Isobel and Emile (6 page)

She pulls her hands through her hair until it is less tangled. She puts her dress on. Her shoes are by the door. She goes over to the door. She puts her shoes on. She goes through the door.

She is standing at the top of the stairs. There is a window in the ceiling over them. Light is coming in through the window. There is dust floating in the light. The dust reminds her of other things.

She wishes that she were not so tired.

Isobel's dress has frills on it. They go around the collar. She goes down the stairs.

At the bottom of the stairs is the room at the back of the grocery store. The room is full of crates. There are crates with nothing in them and there are crates with things in them.

There is a door going out to the alley. It is propped open. Mr. Koch comes in through the door. He is carrying a crate. It is a crate with things in it. He puts the crate down. His face is red. He sees Isobel.

Another man comes in through the back door. He is a young man. He is not that much older than Isobel. He is carrying a crate. He puts it down next to the crate Mr. Koch brought in.

They are making a pile of crates next to the door.

Mr. Koch says: ‘Isobel, this is Oskar.' He turns and he says: ‘Oskar, this is Isobel.'

Oskar says: ‘Hello, Isobel.' He holds out his hand.

Isobel looks at Oskar's hand. She puts out her hand the way he put out his hand. She does not step towards him. She does not know that she should. She is too young.He steps towards her. He takes her hand. He shakes it.

Isobel says: ‘Hello.'

Oskar lets go of Isobel's hand. Oskar and Mr. Koch go back out the door. Isobel follows them out the door. There is a truck in the alley behind the grocery store. It is backed up next to the door.

Oskar gets into the back of the truck.

There are crates in the back of the truck. He hands a crate to Mr. Koch. Mr. Koch takes the crate. He grunts when he does. He goes into the grocery store carrying the crate.

Oskar picks up a crate to hand to Isobel. He says: ‘Be careful, it's heavy.'

Isobel is too thin. She does not look like she is very strong. She cannot help that she is thin. She scowls.

Isobel says: ‘I'll be okay.'

She takes the crate. It is too heavy for her. She takes it inside the store.

Mr. Koch is inside the store. He puts the crate he is carrying down. Isobel puts the crate she is carrying next to the crate Mr. Koch put down.

Oskar comes into the store after Isobel. He is carrying a crate. He puts the crate he is carrying on top of the crate Mr. Koch put down.

They stand inside the store. Mr. Koch is breathing hard. They look at each other.

Mr. Koch says: ‘Well, come on.' He smiles.His face is red. He hitches the waist of his pants up. He goes back out into the alley. Isobel and Oskar follow him.

Oskar gets into the back of the truck. There are crates in the back of the truck. Oskar hands a crate to Mr. Koch.

Mr. Koch takes the crate and goes back into the store. He is still breathing heavily.

Oskar hands a crate to Isobel. She takes the crate inside the store.

There are steps going from the alley up to the door. Isobel slips on the steps. She slips but she does not fall.

Oskar sees her slip.He says: ‘Isobel!' He sees that she did not fall. He says: ‘Be careful.'

Isobel says: ‘I'm fine.'

She stops on the steps. She changes how she is holding the crate. She does not want to drop it. She is not sure how to carry it.

She starts walking up the steps again. She goes into the store. She puts the crate she is carrying next to the crate Mr. Koch put down. She puts it down and she leans on it.

Mr. Koch is still inside. He pats Isobel on the shoulder.

Isobel does not look at him. She leans on the crate. She puts her hand into her hair. Oskar comes into the store. He is carrying a crate.He puts the crate he is carrying on top of the crate Mr. Koch was carrying.

Oskar looks at Isobel. She is scowling. He does not say anything. Mr. Koch and Oskar go back outside. Isobel pushes her hair out of her face. She has to go out to the truck. She has to do it. She follows Oskar and Mr. Koch. Oskar gets into the back of the truck.

Oskar hands a crate to Mr. Koch. He hands a crate to Isobel. They go back inside the store. Oskar picks a crate up. He follows them into the store.

They do this until there are no more crates in the back of Oskar's truck.

