the kind of work I do, there’s no promise that you will 24
have a razor ready to shave the black locks.”
25
“You’re passing as a blue blood,” I said. “But you’re 26
really nothing. You don’t even know if your father was S 27
Turkish. He could have been Arab or even African.”
R 28
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ManInMyBasemnt_HCtext3P.qxd 10/24/03 8:16 PM Page 196
Walter Mosley
1
“My name is Anniston Bennet,” my prisoner said with 2
conviction.
3
“It’s your turn,” I replied.
4
“I don’t want to play this game anymore,” he said.
5
“If you don’t play my game, I don’t play yours,” I said 6
simply. The power I felt was stronger than any alcohol.
7
Bennet replaced his blue eye and shook his head.
8
“You don’t want to fuck with me, Charlie.” He was an-9
other man again.
10
“Oh no?” I walked out of the basement and up to the 11
house. In the pantry I had two loaves of white bread and 12
three cans of Borden’s condensed milk waiting for just this 13
moment. These I carried back down into the hole. I shoved 14
the food under the gate, smashing the bread in the process, 15
and then threw a can opener through a cell diamond.
16
I went back to the hatch and snapped off the light. I 17
called down, “See you in four days, Tamal.”
18
He yelled something unintelligible as I slammed down 19
the door to the cellar. He was still shouting as I secured 20
the locks to the basement. But you could barely hear his 21
shouts just five feet away from the hatch. It was a well-22
built stone cellar and the door was insulated, almost 23
soundproof as it turned out.
24
I went up to the house listening for his shouts but heard 25
nothing. At about noon I figured that he stopped, so I 26
went back down to the cellar door. He was still shouting, 27 S
loud and deep for such a small man.
28 R
I almost broke then. I almost threw the door open and
