In My Father's Basement

by T.J. Payne

“Oh boy, was she a junkie. I kept her clean as possible, but I reckon she snuck a few hits in on the side. I admit I was fairly relieved when you actually managed to come out with two eyes, two arms, two legs, and a working brain."

He has scary thought

But at the time, it was the only sound that could shut you up. You grew up sleeping with a power sander humming nearby. If that ain't the childhood of The Handyman's son, I don't know what is.

The State always sides with the mother, no matter how piss-poor and deranged they are, so I was shit outta luck.

Her way of caring for you was to lock you in the bathroom. You lived on the floor, eating dog food.”

"That weren’t no aneurysm that felled her, though I told you that’s what it was. She was a plain, old suicide by overdose. Took so much at one time that her heart just shut down.”

I guess what I’m saying is your brain is like a vagina, boy.”

“That’s right, disrespect me,” Walter said. “You ain’t never wanted nothing to do with me. When I took you back and showered you with all the warmth and love I could muster, I thought we might actually have something. Maybe I could form one genuine human fucking bond in this shitty world. But you know what? You're an angsty little shit, and you always were an angsty little shit. I took you back. I raised you. I fed you. I clothed you. I saved you. A simple 'thank you' woulda been enough."

“I’m telling you the goddamn truth! You built yourself a lie, you made your bed in a lie, and you lived blissfully in that lie. You’re the one telling tall tales to feel better.”

“How does a one-armed builder swing a sledgehammer?” “I didn’t! Elizabeth did!”

"They just really started to stink."

Humans like to think that we’re too smart to let ourselves get boiled like a frog, but that’s exactly how we are and exactly how we do.

You can rig temporary solutions, but you can’t just patch over problems.

It warmed my heart to see you laugh again, especially after all that shit you had to go through with your mom. The three of us, why, we were a team. You and I never had much to do or talk about, but we could walk Buddy together.

That week, with the loss of your dog, was probably the best father-son time you and I ever had.

If you don’t know how to do a good, strong, confident swing of a hammer, you’re likely to bend the nail or send it in crooked.

“And Christmas is around the corner. That’ll be fun. Do you like Christmas?”

“Thank you,” she said. It was all I ever wanted to hear. "You're welcome."

Would it have killed you to say thank you? You and your generation don't know the meaning of the word gratitude. I saved you. A simple “thank you” woulda been enough.

The corners of Walter’s eyes shimmered with the hints of tears. “A daughter. A child,” Isaac finally choked out.

“If I've learned one thing, it's that life is torture.”

Just for a second, you actually loved me.

“Every time I feel my life is about to turn that corner, that I'm about to taste an ounce of the success I've worked so hard for, it gets snapped outta my grasp for the dumbest reason. And it’s always shit that’s outta my control."

I had her. She was all mine. Ain’t no one ever gave me a lick of love in my whole damn life, but here she was, thanking me for saving her.

I loaded a round in the rifle. Took aim. And fired.

“I’m sorry I wasn’t there for you. I’m sorry I never said thank you.”

“Dad, I… I don’t love you. But I think I understand you a bit better.”

"I've always seen myself in you. Not just the face, but in the way you go about your life. It wouldn't surprise me in the slightest if one day you ended up on this side of the glass."

the only thing that separates good from evil is restraint."

his father’s eyes. They were wide. For the first time in his life, Isaac saw his father scared.

“You put him in here! This wouldn’t have happened in the private room!"

Teddy had no idea what any of that meant. He prayed they would just pronounce him dead, cart him away, scrub down the room, erase the visitation logs and be done with all this.

Teddy couldn’t believe it. They were trying to save this man. Really trying.

“What was he doing in the general population visiting room?”

“I… I’ll check the records. But he agreed to have his visitation here. I wouldn’t have put him here if he didn’t.”

Teddy may have killed him

“Why would his preference mean anything? We choose where they meet. This facility has private rooms for our high-profile inmates for a reason.”

“Richard Nolan is also a Death Row inmate, isn’t that right, Teddy?”

“Were you aware that Richard Nolan has a daughter of the approximate age of Mr. Luce’s victims? And that Mr. Nolan had been making death threats against Mr. Luce? In fact, he tried to strangle Mr. Luce in the courtyard about a year ago.” “I

“Someone handed him a weapon later?” His stare ripped into Teddy.

“You are suspended. Someone will escort you from this facility to your car. I am going to personally review all Death Row visitations you authorized and scheduled. You are not to return to your workstation or locker. Your personal items will be collected and returned to you. And you are not to log on to any system computers on your way out. Do you understand me?”

“Why? Because you used me to get him out of his cell and into the general population?”

Teddy was thinking of Lauren

“You got me to help you assassinate him.” “You can’t prove that.”

“Was it that buyer of yours? Joan? Did she pay for this?” Teddy looked away. Isaac persisted. “What the fuck happened in there, Teddy? Did she get tired of waiting for an execution? Did she want him dead so her fucking documentary could sell for more? Well, fuck her and fuck you! I’m selling those recordings myself.”

grimness had begun to settle over the man’s features.

“No one should care. He shouldn't be allowed to live. He… he’s a monster.” “He’s famous.” “I did the world a favor.” “He’s a celebrity.”

It only took small muscle movements on Teddy’s face, but his features suddenly transformed from shock to anger.

Finally, Teddy looked up. His eyes dug into Isaac, piercing him with hate. A sinking feeling hit Isaac. His entire body went limp. He suddenly knew what Teddy had seen on the phone, but he prayed that it wasn’t true.

Teddy’s face twisted and twitched as he tried to hold back the tears and rage. “How does she even know you?”

did this,” he said. “You only know her because of me. I brought you into her life, didn’t I? I invited a Luce into our house.”

He grabbed Isaac by the hair and slammed his head into the wall.

Was The Handyman some sort of grand chess master who had faked his own murder in order to escape? Was this Stage One of a much larger and more elaborate plot? Was The Handyman going to be carted into that ambulance and then snap back to consciousness, rip off his breathing mask, murder all the paramedics, and slip off into the night?

They talk about Walter like a legend or myth, even alluding to "The Shape" or "The Boogeyman"