"It's the way of anything," Beth corrects, shoving another gloppy spoonful in her mouth. "Well. Anything you have to survive, I mean."

When things get bad enough, they hit a point where you don't have a choice. You eat mud snake and drink dirty water out of a dirty soda bottle, or you don't eat and drink. You risk owing more and more to the people that took you in, or you don't have the energy to work off your debt. It gets simple that way.