When there are no more crates in the back of Oskar's truck Oskar closes the doors that go into the back of the truck. He takes off the gloves that he wears while he carries crates. He puts them into the pockets of his overalls. He adjusts his cap.

He says: ‘Goodbye, Mr. Koch.' He says: ‘Goodbye, Isobel.'

Mr. Koch says: ‘Say hello to your father for me. Tell him I miss seeing him.'

Oskar gets into the front of the truck.He closes the door. He starts the truck's engine. Mr. Koch waves his hand. Oskar reaches his hand out of the window and he waves to Mr. Koch.

The truck drives away down the alley.

Isobel and Mr. Koch go back into the grocery store. Mr. Koch closes the door. They are in the room at the back of the store. There are crates piled beside them. Mr. Koch wipes his face. He puts his handkerchief in his pocket.

He says: ‘Shall we have a cup of coffee?'

Isobel is sitting on a crate. Her arms hurt.Her back hurts. She is looking at the floor in front of her. She did not know it would hurt like this.

Isobel does not say anything.

Mr. Koch makes a noise in his throat. He says: ‘Shall we have a cup of coffee before we get to work?'

Isobel looks up. Mr. Koch is waiting for her to answer. She has to say something.

She says: ‘Yes, please.' She does not say it right away. She thinks about it. She does not push her hair out of her face. She does not like coffee.

She says: ‘Yes, please.'

Mr. Koch goes into his office. It is under the stairs that go to the room above the store. He goes into his office and starts his coffee-making machine.

Isobel is still sitting on a crate. She looks at the floor in front of her. She touches herself where she hurts. She touches herself gingerly.

She is not used to hurting like this. She is trying to make sense of it.

Mr. Koch comes out of his office. He is humming a tune to himself. He is carrying two cups of coffee. He is carrying one in each hand. He offers one of them to Isobel.

Isobel is looking at the ground in front of her. Her hair is in her face. She does not see the cup Mr. Koch is holding out to her.

Mr. Koch says: ‘Isobel.'

Isobel looks up. She looks at Mr. Koch through her hair. She sees him smiling. She sees the cup of coffee he is holding out to her. She pushes her hair out of her face. She holds her hands out.

Mr. Koch gives her the cup of coffee.

The cup is hot in her hands. It is uncomfortable. Isobel looks into the cup. The coffee inside it is black. Mr. Koch makes a sound in his throat. He says: ‘I forgot to ask if you take cream or sugar.'

Isobel says: ‘It's okay.'

Mr. Koch goes over to a crate. He hitches his pants up.He sits down on the crate. He brings his cup of coffee up to his mouth. He drinks from it.

He makes a sound in the back of his throat.

He puts his cup of coffee down on the crate beside him. He reaches into the pocket of his waistcoat. He wears a waistcoat when he works. He wears a waistcoat and a shirt and a tie. He takes a pack of cigarettes out from the pocket of his waistcoat.

He puts a cigarette in his mouth. He takes a lighter out of his pocket. He lights the cigarette. He takes the cigarette away from his mouth and he blows smoke into the room.

He settles into sitting on the crate. He scratches his belly.

Mr. Koch says: ‘It is good to start the day with someone.'

He picks up his cup of coffee. He drinks from it. He puts it down on the crate next to him.

He sighs.

Mr. Koch says: ‘When Emile left, I thought I would be by myself again. And I wasn't looking forward to making do without someone to lend a hand.'

Isobel does not say anything. She watches Mr. Koch speak. Mr. Koch says: ‘I suppose I am glad you are here.'

He puts his cigarette in his mouth. He draws on it. He takes his cigarette out of his mouth. He blows smoke into the room.

He does not say Isobel being here will cause trouble. He shakes his head.

Isobel waits for him to say more. She waits but he does not say more.

Mr. Koch sits on one of the crates. He drinks from his cup of coffee. He smokes his cigarette. He makes noises in the back of his throat.

Isobel sips from her cup of coffee. She wants Mr. Koch to say more. She wants to ask Mr. Koch to say something. She does not know how to ask Mr. Koch to say something.

She sips from her cup of coffee.

She does not like the taste of it. It is bitter. She wants to learn to like it. She decides she will learn to like it.

