2
“Just somebody I met.”
3
4
5
For a long time after she was gone, I thought about Ex-6
tine. Her presence, her kisses, meant very little to me.
7
Our physical relationship, what little of it there was, was 8
no more than an exercise. I realized that most physical in-9
timacy was like that for me. I liked sex, but it was only a 10
bodily pleasure. It wasn’t an expression of love but just a 11
need, a pleasant moment, sometimes even a chore.
12
What mattered about Extine was that she sought me 13
out, that she found me. All of the women I had gotten to 14
know after meeting Anniston Bennet had that in com-15
mon. They made me real by seeking me. It’s not that they 16
knew what they were looking for. Bethany only liked me 17
because I resisted her erotic power. Extine . . . Extine 18
liked horses, and at the end of a satisfying day in the sad-19
dle, she found me at her side. Narciss called me Mr.
20
Blakey. She refused to see the solitary and jobless man 21
who hadn’t accomplished one thing in his entire life.
22
It wasn’t that she was trying to form me with her blind-23
ness. She could only see in me what she needed. But 24
because of the purity of her vision, I changed. I didn’t be-25
come what she needed, but the force she exerted on me —
26
the impact of her desire — caused love of a sort. Not the 27 S
kind of feeling that would bring us together but love still 28 R
and all.
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ManInMyBasemnt_HCtext3P.qxd 10/24/03 8:16 PM Page 227
The Man in My Basement
To a lesser extent I was changed by Bethany and Extine.
1
We had shared a moment of transformation — like in 2
one of my science-fiction novels.
3
After going through that long tunnel of thought, I 4
emerged realizing that I could now answer Anniston Ben-5
net’s question about love.
6
7
8
I went straight to the cellar and found Mr. Bennet with 9
an erection. You could see the enormous arching contour 10
