“Why did you leave me?” I asked.
25
“Jodie and By left and I told them that I would drive 26
you home. They were mad at me because they thought I S 27
slept with you, and Byron and Sanderson are friends. I R 28
3rd Pass Pages
ManInMyBasemnt_HCtext3P.qxd 10/24/03 8:16 PM Page 224
Walter Mosley
1
don’t know. I guess I got mad at you. I thought that you 2
had taken advantage of me . . .”
3
“I passed out,” I complained. “And then you left me 4
without a ride.”
5
“You put your hands on my breasts and jerked me by 6
the arm,” she countered. “I thought you were going to 7
rape me.”
8
“I don’t remember,” I said. And I didn’t. “I remember 9
kissing you. I remember that. But I thought that that was 10
okay. I thought you liked it.”
11
“That doesn’t mean I wanted your hands all over me.”
12
She was getting angry. I could see that she was deeply 13
bothered.
14
“I’m sorry, Extine,” I said. “It was a bad mix — whiskey 15
and horsehair. Please accept my apology. You know I 16
didn’t want to make you mad.”
17
“Okay,” she said as if it was the apology she had come 18
for. “And I’m sorry too, about leaving you out there with 19
no way to get home.”
20
“Why did you leave me?” I asked again.
21
The question surprised her. By her face I could see that 22
she thought the answer was obvious.
23
“I mean,” I continued. “Did you think that you just 24
wanted to get away from me? That you couldn’t stand one 25
more minute in my company and you just had to leave? Or 26
was it that you were mad at me and wanted to hurt me by 27 S
making me walk all those miles lost in the woods?”
28 R
3rd Pass Pages
ManInMyBasemnt_HCtext3P.qxd 10/24/03 8:16 PM Page 225
The Man in My Basement
