but when I returned the gesture she moved her head back 13
and sneered.
14
The trunk rocked precariously, but we had the balance 15
of cats in heat. She undulated on her hips and quivered 16
while I pushed and pulled, feeling the veins standing out 17
all over my body. I started to move faster but Jane said, 18
“Slow it down, baby. Slow it down.”
19
When I finally came I moved back in one small show of 20
responsibility. The emotion on her face while she watched 21
my ejaculation was the deep satisfaction that comes from 22
victory.
23
China stopped seeing me after that night, and Jane 24
never returned one phone call. Maybe they compared 25
notes; I didn’t care. That night was a highlight for me.
26
Two women and a chance to see the Master — that’s 27 S
what we called Clarance when it came to women — in 28 R
action. I was at peace for a whole week. I didn’t do any-38
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The Man in My Basement
thing except pack the trash into bags and put the crates of 1
empty beers in the basement.
2
That’s why I thought about the basement. It was Jane 3
and China Browne that jarred my memory.
4
5
6
It was a large, dark room crowded with stuff from the 7
Dodd and Blakey families. A little something was there 8
from every generation. I had one great-auntie, Blythe, 9
who considered herself a painter. There were fifty or more 10
of her awful canvases leaned up against the walls and be-11
hind a useless coal-burning stove. Her trees and houses 12
and people looked like a child’s pitiful attempts. There 13
was my great-grandfather’s traveling trunk and stacks of 14
old newspapers that were yellow and brittle from fifty 15
years or more before. We had old furniture and rugs and 16
straw baskets filled with two hundred Christmases of 17
toys. The cobwebs looked like they belonged on a movie 18
set, and it was cold down there too.
19
Eighteen wooden crates of empty beer bottles were 20
stacked in the middle of the cobblestone floor. They were 21
all I was interested in. It meant twenty-four dollars at the 22
beer-and-soda store at the Corners. I dragged the boxes 23
