Gabriel went pale when he saw me.
He went pale in the specific way of a person who has been caught doing something they would not have done if they had known they were being watched, which tells you the thing you need to know about whether they understood what they were doing.
He said: honey. I didn’t know you were.
I said: where is my mother?
He said: oh. She’s.
He said: my brother and I wanted to watch the game in here because there’s a TV.
He said: I put her in the basement.
I said: what?
He said: the basement. She’s comfortable down there.
I said: this is her room, Gabriel.
He said: no it’s not.
He said it with the specific hardening of a man who has been caught and who has decided that the defense is to hold the position rather than to capitulate.
