Damen was woken up early the next morning. Noise was coming from the kitchen. He ran out of his mom's room and to the kitchen. He got there and saw some guy slap his mom across the face.

"Hey!" He yelled. "Don't hit my mom."

            He recognized the man now. It was his mom's old drug dealer. The guy laughed and walked towards Damen.
"Damen!" The guy said happily. "Maybe you can help your mom pay."

"No! Don't bring him into this." His mom begged.

"Shut up Jess!" He slapped her again and turned back to Damen. "So what do you say?"

"Will you leave and never come back if you get your damn money?"

"Damen no!"

            Both men ignored her. Damen stared at the guy.

"Sure kid. Pay me all of it by the end of the month and I'll be history."

"And if I don't?"

            The guy lifted his shirt and Damen saw a gun.

"Alright. How much?" Damen asked.

"30 thousand." The man said before walking out the door.

            He felt his mom looking at him. He turned around to face her.

"Damen why?"

"You need to get out of this."

"But it's my problem not yours."

"Then help me get the money. Neither one of us can do it on our own and you know that."

"But..."

"Mom I'm not going to let you do this on your own."

"Alright. You win like always."

            He saw a smile on her face. He hugged her tightly.

"I love having you back home." She told him.

            That night Damen was hanging out with Ethan, Nat and Tom. They were sitting in the empty park with a pizza box in front of them. Nat took out one of his cigarettes and lit it.

"How are you going to get all that money?" Nat asked blowing out smoke.

"I don't know. Mom's looking for a job. I will too. But I just don't know if we can actually get enough."

"Well I'll help. If you want me too." Tom said.

"Me too." Ethan agreed.

"Thanks guys. What about you Nat?"

"I'll help if I get any more money. I saw you take that 2 hundred I had in my wallet."

Damen laughed, "You have good eyes my friend."

"Well I gotta go." Ethan said standing up.

"Why?" Nat asked him.

"It's almost midnight. Dad hates it when I walk in at 2 in the morning." He explained.

"Parents who set curfews. You gotta love ‘em." Tom joked.

            They all laughed.

"Alright see ya E." Damen said as Ethan walked away.

            Nat put out his cigarette and stood up as well.

"I should leave too Dame."

"Ok. Take the box with you." Damen told him.

"Why?"

"You paid for it."

            Damen and Tom stood up and walked off to Tom's car.

"You want a ride home?" Tom asked him.

Damen shrugged, "Sure."

            They both got in and Tom drove to Damen's house. Right before Damen got out Tom stopped him.

"Here."

            He handed Damen a stack of bills.

"How much is this?" Damen asked amazed.

"Around 4 hundred. Picked it up at the club last night."

            Damen looked into his eyes about to say something but couldn't. He had never seen blue eyes as bright as Tom's. Before he even knew what he was doing he leaned in and kissed Tom. It caught Tom by surprise at first but then he started to kiss back. They both pulled away after a few minutes. Damen smiled as he got out of the car and walked inside.