That night Miss Kelly came and visited them. Visits were fairly rare. It was a long way up and there was no telephone. By the time she had passed the third floor Franz recognized her quick and able little step and began to wish it was someone else’s.
“I’d like to talk to Frankie,” Miss Kelly said.
“Why certainly, Miss Kelly,” Franz’s mother said. “There he is right there.”
“I couldn’t speak to him alone?”
“Well, sure. I guess if there’s anything I need to know I’ll hear about it anyway.”
“There’s not much room here, Miss Kelly,” Franz said. “Mother sleeps in the bedroom and Uncle Otto sleeps on the day bed here and I use this couch. There’s just no room for private conversation.”
“Well, I would like to talk to you, Frankie. If you want me to say it in front of your mother and”—she tr
