Tom

Tom is a friendly police officer whose recurring visits bring practical aid to Axel and Bella while Axel lives without a stable home. His approach combines patience with persistence: he offers food and reassurance, even when Axel is wary, and remains present when the destruction of the camp makes their need for help unmistakable.

Introduction and First Contact

Tom first appears at the park, where four cars are in the parking lot and people have gathered at a house with no walls. Bella can find no trace of Riley among them. Tom separates from the group and walks over to Axel and Bella; she recognizes him as the friendly police officer, and he rubs her chest as she wags.

Axel insists that he has done nothing wrong. Tom does not answer with a threat or accusation. Instead, he invites Axel to come to the pavilion and reassures him that nothing bad will happen. The exchange establishes the strain between them: Tom approaches as an officer, but tries to make his presence feel safe to a man expecting trouble.

Repeated Visits and Practical Care

Tom returns every few days and brings food, placing it in plastic boxes. Axel’s reception varies. Sometimes he is happy and talks with Tom; at other times he is hostile and angry, and Tom leaves after giving Bella a small treat. Bella likes Tom but understands that Axel is not always glad to see him. His care therefore does not depend on receiving a consistently warm response.

The visits are part of a broader pattern of precarious days. Axel and Bella still go into town: Axel sits with a blanket while people leave money in a can, then crosses the street to bring back a bottle smelling of Sylvia. At other times he leaves Bella tied to a fence for what feels like a long time before taking her straight back to the tent. Against this unstable routine, Tom’s regular deliveries offer concrete support, though they do not erase Axel’s suspicion or distress.

The Camp’s Destruction and Aftermath

After the camp is wrecked, Axel and Bella return to find their tent flattened, plastic boxes broken, and food scattered. They endure a bitterly cold night beside a metal box used for a fire. At dawn, Axel digs a piece of chicken out of the snow and cooks it over the metal; he and Bella share the scant meal just before Tom arrives. Tom crosses the snow to where they are huddled by the small fire and asks what happened. Axel answers curtly that it was kids.

Other people subsequently clear and stack belongings and provide a different tent and plastic boxes. Once they have left, Tom stays behind. His presence connects the immediate repair of the camp with a more personal conversation: he tells Axel that he has just met the soldier who received the Silver Star. Axel corrects the framing, saying it is not something one wins. Tom apologizes and addresses him as Sergeant, then admits that he wishes Axel would let people help him.

Relationship and Significance

Tom’s relationship with Axel is marked by an unresolved tension between assistance and autonomy. Axel can be hostile toward him, and Tom recognizes that friendliness alone will not make every visit welcome. Still, he keeps coming, brings food, returns after the camp’s destruction, and remains when the others have gone. His care is practical rather than triumphant: the tent and boxes are replaced, but Axel’s guardedness remains.

Through Bella’s observant narration, Tom is defined less by authority than by repeated acts of attention. He approaches Axel gently at the pavilion, adjusts to his changing moods, and tries to help without pretending the exchange is easy. His wish that Axel accept support gives their encounters an ongoing, unfinished quality: Tom can offer presence and resources, but cannot compel trust.