wonder about the life that I thought I could repent. Lit-S 27
R 28
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Walter Mosley
1
tle Malo from northern Uganda. A small chest of dia-2
monds in Rwanda. There were tens of thousands there.
3
But Malika, I think her name was Malika, was just one.
4
“You know, I’ve walked past death so many times that 5
you’d think I’d somehow end up dead like that, but I 6
haven’t. Maybe I went a little crazy. I know a man in Con-7
necticut who is willing to kill anyone anywhere in Africa 8
or South America. He says he won’t kill in this country or 9
Europe, but life down south is open season for him. I 10
know a man in the kidney business and another one who 11
deals only in hearts.”
12
“Is he black?” I asked.
13
“Who?”
14
“The assassin.”
15
“Yes. Yes, he is. But that doesn’t matter. He could be a 16
white man. The fact is that he has become an individual, 17
a man who takes actions solely from his own decision.
18
Just like me, he is what he makes of himself. Maybe one 19
day he’ll fall apart too, but that won’t matter either. You 20
can never take back your life.”
21
I didn’t believe Bennet. His sorrow and self-pity, I 22
thought, were a trick somehow. The only thing I couldn’t 23
figure was what he had to gain by fooling me now.
24
“Are you ready to go?” I asked.
25
“No.”
26
“What you mean, no? You want another four days in 27 S
the hole?”
28 R
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The Man in My Basement
He clasped his hands in front of his face as if in prayer 1
and said, “I haven’t done anything else wrong.”
