"Yes, thank you ma'am..."<br/><br/>Kevin sighed.  He really hated being so helpless, and having to rely on other people.  He felt like a failure at life taking all these handouts.  It wasn't in his nature, it wasn't who he was...then again, who was he?  A failed senior manager whose wife left him and took the kids.  That pretty much summed it up.  What did he have to look forward to in life?  Nothing.  At his age, starting over was almost a ridiculous thought, especially when the pain of failure and heartbreak nagged him daily.  No, he couldn't start over, no reason to try and have a better life or dig himself out of this whole.  He was atoning for his sins, living off of charity and society's refuse.<br/><br/>He takes his things and heads over to the shower.  He went inside, and locked the door.  He puts the soap and wash rag aside, and strips off his clothes.  He looks at himself in the mirror.  By God...is that what he looked like now?  He barely recognized the man staring back at him.  He was leaner, darker more tan, hair and beard wildly overgrown...he was a mess.  Turning on the water in the shower, he takes the soap and washcloth and begins washing himself, scrubbing hard, trying to get rid of the baked on dirt and sweat.  He scrubs so hard his skin blushes red, but the dirt comes off...his skin underneath feeling so much softer than he remembered.  Then, he moves on and starts to tackle his hair and beard, washing each twice, trying to get out all the grease and dirt and make himself presentable.  If he was washing up at the church, or a shelter, he wouldn't do such a good job, but he knew how happy it made the old woman to see him clean and presentable, so he put in the extra effort, even if within a week he'd be back to his same filthy self again.  He didn't want to let the old woman down, and it always made him happy to see her face light up with a smile.