The Big House was tastefully decorated for fall with gourds and pumpkins. Every window was brightly lit. I rang the bell, staring into the button eyes of a pair of decoratively quaint ragdoll pilgrims dangling in the center of a wreath of mums. The thought of spending the evening with the whole fam-damnly hung over my head like the autumn gloom. And I was going to have to do it alone. Melody and the Girl Child were celebrating the true American holiday, Black Friday, by staking out the doorbuster bargains for as much loot as they could carry.
“Damen!” Raffi opened the door wide and greeted me with outspread arms. Turkey scented air wafted out around him in a warm puff. He had swapped out his aloha shirt for a tarpaulin of a bowling shirt in brown and yellow.
I held up a hand. “How.”
“V
