The Banker

The Banker There is a dryness in the air as the Autumn takes over to chill the world. Ashley looks at the leaves shaken from their tree and she shivers. It is as though a hand has taken them down just to show the world that the change of season has begun. Ashley puts on her jacket and she walks over the leaves as she heads on home. At home there is an argument. Her father Charles has just been given a banking job and her mother Anne is upset. Ashley looks at her sister Linda as she peers from the hallway laughing behind fingers as her parents as they shout. "You said you wanted to be an architect!" Anne yells. "A banker is a good job!" tells Charles "It's a scum job! You'll be known as scum!" screams Anne. "Oh to hell with you!" tells Charles as he turns away. Anne falls on the couch sobbing. "Calm down won't you?" asks Charles. "I can't look at you! I can't look at you!" cries Anne. Ashley slips past Linda who giggles. She likes to see her parents argue - if the world were not perfect their bitter battles would not seem so funny. Linda sucks on a finger and then with a smile she heads out the door to find a friend to talk to. Ashley goes to her room and she puts down her bag. She wishes she had something to do - but with the argument in the lounge she cannot do what she wants which is play the piano and listen to radio. So she opens a book to read. Hours later Anne knocks on the door. "Dinner!" she mutters. Ashley smiles and she eagerly heads for the dinner table. There she meets Charles, Linda, Rose, and Dillon. Dillon shakes his head at Anne who grows pale as she sees him. Anne wants to hit him, she wants to tell him to leave; he is of ripe age to leave so why not she tell him to go if he should feel so much shame? Ashley looks down at her plate as she waits to be served her meal. It is served prompt, but it is cold; it is as though the oven broke half way through the roasting. Ashley grimaces as she lifts the sliced meat and sees a wash of blood. "This is raw!" she complains. "It's rare;" tells Charles. "This is raw!" complains Ashley. "Why cook at all!" she mutters before she stroppily gets to her feet. "You sit down young lady!" tells Charles as a points a finger her way. "Why? It's raw - it's not even a meal!" she argues before she heads for the front door. "I agree, raw;" mutters Dillon quietly as though he has stuffed his shirt with reservation. "Just eat!" argues Anne. Linda picks at the bread rolls which are stale. She then picks at the cheese which is warm. She then picks at the peas which are ice cold. Linda looks to Rose who is dunking her meat inside of her cup of water to get rid of the blood. "To hell with you all!" tells Charles before he stands. "Not even a meal could make you all happy!" he spits before he heads out the front door. Dillon looks to Anne who sobs behind bloodied fingers - she has taken one bite of her meat and its juicy blood dribbles over her lips from behind her teeth. Dillon hangs his head - there are no words to say. "This is the coldest meal ever!" whispers Rose who sucks on a small portion of watered down meat. "What, a banker can't afford an oven?" Anne looks to Rose and then to Linda who has soaked her bread in water. "Go to bed all of you!" she orders. "And pray your father comes home with chips and fish!" The three children all cheer and they race their rooms. Ashley wanders down the street. It is ice-cold and her fingers shiver. She needs mittens on her hands so that she not feel the cold. However she had not prepared herself well enough, and so her skin suffers. "How can the cold become cold when yesterday was so warm?" she asks as she stops by a large town clock. A shadow crawls over her, and Ashley turns around to meet the bright eyes of a handsome stranger. "Hello!" he greets with a hiss. "Hello;" she mutters with a shy smile. "A nice out!" he tells. "Oh yes;" tells Ashley with a grin. "Have you had supper?" he asks. "Oh no;" tells Ashley as she shakes her head. "My name is Peter;" he tells her as he offers her his hand. "I'm Ashley;" tells Ashley as she takes his hand. Peter gives her hand a firm squeeze, firm enough to make her want to pull her hand away - however he holds on firm. "Your fingers are cold, I can feel their chill through my gloves;" he mutters. "Perhaps warm then with a kiss?" he mutters before he bends over to kiss her fingers. Ashley blushes and then she looks behind Peter's stooped head to see Charles racing forward with cane in hand. "My father is coming;" tells Ashley. Peter straightens his spine. "That old trick?!" he gasps before he puts an arm around Ashley to walk her across the street. Charles places a hand on Peter's shoulders. "Excuse me good