What is Tommy's importance in the story collection, We Live in Water?

Tommy appears in three stories in the collection: “Can a Corn,” “Please,” and “The Brakes.” Tommy is a grown man, and he has a tenuous but potentially affectionate relationship with his stepfather, Ken. Tommy shares custody of his son with the boy’s mother, Carla. Carla and her husband are drug addicts, so Tommy tries to limit his son’s contact with them. Tommy works as a mechanic and feels much love and affection towards his son.