The Man in My Basement

hobble to the front door. I remember laughing at my ex-21

aggerated limp. Like an old man, I thought. And for some 22

reason that made me happy.

23

She was headed back down the front stairs. Across the 24

street, Miss Littleneck was watching.

25

“Extine,” I called out.

26

The woman with the big blond hair hesitated a mo-27 S

ment and then turned around.

28 R

“Hi,” she said. “I came over to say that I was sorry.”

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The Man in My Basement

She was wearing jeans and a button-up blue-cotton 1

blouse that didn’t cover her midriff. Both articles of cloth-2

ing were tight. She had yellow rubber flip-flops on her 3

feet and a yellow-and-white scarf around her neck.

4

Just thrown together, Uncle Brent’s voice said in my 5

memory.

6

“Come on in,” I invited. She accepted with a bowed 7

head.

8

9

10

“How did you find where I lived?” I asked Extine in the 11

breakfast nook next to the kitchen. I had poured her 12

some apple juice, which she wasn’t drinking.

13

“Petey said that he knew a guy who knew where your 14

house was,” she answered.

15

Petey was the regular bartender at Curry’s. Somebody 16

in town must have recognized me.

17

I was struck and scared by her appearance at my door.

18

It’s not that I cared about Extine finding me, but I real-19

ized that my feeling of invisibility was false. People did see 20

me. They knew when I passed in the street. My actions 21

were noted no matter how small I thought I was.

22

“So I decided,” she continued, “to come over and apol-23

ogize for leaving you out there like that.”

24