She holds her cup of coffee in her lap. She does not say anything. She sips from her cup of coffee. She watches Mr. Koch sitting on a crate. He drinks from his cup of coffee and he smokes his cigarette.

He puts his cigarette to his mouth one last time. He stands up. He grunts when he stands up.

Mr. Koch says: ‘Well.'

Mr. Koch says: ‘It's time to get to work.'

There are crates in the room at the back of the grocery store.

Isobel is sitting on one of the crates. She is holding a cup of coffee in her hands. She sips from the cup. She looks around the room. Mr. Koch is in his office. He is working. She is alone here.

She sips from the cup again. She makes a face. She puts it down. There is still coffee in the cup. She cannot drink the rest. It is too bitter.

She stands up.

She goes over to the crates piled near the back door. They are the crates she helped to bring in. She opens the crate on the top of the pile. It is filled with tins. She takes the tins out of the crate.

She takes them over to the door that goes into the store. There is a cart there.

She puts the tins from the crate onto the cart. She goes back to where the crate is. She takes more tins out of the crate. She takes them over to the cart and she puts them on it.

Isobel pushes the cart through the door. She goes into the store. There are rows of shelves here. There are aisles between the shelves. She pushes the cart ahead of her. She goes into the aisles.

There are tins on the shelves along the aisle. She takes some of the tins from the cart. She puts them onto the shelves.

She pushes the cart again. She stops again. She puts some of the tins on the shelves. She pushes the cart again.

There are people in the store.They are shopping for groceries. There is a girl at the front of the store. She is standing behind the cash register. Isobel does not want any of them to notice her. The people shopping for groceries do not notice her. The people do not care about Isobel. They are shopping for groceries.

The girl looks at Isobel. She heard what Isobel did. She does not say anything. She stares at her. Isobel does not say anything. She puts more tins from the cart onto the shelves. She wants to scowl. She does not scowl. She puts tins on the shelves until there are no more tins on the cart.

When there are no more tins on the cart she goes to the back of the store. She leaves the cart by the door. She goes to where the crates are. She takes tins out of the open crate. She takes them over to the cart. She puts them onto the cart.

All the tins left in this crate fit onto the cart. There is still room on the cart. She opens another crate. There are boxes of biscuits and more tins in the crate. She takes the tins out of the crate and she puts them on the cart. With these tins on it the cart is full.

She takes the cart into the front of the store. There are fewer people in the store. One of them has her son with her. He is a little boy. He is holding on to her skirt. Isobel puts the tins from the cart on the shelves. When the cart is empty she goes into the back of the store.

There are more crates in the back of the store. They all have things in them.

Isobel takes the boxes of biscuits from the open crate. They do not fill the cart. She opens the next crate. She takes the things inside it and she puts them on the cart. She takes the cart into the front of the store. She puts the things from the cart onto the shelves.

When all of the things from the cart are on the shelves she goes into the back of the store. She opens another crate.

She does this until all the crates are empty.

Isobel is in the room at the back of the grocery store. There are stairs here. There is a bathroom under the stairs. It is beside Mr. Koch's office. She goes into the bathroom. The stairs are over her head. She washes her hands. They are dirty from working. She dries them on the towel that is here.

She comes out of the bathroom and she goes up the stairs.

Upstairs there is a room. There is a bed and a sink and a window inside it. There are plain white sheets on the bed. There is a mirror on the wall above the sink. There are curtains over the window. The curtains are flimsy.

Isobel closes the door at the top of the stairs behind her. She takes her shoes off. She leaves them beside the door.

She leans against the door. It is a large room. It is cold and there is dust in the corners.

It is late. It is dark outside. There is street light coming in through the curtains. There is not much street light coming in through the curtains. It is dark in the room. Isobel cannot see what is inside the room. She can see the shapes of the things in the room but she cannot see them.

She goes to where the bed is. She does not have to see the bed. She knows where it is. She sits down on the bed.

It is her room now.

She should be glad that it is her room now. She is not sure that she is glad.

She rests her head in her hands. Her body hurts. She has not worked like this before. She went to school. She sat in a desk. She does not want her body to hurt. She does not know what she can do to make her body stop hurting.