The next morning, when Bruce woke up, he knew he had to find a job that day. There was not much left of his twenty dollars, and if this kept up, he really would go hungry.
But were jobs really that easy to find? The docks were far from here, so working as a porter was out of the question. But becoming a gang enforcer required a letter of introduction. The gangs had to be sure you were trustworthy before they hired you; they would not take in someone of unknown origin.
If you were the child of a gang member, your parents might introduce you to work for that gang. Or they might introduce you to a gang a few blocks away, one that had no conflicting interests with the gang they were currently with.
And distant gangs accepted members that way too. Some gangs were even short on people, so they would ask gangs farther away whether they had any promising youngsters.
But where was Bruce Wayne supposed to get a gang background? Without someone to introduce him, he could not even get into a gang.
If he could not become an official gang member, he could still become an outside hire. Plenty of people did that. Not every bartender or security guard in every bar was an official gang member; many of them merely worked for the gangs.
Bruce had considered becoming a security guard. His build was an advantage, and his fighting skills were excellent. But unfortunately, security guards in the East End did not need much fighting ability. What they needed was street smarts.
Within three seconds of looking at someone, you had to determine whether they were an ordinary customer, a thief, someone there to cause trouble, or a scout from another gang. But