I fail to respond there are consequences.”
3
“What kind of consequences?”
4
“That depends on the event.” He shrugged and crossed 5
one leg over the other. “Money might be lost, a political 6
player could be discredited. Someone might die.” He 7
looked up at the ceiling. “Later on I’ll be held responsible.”
8
“By the law?”
9
“By the rules.”
10
“Are the rules different than the law?”
11
He smiled in that knowing way. “The rules don’t need 12
a judge’s interpretation. There’s no defense. When you’re 13
absent you’re dealt out. And then no one recognizes you 14
but your enemies.”
15
“All that’s going to happen, but you still want to stay in 16
here?”
17
“No.” His impossible eyes looked straight into mine.
18
“Then why?”
19
“Have you ever been in love?” was his reply.
20
I stalled, not wanting to. I would have liked to have said 21
wasn’t true and I didn’t want to lie to my new mentor.
23
I’d never been in love. Never even for a moment. I 24
adored, idolized, lusted after, and cared for many women.
25
I dated, kissed, had sex with; I waited for, stood by, and 26
wanted. But I’d never been like those deer that moved to-S 27
gether through the woods, keeping each other company R 28
3rd Pass Pages
ManInMyBasemnt_HCtext3P.qxd 10/24/03 8:16 PM Page 170
Walter Mosley
1
as a matter of course. I’d never been attached by the sense 2
of smell and warmth and security. I once read in a novel 3
that love and gravity are the same thing, that natural at-4
traction in nature is also the passion of man. I thought 5
then that I was like a weightless astronaut, locked in a 6
protective shell and floating in emptiness.
