In the dream I cried over his suffering. But the next 2
morning, when I brought in his soft-boiled egg, my heart 3
hardened again.
4
5
6
I spent three days cursing Brent and cleaning up years of 7
squalor. At night I’d buy a cheap pint of Greenly’s Gin and 8
drink it, but only after 10:00 — only after I’d read and 9
eaten and done everything that I had to do. I wanted to cut 10
down on the booze because of Clarance and Narciss.
11
Clarance because he thought he was mad at me but really 12
what he was mad at was me from tipsy to drunk. I get mean 13
with alcohol. When I’m high I think I’m being funny, but I 14
knew that Clarance hated being called Clara. I knew it.
15
And Narciss thought I was sweet. She thought I was 16
something sensitive and discriminating. Maybe if I stayed 17
sober for a while, I’d become a better person; maybe I 18
could make something out of myself.
19
20
21
Anniston Bennet came on Friday at 4:00 exactly. He wore 22
yellow short sleeves over a blue T-shirt, and brown 23
trousers. His tennis shoes were the same blue as his shirt.
24
He had no tie and the yellow shirt was open at the throat, 25
showing a hairy pale neck over the top of the T-shirt col-26
lar. His head was oval and his chin came to a tip like the S 27
R 28
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ManInMyBasemnt_HCtext3P.qxd 10/24/03 8:16 PM Page 72
Walter Mosley
1
masks that I kept in their box on the windowsill next to 2
my bed. His blue eyes were a perpetual shock, but there 3
was no wonder or magic in the rest of his face.
4
“Mr. Blakey,” he said, extending a hand over the 5
threshold. His small hand held a surprisingly strong grip.
6
“Mr. Bennet. Come in.”
7
“You’re house cleaning?” Bennet asked as we went 8
through the living room that was crowded with the refuse 9
of my ancestors.
10
