Walk the triplets to school, drop little Lynda off at day-care, then up to Malone's Club where she did the day shift. It was a strip club cum whore house. It was ok money. Enough to put food on the table for her young family and to pay the rent. But Rose was concerned that she wouldn't be able to keep it up for much longer. The strain of being a solo mother was adding years to her appearance. And her drug addiction (vraxoin and meth were her favourites) didn't help either. She only had a couple of years left before they'd sack her and she'd have to find a new job. Life was most definitely not smiling upon Rose Tyler.
***
On the other side of the city things were just as bad for John Smith. Still wearing that crappy blue suit, he woke up, dreading the upcoming day. He was in rehab. The departure of Rose and the kids had hit him hard (though not as hard as how he had hit and thrashed her). It just escalated his drinking problem. This, combined with his out of control gambling soon left him bankrupt. He had lost his family; now he lost his home too. He tried continuing his life, living in his decaying white van, but the financial woes due to his whiskey and vodka problem meant that he had to sell his van too. He was fired from his job at IKEA when management realised that he was stealing from the tills to pay for his alcohol. Rehab was his last hope, but it was like torture for him. Like Rose's, his life was shit too.