CHAPTER 16THE FAVOR
DAMON
I paced the confines of my old bedroom, taking the turns at a speed that threatened my balance. Who are you kidding? You lost your balance a while back.
Stop it. Do not swear, scream, or break anything. Just keep moving.
I nearly stepped on the clock Naomi and I had knocked off the wall this morning. Oh, this was the wrong place to come.
“Gabriel?”
Definitely the wrong place.
My mother stood in the bedroom doorway, holding a vacuum cleaner and wearing, I kid you not, heels and pearls. “What’s wrong?” she asked, setting down the vacuum.
“Nothing.”
She raised an eyebrow. “Son, have you ever successfully lied to me?”
I thought a moment. “Not that I recall.”
“Well then.” She waited.
I sighed, closing my eyes a moment in resignation. “It didn’t work.”
“You
