ground. I threw the trapdoor open and stepped aside, indi-26
cating that he should go first. I’d left the light on so he would 27 S
have no trouble descending the stairs. But he hesitated, 28 R
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even took a step backward. Then, with a visible force of 1
will, he steeled himself and walked down the sixteen stairs.
2
I followed.
3
He glanced furtively from one corner to the other, then 4
up to the ceiling and back to the stairs. He squinted but 5
the light wasn’t bright. He clapped his hands together, 6
took a deep breath.
7
I said, “Cellar’s got running water, but there’s no toilet 8
down there, Mr. —”
9
“First let me tell you,” he interrupted, “that I have par-10
ticular requests. I want to rent this cellar for sixty-five 11
days, starting on July one. I will remain here for the whole 12
time, and I expect no one to enter except for you. You will 13
prepare and bring food and you will dispose of any mate-14
rials that need disposing of. Everything else I need will be 15
delivered two weeks before I am due to arrive. With that 16
will come instructions for any construction necessary.”
17
“So you want me to be your cook and butler?”
18
“Not exactly, but that’s close enough to the truth.”
19
“I’m sorry, Mr. Bennet, but —”
20
“I will pay all expenses, plus seven hundred and fifty 21
dollars a day.”
22
The math stopped me in my tracks. Zero times, five 23
times, seven times. “Forty-eight thousand seven hundred 24
fifty dollars,” I said.
25
Anniston Bennet smiled. Math done right seemed to 26
please him.
S 27
R 28
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1
He was uncomfortable in the basement, however.
2
“Let’s go back up,” he said, leading the way up the stairs.
3
I didn’t understand how he could be so anxious to rent 4
that room if he couldn’t bear five minutes there.
5
Back in the breakfast room, he regained his composure.
6
“I will give you eight thousand five hundred right now 7
as a deposit and then on June fifteen you will receive what 8
paraphernalia I will need for my recluse. You will follow 9
any instructions I have given, and then I will arrive at 10
midnight of June thirty. At that time, after I have in-11
spected the work, I will give you twenty thousand dollars, 12
plus another five for expenses. Sixty-five days later I will 13
give you the balance. All moneys will be in cash.”
14
Tiny shafts of sunlight shone on Bennet’s head and his 15
small hands, which were folded on the table in front of 16
him. He was unchanged by the light. I realized that the 17
insecurity and friendliness he’d shown on our first meet-18
ing were an act.
19
“Man so cold,” my uncle Brent would say of evil white 20
men, “that he could take a bath in ice water and still take 21
his whiskey on the rocks.”
22
“Well?” Bennet asked.
23
“What if . . .” I stalled. “What if I just take your money 24
and then say I didn’t?”
25
The smile this time was a memory of some previous 26
event. “In my experience, Mr. Blakey, people rarely re-27 S
nege on their promises. It’s always easier to keep your 28 R
word than to enter into lies or intrigue.”
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Looking back on it I should have been scared by his 1
words, but instead I was confused. I wondered what point 2
of view could see honesty as the stronger virtue in a world 3
I knew was full of cheating and lies. Didn’t they lie in 4
commercials on TV and ads in newspapers? Didn’t politi-5
cians lie about what they’ve done and what they’re about 6
to do? Clarance lied all the time to his wife, and he had 7
more girlfriends than I did.
8
But then I thought about Narciss and how the truth 9
had been so easy with her.
10
“You say you’re going to lie to the government, not tell 11
them about the money,” I said.
12
“The government isn’t real,” he replied. He might have 13
been talking about Santa Claus or God. “I don’t owe any-14
thing to anyone who in themselves are lies and liars.”
15
Talking to the white man made me very nervous. There 16
were all these thoughts in my head. Thoughts about love 17
and lies and money. Especially money. Money and the 18
mortgage and food and work. I had been calling around 19
about jobs for days, but no one wanted to hire me ex-20
cept for a McDonald’s out on the highway and the plas-21
tics factory in Riverhead. But those jobs were part-time 22
and minimum wage. No way I could pay my bills with 23
that.
24
“Why did you come to me, Mr. Bennet? Of all the 25
places out here, how did you choose my house?”
26
“I had an associate of mine question Teddy Odett. My S 27
friend was looking for a place that I could go. He knew R 28
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1
my requirements and asked Odett and also Minder at the 2
bank in town what my best options were. As you know 3
you can’t find a job around here and your mortgage is in 4
arrears. My offer settles your problems and gives me what 5
I need.” Bennet’s words and his bright blue eyes were 6
pure and innocent. But what he was telling me was that a 7
stranger could walk into my life and find out more about 8
me than my closest family and friends ever knew.
9
“How do you make your money, Mr. Bennet?”
10
“I’m an agent for a consortium of investment and oil 11
companies. I do research and reclamation work all through 12
the world.”
13
“Reclaiming what?”
14
“Wealth.” He said the word and it tickled him.
15
“No drugs or anything?”
16
He shook his head. His hands hadn’t moved and the 17
sunlight now shone on his forearms.
18
“You got the money on you?”
19
“In a brown paper bag in my trunk,” he said.
20
“So you hand over the money and I just wait for your 21
furniture and stuff ?”
22
He nodded.
23
“You really found out about my mortgage and house 24
and everything?”
25
“I’m a man who gets what he wants, Mr. Blakey. I want 26
your cellar and I’m willing to give you what you need.”
27 S
I couldn’t see anything wrong with a man wanting to be 28 R
a monk. I certainly didn’t have any problems with fifty 76
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The Man in My Basement
thousand dollars. But there was something, some formal-1
ity, an expectation from Bennet that made me feel this re-2
cluse, as he called it, was more than just a vacation or 3
retreat. I wanted to find the right question to ask, to pull 4