fellow that is my daughter!" he gasps as he chugs his breath through stitched lungs. Peter turns to face Charles who gives him a narrowed stare. "Good god!" he mutters off the top of his startle. "Best not to leave her to run around after nightfall!" Charles brushes past Peter and takes Ashley's hand. He rushes her away with an arm wrapped around her as Peter laughs behind them. Ashley smiles at Charles who looks as though he has eaten a sour apple. She feels his tense as she walks with him, he has not yet let down his arm and usually it is down after a block of walking. "I think we're far enough away;" she tells Charles who is off in his own world. "It's not that;" mutters Charles as he narrows his eyes. "Just wonder who he was;" he adds as he blinks away a thought. "He seemed nice;" tells Ashley. "No, there was eccentricities all over his personality;" tells Charles as he winces. "Men like him are mad;" "Mad?" asked Ashley. "It's something about icon and idiocy that's gotten to them;" he mutters. "The world of the world of people;" he adds before he turns away. "I'm sorry, your mother has tested me tonight and I am too tired to think;" he tells her. "Who is she to declare me low just because I wish to be a banker!" he argues. "And now I almost lose you too;" he mutters as he sucks in a breath. "One block apart and you would have vanished;" Ashley feels a silly sensation inside of her belly. She feels alarmed all of a sudden - was Peter really that kind of a person? One to take you away so that you never return? "I feel foolish too;" tells Ashley. "I just couldn't stand a stale dinner - none would have been more polite;" "I'm sorry about dinner;" tells Charles. "I should have cooked it myself;" he mutters. "Anne can never do anything right once her mind is set on it;" he adds. "You should have been given an apology, I should have cooked it some more;" he mutters. "I am sorry;" Ashley feels a chill and she looks over her shoulder. There is fog all around them and it makes the world colder. "I think I would like to go home!" tells Ashley. "I think I should go home too;" sighs Charles. "We should both go home;" he adds. "It's better in front of a warm fire then out here in the cold;" The next day Anne tells Ashley to visit her father's work and get him to give her money. Ashley nods her head as she is given an address. Ashley leaves, and she walks along rows of trees before she reaches the right street on which sits her father's bank. "I'm here to see Charles Winter;" she tells the teller. "He works here;" "Oh yes, come with me!" she is urged. Soon Ashley is taken to a room where there are desks with lamps. Behind one them is Charles. He looks up and he stands. "Hello there Ashley;" he smiles. "Hello;" tells Ashley. "Mother said that she would like you to give us money;" Charles pulls a face before he takes out his wallet. "Here, thirty dollars;" he mutters as he offers it to Ashley. "Thank-you!" smiles Ashley before she pockets the money. The owner of the bank Malcome Chadsworth looks over Charles's shoulder and he smiles at Ashley who shivers as she sees him. "Who is this Charles?" asks Malcome. "Oh my daughter Ashley;" tells Charles as he smiles. "Just delivering a message;" "That is very nice; what a pretty face;" tells Malcome as he glares. "You shouldn't leave her to run around alone;" he mutters. Charles shivers as he remembers Peter from the night before. "Best not to leave her to run around after nightfall!" he mutters before he laughs a haunting laugh. Charles looks to Malcome and he thinks he sees the same kind of smile Peter had given; he almost wishes to offer a punch to protect Ashley. However he smiles off his bitter as Malcome declares Ashley has nice hair. Charles agrees, and then he tells Ashley to leave. That night Charles comes home with a heavy heart. His enthuse for the banking job has slackened since Malcome told him that he would like to see Ashley again. Charles wanders to the children's room and he sees Ashley playing with Linda and Rose. They play a silly board-game which he had played when he had been young. Charles wishes for a smoke as he glares at Ashley. For a second he wonders if his other children would prove to be just as charming, however he pushes the idea away as he raises his brow. He can feel hot liquor burning in the back of his throat, he has been drinking with Malcome and he has been told to give him his daughter for an afternoon. "I would like to see her;" tells Malcome. "She looks like a fine young woman;" he adds. "Perhaps fine company;" Charles had gulped down his drink as he listened with half an ear. He blames himself. He should have warned Anne to not send the children to work - but