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14 C
The next ten days passed as one. Every day was the 15
same as far as I was concerned. I delivered Bennet’s meals 16
at regular intervals. I pumped out his toilet twice and 17
gave him books. I never spoke to him except to answer 18
specific questions, and he was pretty quiet most of the 19
time.
20
Sometimes I’d come into the room after he’d gone to the 21
toilet. The smell was bad and I’d leave as soon as I could.
22
The air was pretty dead in there, so I opened the hatch 23
twice a day to freshen up the place with an electric fan.
24
For my part I dressed in my father’s clothes and went 25
down to Curry’s, an East Hampton bar where tourists 26
and summer residents went to mingle and get drunk. I 27 S
met people there and joked around and drank beers. Not 28 R
too much drinking. Just enough for a buzz. There were
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The Man in My Basement
some nice white girls there who liked me, but I always 1
went home alone.
2
I received two letters in that time. One was from 3
Bethany apologizing for how angry she got at our last 4
meeting. She understood, she said, that I was under stress 5
and that we didn’t have the kind of relationship where she 6
could make demands. She hoped that I would under-7
stand how strongly she felt about me and that I would call 8
soon. The words she used were different but that’s what 9
she said.
10
The other letter was actually a postcard. It was Narciss 11
saying that she was looking forward to our dinner and 12
asking when I would answer my phone.
13
I kept those letters on the windowsill next to my bed, 14
