He hesitated. “…If you…guys would want a hand to work for nothing – just his keep, why I’d come an’ lend a hand. I ain’t so crippled I can’t work like a son-of-a-bitch if I want to.

– John Steinbeck

Of Mice and Men, Chapter 4. Crooks wants to get involved in the dream farm with George, Lennie and Candy.