The Man in My Basement

9

“Do I sign something?” I asked.

10

“No signatures, no tips,” he replied.

11

They turned away and climbed out of the cellar. I suppose 12

that they got into their truck and drove back to a garage 13

somewhere in Connecticut near where Anniston Bennet 14

told me he lived. I didn’t see them out. Instead I sat on the 15

stairs of the basement and began to read my instructions.

16

I don’t remember what I was doing when the movers 17

came, but I do know I was suffering from a severe hang-18

over. That was gone as soon as I saw the first handwritten 19

page. The notebook contained about thirty of these pages.

20

The paper was unlined but the words followed an equal 21

and rigid pattern from side to side that resembled march-22

ing ants — they were so small and even in their progress.

23

the construction of the cell was the headline of 24

the first page. “open box #1, the center flat, and re-25

move the cardboard,” the sentence began. Following 26

the instructions revealed a heavy slatted piece of metal S 27

that opened into a nine foot square. The flat steel bands, R 28

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Walter Mosley

1

which were at least a quarter of an inch thick, became a 2

latticework grid. A woman might have gotten her hands 3

through one of the openings, or maybe a small-boned 4

man, but a workman could only get a few fingers through 5

one of those holes. At each angle there was a tie that the 6

book told me would fit the tough-looking little padlocks 7

that I also found in the box.

8

Box number nine held a heavy rubber mat that fit over 9

the slats. Boxes two through five were the walls of the 10

cage. These were exactly the same in design except that 11

there was, of course, no matting. Also, number five had a 12

small square opening in the front, three feet by three feet.

13

Box number twelve contained the door that was to be fit-14

ted into this space. It had conventional bars and was de-15

signed to open by lifting it kind of like a portal that some 16

people put on their back doors for pets. The roof of the 17

cell was heavy, but it had been placed in such a way that, 18

with a little oomph, I was able to push it over and on top 19

of the nine-foot-cube cage.