he didn't know it would bring a fire hotter then his temper. "We have a rule here - bankers are bankers, and everyone else is small;" tells Malcome. Charles laughs a bitter laugh so cold all of his children turn their heads to see him. Charles raises his brows - he walks in a coat that cost eleven hundred dollars, and it makes him feel like a banker. It's what he wants to be - one of them. But to hurt his own children... he scratches a feeling inside of his head. "Afternoon;" he mutters. Rose smiles, Linda rolls her eyes, and Ashley rolls dice - they have already forgotten him. So the next day Charles takes Ashley's hand. He feels weak, like he has drunk off milk. "I would like to take you to the bank today;" he tells her through cold lips. "Perhaps make a day of it;" Ashley shrugs. "Okay;" she mutters. Charles nods. He then walks her out of the house towards the bank one feet made of lead. The Autumn leaves fall each step of the way, and slaps Charles in the face. He pries them off his face, off his jacket, and throws them to the ground. No Autumn can keep him from the bank, no change will change his mind. At the bank Charles leads Ashley to Malcome's office. He sits her in a chair, and Malcome smiles at her with dimples which makes him look charming. Ashley talks to Malcome as he asks her questions and Charles stands idly by, glaring at her as though she is a crystal vase he has just sold. The conversation lasts forever, and at the end Ashley is given a drink. It is cider which has been laced with a drug. She drinks it, and then with warmth on her face she turns to Charles who has grown weak and pale. "It is the draft that makes you feel so ill?" she scoffs. Malcome laughs, Charles sneers through clenched teeth, and Ashley smiles at her own joke. "What do you know of it?" asks Charles inside of his mind as giggles bounce through Ashley's throat. Later that night Ashley returns home alone. Charles was wanted at the bank, and so she has walked home without him. There is warmth in her head which makes her feel dizzy, and she only just makes it through the front door before she faints. Anne gets Dillon to carry Ashley to her bed, and then she makes hot tea which she sips on as the rain starts to pat against the windows. Hours pass, and after the stroke of midnight Charles enters the house looking pale and wane. "What's the matter?" asks Anne. "Does the world have a cold?" "It's a cold day;" tells Charles. "And I feel like just going to bed;" he whispers. That night Charles can't sleep. He tosses and he turns, and then at five am he wakes. After waking he showers and eat a meal, before visiting the children s room. All are asleep, and he feels sweat build on his brow. He wishes he could hold them, kiss them, them them the world will be fine; but he walks away from them - he cannot comfort them. At the bank Malcome looks to Charles who has a vast many figures inside of his hand. "It looks like an error;" tells Charles. "Then rub it away;" tells Malcome before he offers Charles a small bag of coins. Charles nods. He is being offered a bribe and he takes the money. He wants to be a good banker and so he cancels the lost figures as he moves to play the banking game. He is helping Malcome be a crook, but it so that he can gain. He lets his conscience figure out how to feel. That night Charles and Anne argue. "Look at this the banker home late from his work!" she declares as he steps into the house. "Look at this the banker with his shoes wet with rain!" "You're right - I should have a car;" tells Charles. "I am sorry I wronged you all;" he mutters before he leaves to retire to the study. "Who can afford a car?" asks Rose. "Father we are not really getting a car are we?" asks Dillon with interest. "Please leave me alone!" gasps Charles. "Leave me be;" he adds. Dillon sighs and he turns away. Rose smiles as she points to Charles and whispers. Linda and Ashley listen to Rose and Anne bites her fingers. It is another foul afternoon, but she feels a flutter as she thinks that they might be lucky enough to buy a car. The next day Charles comes home with a car. Dillon races out to inspect, and he jumps inside the vehicle to take a look at it. Anne smiles as she clutches her chest, and the other siblings chatter at an alarming rate. "Oh goodness father!" they gush. "How proud we are!" "Goodness me!" tells Dillon before he takes a out a pocket knife to turn the key slot and make the car alive. The car backs down the street, and with Dillon holding onto the dashboard the car crashes into a tree. "Dillon!" gasps Charles. "How did you do that without a key!" he asks before he races to pluck Dillon out of the car. That night Charles beats Dillon. Rose