The Man in My Basement

Extine loved me after that. She was a big physical girl, 13

just like her mare. All she wanted was to gallop and romp 14

up and down the hot trails around the Hamptons.

15

She liked my company because I didn’t think there was 16

anything wrong with her obsession with horses. As a mat-17

ter of fact I liked her because everything about her came 18

down to horses. And a horse was an animal, like a deer.

19

Byron and Jodie took Extine and me to a cabin in woods 20

connected to a property that was either theirs or a friend’s.

21

It was a large place, and soon after dinner the big blond 22

horsewoman and I wandered off to a secluded part of the 23

residence.

24

That night we kissed a lot, but she didn’t want to have 25

sex. Extine was engaged to a guy named Sanderson who 26

wouldn’t mind if she kissed somebody, but he’d draw the S 27

line at intercourse.

R 28

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Walter Mosley

1

I didn’t care. My inner thighs were in deep pain. I was 2

sure that I was bleeding on the inside. I fell asleep midkiss 3

and didn’t wake up until noon the next day. My new 4

friends were all gone, leaving me miles away from any-5

where without a car. I spent most of the afternoon walk-6

ing down paths in an abandoned apple orchard, trying to 7

find a way down to the road.

8

It was a hot day and I had to remove my sweater and 9

top shirt. I was still in pain and limping, very thirsty too, 10

I remember, and slightly panicked that I might die out 11

there in the woods. The dirt of the path was bone-dry.

12

The blossoms of the apples had begun their transforma-13

tion to fruit. For a long time I hadn’t thought about my 14

prisoner, but on that desolate walk he came back to me.

15

A white man, maybe, who didn’t know one thing about 16

his past. Pure evil in the way of business. A thief and a 17

killer by his own admission. Why did he want to be 18

caged, anyway? He never really answered my question.

19

I thought that maybe I should disappear to Aspen or 20

Hawaii. Maybe I should let the white man go and take his 21

money and vanish.