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
3rd Pass Pages
ManInMyBasemnt_HCtext3P.qxd 10/24/03 8:16 PM Page 178
Walter Mosley
1
“Good night,” she said, but she didn’t move until I 2
went back inside my door.
3
Dear Mr. Blakey,
4
5r
I apologize for getting off the phone so abruptly the 6
other night. I called back the next day, but there was no 7
answer. Tonight I was up late working on my book and I 8
decided to write you.
9
I’m sorry for not giving you a chance to express your 10
feelings about your business. I suppose that we’re just of 11
different temperaments and shouldn’t try to force com-12
munication. But I want you to know that I do respect 13
your wishes and I will execute the sale of your property 14
with the utmost professionalism.
15
Sincerely,
16
Narciss Gully
17
18
The only reason I mention the letter here is to docu-19
ment how much my life had changed. Not my life exactly 20
but the circumstances of my world. Narciss wanted me to 21
call her, that is what I believed. She was up in the middle 22
of the night thinking about me, trying to get me out of 23
her head and then trying to write me out of, or into, her 24
life.
25
