laws and ordinances.”
S 27
“What laws have —”
R 28
3rd Pass Pages
ManInMyBasemnt_HCtext3P.qxd 10/24/03 8:16 PM Page 186
Walter Mosley
1
“It’s my turn,” he said.
2
“I only asked you one question.”
3
“Why am I here?” he said, holding up a solitary thumb.
4
“Why do I want to be here?” The forefinger. “And why do 5
I feel I should be in jail?”
6
His count was correct, and I wanted to play by the rules.
7
“Did you embezzle money from Harbor Savings?” he 8
asked.
9
My first impulse was to say no. I almost did. Then I 10
wanted to say yes, but I couldn’t get the word out of my 11
mouth. I sat there, gritting my teeth. Bennet’s only emo-12
tion was bland patience.
13
It dawned on me that I had gotten into a game that I 14
could lose. If I played by the rules we’d set out that morn-15
ing, I was open to questions that made me just as vulner-16
able as Bennet. If I answered truthfully, he would have 17
something on me.
18
And I couldn’t be sure if what he told me was the truth.
19
“Yes,” I said anyway. “Yes, I took money from the 20
drawer. I guess you could call it embezzlement.”
21
Anniston Bennet smiled.
22
“Have you ever murdered anybody?” I asked, expecting 23
to wipe the smirk off his face.
24
“No,” he replied, still showing his small teeth.
25
I stood up, knocking the standing book trunk flat on 26
the floor behind me. “That’s it!” I shouted. “Four days’
27 S
solitary!”
