Caraliza by Joel Blaine Kirkpatrick Read Free Book Online Page A

finished. It was going to be very hard to let her know he was only at the back, not missing, or worse, ignoring her. He found the answer to that by making sure she saw him going to the back through the alleys. That would be another difficulty; he had the use of a perfectly good back door for such a need.
    “ Mr. Reisman, I believe we should clear the alley, as there will likely be items too large to safely carry through the shop, and only back out the very narrow door when the windows begin to arrive.”
    “ Truly! Truly, that is a need. Can you find the time to do that, perhaps on both sides? One might be preferable to the other, we should know in advance.”
    “ Yes Sir. First chance I get Sir,” which turned out to be just a few minutes later.
     
    She was at the stair looking for him.
    He made a great show of walking out the front door slowly, studying the cameras in the window, pausing to look important for her, dusting the window. Then he walked to the side and slipped passed the corner into the alley. He was suddenly visible to no one but her as she watched. He waved to her a very small wave, then smiled his best smile, and did exactly as he told Papa he would. He studied the alleys to make sure they would be clear enough for the lumbers and the windows, and the large tools, which would be needed in the back for the studio.
    She was still looking, or perhaps had come back quickly out of curiosity, but they were sharing their glance again on the other side of the building. This time Caraliza waved the small wave.
     
    They arrived at the understanding, he might not always be visible in the window; something interesting was going to take him to the back.
    She let the darkness of the stair close around her again as she opened her door to begin her chores. She realized, she could not consider their contact as play any longer. He was trying very hard to help her understand, he might not be every time waiting to see her. She thought it very kind. Nothing like that had been done for her, by anyone, since she arrived at the basement. She did not even know where the basement was. No one bothered to tell her, which city became her terrible home.
     
    That evening, after helping to close the shop as usual, Yousep walked to his curb and began to whistle his tune. Papa’s habit was to remain a few minutes behind, and he would leave when Yousep was quite a way already down the street. Strangely, that evening he was as at his clerk’s elbow, with a smile, and warming a conversation on his lips.
    Yousep was a bit annoyed. It must have shown on his face. Papa only very quickly told him the work on the windows would take place the following week, there was some delay fixing the leaks in the building where the workers were currently employed. Those men would come to tear out the new windows in three or four days time. With that said, Papa suddenly remembered a bundle of papers he needed to carry home to read, and hurried back into the shop before Yousep could even reply to the news.
    Relieved, Yousep quickly took up his tune with a bit of gusto, and walked briskly across to the other side of the street. Caraliza was anxiously half way up the stairs; she watched for him. He did not pause to tie his lace, or to bend and speak again, but the look on his face was one of pure joy. He was so very happy to see her and it must have made her blush. His next movement was confusing to her, she could not see what he had done, but it seemed he bent to touch the walk, and then just turned to continue home, his tune was done. She was dangerously curious to know what diverted his attention.
    It was a very precious gift that she found waiting at the very top step, and she reached for it eagerly, a small notepad with a fine little pencil inside. Something she surely could hide, something easily overlooked, if not sought directly. On the very first page of the notebook, he had written a question mark, nothing more. She was to write; he would find a