anyway. And once I had the money, I couldn’t help 2
myself.
3
My mother gave me my allowance every Saturday 4
morning, and I’d spend the rest of the day shopping for 5
candy and gifts for her.
6
“Don’t spend everything, baby,” she’d tell me. But her 7
eyes were alight whenever I’d bring out a bottle of per-8
fume or some glass trinket.
9
10
11
By the time Ricky and Bethany arrived, I was making 12
dinner. Hot and sweet Italian sausages fried with whole 13
cloves of garlic and then simmered in red wine and 14
tomato sauce. The water for the vermicelli had just come 15
to a boil when Ricky and Bethany came in. She was a few 16
inches taller and almost twice the size of Ricky, but 17
Bethany wasn’t fat. She had a big chest and powerful legs, 18
but the stomach was flat. Her face was wide and the color 19
of dark amber. She had big teeth, an embarrassing laugh, 20
and eyes that glittered when they saw you.
21
“Hey, Charles,” she called. They had let themselves in 22
the front door. “That smells delicious. You got some for 23
us?”
24
“I didn’t know if you guys had time to eat. From what 25
Ricky said I thought you were real tired and had to go to 26
bed.”
27 S
“Uh-uh,” she denied. “We came to see you and eat 28 R
some sausages too.”
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The Man in My Basement
She put her arms around me and gave me a kiss that 1
made me hug her back.
2
“Let’s eat!” Ricky declared. And for a while I had some 3
company and no thoughts in my head.
4
Bethany loved eating and sex, as I have said before, but 5
she also loved to talk about herself. We heard all about her 6
plans of moving down to Atlanta and starting a braid-7
and-nail parlor. She loved children and had gone to some 8
wild parties at crazy artists’ homes in Southampton. One 9
well-known painter had asked her to model three times, 10
but every time he was so moved by her ample beauty that 11
