don’t need Clarance’s charity or yours.”
24
“You need somethin’,” Ricky declared.
25
He wanted me to take up the bait and fight or make a 26
joke out of it or anything. But I just stuck out my lower 27 S
lip and shrugged. I didn’t have the energy for that kind of 28 R
talk right then. I focused my attention on Narciss. She 58
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was writing down notes on slips of yellow paper, which 1
she attached to different pieces. She also made entries in a 2
small spiral pad she had.
3
“Hey, Charles?” Ricky said.
4
“Hey what?”
5
“Could I use your phone?”
6
“Local or long distance?”
7
“I wanna call Bethany. She said that —”
8
“Okay,” I said, cutting him off. “Make your call.”
9
Ricky gave me a sullen look and then went into the 10
kitchen to use the ancient Princess phone in there. I heard 11
him say Bethany’s name and then I returned my attention 12
to Narciss.
13
She seemed extremely competent. Now and then she’d 14
take some reference book or another from her shoulder 15
satchel to prove or disprove some point she was making 16
to herself. She would write more notes and then move on 17
to the next object. In the meanwhile Ricky was laughing 18
and chattering on the phone in the other room.
19
I was having a fine time in the chilly window seat, 20
watching the earth-toned woman judge my lineage. The 21
moon shone on her, glaring over my shoulder.
22
“Are you hungry?” I asked Narciss after it was com-23
pletely dark outside.
24
“I’d like something after I’m done here,” she said.
25
“We could go over to Dinelli’s in Southampton,” I of-26
fered and immediately I was sorry. I didn’t have a single S 27
paper dollar to my name. I probably didn’t have enough R 28
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Walter Mosley
1
in change to cover a dinner at Dinelli’s, and my only 2
credit card had been canceled more than a year before.
3
“That would be nice,” Narciss Gully said.
4
She turned back to her work, and I jumped up to go to 5
the kitchen.
6
“Be right back,” I promised.
7
Ricky was cradling the phone with both hands against 8
his face. His voice was low, and I knew that he must have 9
been getting somewhere with Bethany Baptiste. Bethany 10
was a heavyset young woman who liked food, dancing, 11
and men. She could never get enough of any one of them, 12
and we all loved her for it.
13
She’d been married once but that didn’t take. Bethany 14
married Lawrence Crelde, but she was in love with 15
Clarance, who was already married. Whenever Clarance 16
called, Bethany came running, and one day when she got 17
back, Lawrence was gone. Bethany wasn’t upset about los-18
ing her husband, but she was devastated when Clarance 19
refused to leave his own wife for her.
20
Ever since then Bethany was alone. She’d go out with 21
this man or that for a few days or weeks, but something 22
always got in the way. Right now it looked like Ricky was 23
going to be her date. At any other time I would have sat 24
back and waited for him to finish with his line, but right 25
then I had my own troubles.
26
“Ricky,” I said.
27 S
He waved at me to go away.
28 R
“Ricky,” I said a little louder.
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Again he waved.
1
“Get off the phone, man. I have to talk to you.”
2
“It’s Charles Blakey,” he said into the mouthpiece. And 3
then after listening to something, he said to me, “Bethany 4
says hey.”
5
“Tell her that you have to talk to me for a minute.”
6
“Let me call you back in five?” he said. Whatever she 7
said must have been promising because Ricky smiled and 8
whispered something so soft that I couldn’t make it out.
9
“What you want, Charles? Damn. Here I am tryin’ to 10
promote somethin’ an’ you all up in my face.”
11
“I got to have forty bucks, man. Got to have it.”
12
“Charles . . .”
13
“No, Ricky. No games. No fuckin’ around. I don’t have 14
a single dollar bill, but Narciss wants to eat.”
15
“Who cares what that skinny bitch want?”
16
“Sh!” I was worried that she might hear us even though 17
we were whispering. “I care.”
18
All of a sudden Ricky was sly. He let his eyes almost 19
close and then he nodded. “I see,” he said.
20
“I’ll pay you back the minute this stuff is sold. Fifty dol-21
lars for forty.”
22
Ricky reached into his pocket and pulled out a roll of 23
twenty-dollar bills. He must have had six hundred dollars 24
in his hand. He smiled and peeled off two bills. He handed 25
them over and then grinned again.
26
“You got what you want now, brother?” he asked me.
S 27
“Thanks,” I said.
R 28
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1
“Well then can I get back on the phone and get what I 2
need?”
3
Ricky was crooning to Bethany before I had left the 4
room.
5
I found Narciss holding up a lopsided pink glass vase.
6
She was scrutinizing every aspect of the vessel like a 7
budget shopper studying a possible buy from an over-8
crowded reject table.
9
I sat there with knots in my stomach. It made me sick 10
to have to ask Ricky for charity. And watching Narciss sift 11
through my family’s history now somehow made me sad.
12
The cold from the window worked its way into my gut. I 13
wondered if I was getting sick.
14
“Oh my,” Narciss said.
15
“What?”
16
Instead of answering she came to me with a wooden 17
box held delicately in both her hands. She sat down next 18
to me, placing the old scarred box between us. Other 19
than its obvious age, it was unremarkable. About a foot 20
long and six inches in depth and width, it was plain and 21
held together by smith-made iron hinges. There were 22
three letters roughly carved on the lower right side of the 23
lid — jld.
24
“Look.” She lifted the lid.
25
Inside there were three hand-carved masks, rust to dark 26
brown, ivory I was sure. Each one was about five inches 27 S
from crown to chin and three inches from one cheekbone 28 R
to the other. They were simple images with sloping fore-62
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The Man in My Basement
heads and slitted eyes. One was smiling, one possibly feral, 1
and one looked like he was whistling through an O-shaped 2
mouth. They were laid out on an old crumpled newspaper.
3
Two of the faces had been broken in places but were 4
seamed back together with some kind of adhesive. There 5
was a blue splotch on the delicate chin of the leftmost im-6