The Children by Howard Fast Read Free Book Online Page B

alone,” he commanded.
    â€œGeesus, Ishky, lookit duh way she cussedya.”
    â€œLedda alone.”
    â€œAwright.”
    â€œAn’ git oudda here.”
    â€œYuh said I could sit by yuh.”
    â€œWell, I don’ wancha tuh now. G’wan an’ git oudda here.”
    Mournfully, Thomas Edison walked away. Another time he would have threatened battle. But Ishky had jumped off the roof—so what was the use of threatening battle?
    And Ishky went on playing with his immie, wondering how far he could go with this new power. Power was everything, power and glory. Now Marie was looking at him. Well, she must know that he had jumped off the roof.
    She walked toward him, until she stood just above him, and he could see how she stood there, swinging one leg back and forth. Life went on with power and glory, and the hot sun made him warm and comfortable. If he touched the leg, what would she do?
    â€œHey, Ishky.”
    â€œHullo,” he said.
    The leg swung back and forth; it paused, stopped; then it began to swing again.
    â€œI din’ mean what I calledya.”
    â€œDincha?”
    â€œCross my heart, I din’, Ishky.”
    â€œHowda I know?”
    â€œLook. Ishky, I’m gonna cross my heart. Lookit dat, Ishky. I crosst my heart.”
    â€œAwright.”
    â€œY’ believe me if I cross my heart, doncha, Ishky?”
    â€œYeah.”
    With a dainty but calculated motion, she sat down next to him, tossing her hair. Now he pocketed his immie, looked at her, and for a moment their eyes held. He saw that her eyes were blue as the sky, and he felt a great rush of gladness in his love for her. Time would pass, but he, Ishky, would love her until the end of time.
    â€œHowdya jump offana duh roof?” she wanted to know.
    â€œJus’ jumped.”
    â€œJus’ like dat?”
    â€œYeah, jus’ like dat.”
    â€œMy goonnus,” she said admiringly.
    â€œYeah, it wasn’ nuttin’.”
    â€œIt was too. Betcha nobody eke coulda done it. It was awful brave.”
    â€œYeah?”
    â€œBetcha Ollie wouldna done it.”
    â€œMaybe.”
    â€œAnyway, Ollie’s jus’ talk.”
    His heart throbbing, he leaned toward her. Did she mean what she said, or was she playing with him?
    â€œMarie?”
    â€œYeah?”
    â€œWhoya like better, me or Ollie?”
    She cocked her head, tossed it, and smiled saucily. She looked at him out of the corners of her eyes, leaning just the least bit toward him; and then, abruptly, she shook her head.
    â€œWho?”
    â€œI dunno.”
    â€œSureya do.”
    â€œYer nicer’n Ollie.”

TEN

    N OW SOME PEOPLE WILL NOT THINK THAT OUR STREET IS beautiful. Indeed, I know that many times, I, Ishky, have said to myself, “Surely this is the least beautiful spot in the world.” I guess you could understand that. East to west, it is nothing but drab walls of wood and brick. The wooden houses are old, and they seem to be falling into decay; the brick houses are not a great deal better.
    So you can see how, when it does look beautiful, you feel it. But I don’t know; and I guess that when it does look beautiful, it is something inside of you that makes it beautiful.
    I NSIDE of me, then. I am Ishky, and it is hot summer, so hot that everything moves slowly; and now more than any other time, I am not much to look at.
    If you ask my mother, she will tell you that I am nothing at all. So how is it that I am a king? Now, I am not sure yet, but I think that Ollie is no longer king. And all this was done by jumping from a roof.
    The Lord God preserved me, as he preserved Joseph, who was sold as a slave into Egypt. Maybe I will turn out to be like Joseph, because I am quite sure he could have been no more clever than I. I’ve won Marie.
    I can’t tell you enough of my love for Marie. It is all squeezed up inside of me, and I have never spoken of it, not even to Marie. But