come what she needed, but the force she exerted on me —
26
the impact of her desire — caused love of a sort. Not the 27 S
kind of feeling that would bring us together but love still 28 R
and all.
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The Man in My Basement
To a lesser extent I was changed by Bethany and Extine.
1
We had shared a moment of transformation — like in 2
one of my science-fiction novels.
3
After going through that long tunnel of thought, I 4
emerged realizing that I could now answer Anniston Ben-5
net’s question about love.
6
7
8
I went straight to the cellar and found Mr. Bennet with 9
an erection. You could see the enormous arching contour 10
under his hand-washed prison pants. I imagined that he 11
had been masturbating when I opened the hatch and 12
didn’t have time to calm down. I didn’t ask him about it 13
though. I had more important things on my mind.
14
“Did you really sell a baby to a man’s dog?” I asked even 15
before perching on the trunk.
16
I had thought that we would talk about love. I hoped to 17
impress him with my self-realization. But once I under-18
stood my own impulses, I found that I was hungry for 19
more understanding.
20
“Yes,” Bennet answered in an almost silent whisper.
21
“Did you know about Rwanda before it happened and 22
didn’t say a word?”
23
“Yes,” he said a little louder. “But that’s different. Every-24
one knew that it was about to explode down there. Saying 25
words wouldn’t have mattered. I don’t know if anything I 26
could have done would have made a difference.”
S 27
“And you stole that painting?”
R 28
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Walter Mosley
1
He nodded.
2
“. . . and killed that sergeant?”
3
He nodded again.
4
“. . . and you bought human organs from a man who 5
dealt in that trade?”
6
Bennet hesitated a moment and then nodded again.
7
“But you still don’t think you’re a murderer? Even 8
though somebody’s got to die to give up a heart.”
9
Bennet almost answered that but then swallowed and 10
stayed silent.
11
“What was your failure?” I asked him.
12
“I thought you didn’t want to know about that?”
13
“I don’t,” I said. “But I have to. I have to know what I 14
got down here. I can’t be too afraid to ask.”
15
“Why not, Charles?”
16
“Because it’s here. I took your money and now I have to 17
know what I sold.”
18
Bennet’s face was filled with an emotion that I could 19
not decipher.
20
“It was a device,” he said. “A device that could cause 21
terrible damage if put into the wrong hands. I knew 22
about a youthful indiscretion of a man who had some 23
overseas contacts, influence. We knew each other socially, 24
as chance would have it. But it was through e-mail, 25
anonymously, that I delivered my threat. It wasn’t black-26
mail exactly because he stood to become a wealthy man 27 S
with our transaction. But circumstances threw the deal 28 R
out of whack. It didn’t work out.”
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The Man in My Basement
“What circumstances?”
1
“A case of conscience and subsequent suicide.” Bennet’s 2
words were completely emotionless.
3
“So he saved his name without giving in to you.” I felt 4
the victim’s triumph.
5
“He didn’t give in,” Bennet agreed. “But his secret was 6
still leaked. It was in all the papers nine months ago. I had 7
to punish him even though he was dead because there 8
would be other candidates and they should realize that 9
consequences go beyond the grave.”
10
“You are evil,” I said.
11
“I’m a tool, Charles. A precision tool. A tool of de-12
struction. A tool of the dollar and the euro and the yen.
13
But my actions are not mine alone. All the possibility of 14
the world exists without me. That man would have died 15
anyway. And the target of that device will one day be 16
destroyed. That’s the way of the world. It’s not a question 17
of good or evil. It’s a question of humanity and what is 18
done in that name.”
19
“Then why put yourself down here?” I asked again.
20
Bennet’s erection was gone. He winced and grimaced, 21
clutched his hands into fists.
22
“Don’t you understand yet? I can’t explain it like the in-23
structions to put together a box. It’s powerful stuff. Pow-24
erful stuff. Powerful enough to destroy.”
25
“Do you want to get out of here?”
26
“No.”
S 27
“Will you answer my question?”
R 28
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1
“I’ve already answered as well as I could.”
2
“I don’t believe that. So you either answer me right now 3
or leave or spend four more days in the hole.”
4
“I can’t leave and I’ve already answered.”
5
I brought him more bread and condensed milk, which 6
I opened for him since I had confiscated his opener. Then 7
I left him with ninety-six more hours to contemplate his 8
crimes.
9
10
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13
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27 S
28 R
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Around that time I started putting money in banks in C 14
Southampton, East Hampton, out down in Long Island 15
City. Five hundred dollars at a time in interest-bearing sav-16
ings accounts. I dated Bethany, Extine, and Narciss three of 17
the four nights that I avoided the hatch behind my house.
18
Extine spent the night wanting to kiss me, but I refrained 19
because I knew that would take her power away. Narciss 20
and I went to see the remastered version of Orson Welles’s 21
Touch of Evil. Afterward we talked about it and then I 22
drove her home. She asked me to come in, but I said no.
23
“Don’t you like me?” she asked with excruciating honesty.
24
“I do, honey. But I’m like an athlete in training. I need 25
all my power to concentrate.”
26
“Training for what?”
S 27
“An examination. A test that Mr. Dent is giving me.”
R 28
“What kind of test?”
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“Just to see what I know, what I can do.”
2
“Like an aptitude test?”
3
“Uh-huh. Just like that.”
4
Bethany was the biggest problem and the most fun. I 5