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Show 16 to the basement, and steps out into the darkness. He listens, very carefully, though he does not need to; he knows the old man is not there. The basement is hollow, empty without him, like a vandalized grave. The boy ties the cat's leash around a pipe, and-for the first time-steps through the doorway into the old man's room. He knows where everything in the room is, of course, from hearing the old man move around there. Unerringly, he finds what he wants: a can of varnish remover and a packet of matches. He pulls the mattress down flat and sits on it a moment, watching the long-haired cat tethered to the pipe. He uncaps the varnish remover. He sprays a long, thin snake of varnish remover along the cat's back, from its head to its tail. Then he picks up the matches, and unfastens the cat's leash. But the cat springs away, and flees to the most remote corners of the basement. He-chases it, matches in hand, but it retreats to an inaccessible crawl space, and he cannot catch it. He lights matches and tosses them into the dark after the cat, but they burn quickly out on the concrete. Sullenly, he goes tack to the central part of the basement, sits down on the mattress, and stares out into the room for a time that he cannot measure. Eventually, he hears the elevator: it is his parents or the police, coming to catch him. He no longer cares. The basement is as empty now as the apartment; it makes no difference where he is. But something is wrong: the elevator door does not open. The elevator just sits at the basement, door closed, as if waiting. Suddenly the boy realizes who it is. His legs become jelly, his chest tight. He leaps up, stuffs the remaining matches and the can of varnish remover inside the door of the room, and flings himself face |