“They don’t care about that. They dealt with me too. I 1
got three prisoners out from captivity for a fee. Asian com-2
munists are far more practical than the European variety.”
3
“You still haven’t explained why you want to be here.”
4
“I don’t want to be here, Charles. I have to be.”
5
“Because you shot that man?”
6
“No. I mean, that’s part of it. A small part. I’ve done a 7
lot of things. Too many things. Sometimes it was that I 8
did nothing. And now it’s too late. Like with love, it’s 9
grown up all around me and I can’t get away.”
10
Again there was a break in Bennet’s armor. He became 11
distant and misty. Not near tears but vulnerable.
12
“And you think being down here will help make up for 13
it,” I said.
14
“No.”
15
Through the diamonds of his cell Bennet took on the 16
quality of a martyr. He was like one of those death-row in-17
mates that they interview just before the sentence is exe-18
cuted. You see all the evil that they caused, but you still feel 19
like death is not the answer — that killing this man would 20
in some strange way take away his victims’ last hope.
21
But Bennet wasn’t going to die. He was on vacation. He 22
was in the Hamptons for the summer. He was a thief and 23
a murderer taking time off from his trade. This made me 24
angry. I began to resent the arrogance of Bennet. How 25
dare he think that by pretending to punish himself that 26
he would somehow have answered for his crimes.
S 27
“Why here, Mr. Bennet? Why my house?”
R 28
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“There’s lots of reclamations in Africa, Charles. Dia-2
monds and oil, slave labor to cobble tennis shoes and as-3
semble fancy lamps. They have armies over there who will 4
strip down to the waist and go hand to hand with bayo-5
nets and clubs. They have tribal factions and colonizers.
6
The streets, in short, are paved with gold.”
7
“My house isn’t in Africa.”
8
“But you are a black man. You come from over there. I 9
need a black face to look in on me. No white man has the 10
right.”
11
“Suppose I was crazy? Suppose I hated white people 12
and I decided to torture you in here and kill you?”
13
He shrugged again. “Killing is hard work, Charles.
14
Children have the stamina for that kind of labor, but 15
most mature men do not. Not unless there’s something to 16
gain — or if they’re in love.”
17
“You’re supposed to leave here in two days,” I said.
18
“Unless you change your mind.”
19
“Is this some kind of trick?” I asked. “Are you playing 20
some kind of game on me?”
21
“No. I’m not, Charles. I’m simply executing a punish-22
ment. A repentance.”
23
“You don’t seem to be suffering to me.”
24
“You wouldn’t know,” he said. “But living locked up 25
with no out, with no control over food. Most of the time 26
you won’t even talk to me. And the world I live in is mov-27 S
ing on while I sleep. No one knows where I am. When I 28 R
get out of here, it’s going to be hard on me.”
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The Man in My Basement
In a flash of intuition I asked, “Is somebody after you 1
now, Mr. Bennet?”
2
He was struck and smiled to show it.
3
“No more than they’re looking for diamonds in Mon-4
tana.” He laughed.
5
I laughed too.
6
“So you’re a reclamation?” I asked.
7
“Can I have The Alexandria Quartet? ” was his response.
8
“No. Tonight it’s lights out and no book. Tonight you 9
start your sentence for real and then we’ll see how much 10
you really want to be here.”
11
A spasm twisted Bennet’s face for half a moment.
12
Hardly long enough for me to be sure of it. But I believed 13
my sudden assertiveness frightened the smug assassin. I 14
knew that he was afraid of the locked door and the dark.
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
S 27
R 28
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3
4
5
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6
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8
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14 C
That night I dreamed that there were agents of some 15
malevolent power prowling around on my porch. I woke 16
up at 3:00 a.m. wondering if I had really heard some-17
thing. I found an envelope lying just outside the front 18
door.
19
“She was here about five minutes ago,” a voice said.
20
I yelped and jumped like a frightened eight-year-old.
21
Irene Littleneck was standing at the foot of the stairs, 22
grinning at my little-girl shriek.
23
“I came over to see if she did something, but it was 24
just a letter so I was going back. Then you come blunderin’
25
down.”
26
“It was a woman?”
27 S
“The one that came and moved all that stuff outta your 28 R
house with that Puerto Rican boy.”
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The Man in My Basement
“You were sitting outside?” I asked. It felt nice to have 1
words with a neighbor even if it was 3:00 in the morning 2
and I was running a private prison in my home.
3
“Havin’ a cigarette,” she said. “You know Chastity’s too 4
sick for me to smoke in the house. Doctor said that her 5
lungs are too weak.”
6
Irene had always been old. When I was five, she was in 7
her fifties. She and her sister, Chastity, used to come over 8
and visit with my mother and Brent. I think Irene was 9
sweet on my sour uncle.
10
“Oh,” I said. “How is your sister, Miss Littleneck?”
11
“Not so good, Charles. She’s been in that bed for al-12
most a year now. I make her walk around the room twice 13
a day, but it’s getting harder and harder to get her up.”
14
The sadness in Irene’s voice was pitiful. She and 15
Chastity had lived together their entire lives. But the only 16
time I ever saw Chastity in the previous five years was 17
when the ambulance came now and then to take her off 18
to the hospital for some kind of treatment.
19
“I’m sorry to hear it, Miss Littleneck. If you need any-20
thing, just come over and ask, okay? If I’m not here just 21
leave me a note.”
22
“Oh, thank you, Charles. Thank you. Thank you.” She 23
was too far away to touch me, but she held out a thin 24
hand anyway. Her gratitude was beyond anything I had 25
said or done.
26
“Well,” I said. “I better be getting back to bed. Good S 27
night.”
R 28
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“Good night,” she said, but she didn’t move until I 2