"Not officially." She was too young for a work permit before the invasion, and after -- well, it took a little while to get the 'official' stuff back in gear. Plus, you know, they had the slush fund by then. "But Mom's grocery store job didn't pay a whole lot, so I did, like, babysitting and feeding cats and helping the neighbors shovel snow or whatever for extra cash." She'd've mowed lawns, but no one she knew back then had one. "Where'd your dad go? If you don't mind me asking."

'Off the grid' could mean any number of things, after all.