shivers as she hears one smack after another, and Ashley and Linda hold each other. The beating lasts for so long that Anne calls the police who rushes to save Dillon from further attack. Charles is escorted to prison. He spends a night in jail as his car is taken away to a pound for safe-keeping until Charles can pay the fee to release it from its impound. During that time Anne moves Dillon to her parents house where he is to stay until he can get a job and live on his own. Charles comes home with bruises on his back and wrists. He has been chained and beaten, but he is still strong. He looks at his three girls and at Anne who shivers as he walks through the front door. They have eaten more then half their dinner, and his is cold. "Can't wait to eat with me?" he asks Anne. Anne shakes her head. "It is barely six pm;" tells Charles. "I am here on time;" Rose smiles over her buttered bread. "Mother thought an early dinner..." she tells. "Rose bite your tongue!" tells Anne as she stands. "We didn't want to eat with you;" she tells Charles. "You are not worthy of a meal with the family;" Charles raises a brow. He then sits himself down and he begins to dig in. He eats with greed and in his haste some gravy spits onto his shirt, and all the table gasps. Rose passes Charles a napkin as he glares at the smudge of brown on his shirt-front. He laughs a bitter laugh. "Teach me to eat too quickly;" he mutters before he pushes his dinner plate away. "Where's Dillon?" he asks. "At mothers;" tells Anne with a grimace. "To stay?" asks Charles. "Yes;" tells Anne. "Good;" tells Charles. "Rose you be mindful that you will be needed to be married or work in the mills after the summer;" he tells her. "I am mindful;" mutters Rose. "In fact I met a nice fellow already - he is smart and good looking; I met him by the pond; we may be married;" "Good;" tells Charles. "When you wish for us to meet call a dinner;" he tells her. "Yes father;" mutters Rose. Charles stands and leaves the table to wash his clothes. That night Charles walks into the children's room and he finds Ashley's bed. He walks to her bed and he bends over it. He looks at her face in the moon-light and he touches her cheek. Ashley stirs, then slowly she wakes. She gasps as she sees a dark figure looming over her scaring her with its shadow. Charles covers her mouth with his fingers. "It's just me;" he whispers. Ashley feels her alarm calm down and she carefully pries his fingers away from her lips. "What is it?" she asks in the dim. "I would like you to come to work with me tomorrow at seven am;" tells Charles. "It will be most advantageous;" he mutters. "For me;" he adds. "Of course;" tells Ashley as she feels a frown form on her face. "But why?" "I can't tell you;" tells Charles as he plays with a piece of her hair. "But you can have tea once there;" he adds. Ashley nods before she turns away from Charles. "Best leave me to sleep and wake me when it's early;" she tells him. Charles touches her shoulder. He gives it a squeeze. He wishes he could tell her, but he can't - his words are sealed, and so he nibbles on them. Ashley feels a pain in her shoulder and she squirms inside of her mind. Charles can't let go - it takes him many minutes to move and when he does move it is with a heavy breath. Ashley shivers. She has been fed a warning and as soon as Charles has left she gets up to dress. She does not want to be in her room when Charles comes to fetch her and so she takes her shoes and she hurries out of the house. Ashley stands at the clock where she met Peter many days before. She wishes he were there now; she might feel as though he can take her somewhere safe. Ashley turns away from the clock and she sits herself down on a park bench. It takes hours for the sun to rise and when it does it steams all the ice-cold fog away. Ashley tired wanders towards her house - it is past seven am and her father should have left for work. However when she enters the house he catches her. "Where have you been?" he asks. "I couldn't sleep and so I went for a walk. I hadn't gone long, it must still be early;" "It's after eight!" tells Charles before he smacks her once across the face. "Are you testing me so early?" he whispers. Ashley sobs as she then squirms to get away as Charles moves to grab her. "Mother!" gasps Ashley but Charles lifts her up and drags her out the front door. Charles carries Ashley to work with her fighting him all the way. He hits her three times and when at work he drags her into the back room which has nothing but a table that has liquor placed on it. Charles leaves Ashley alone and he locks the door to ensure that she can't leave. Ashley bites on her fingers and she drinks a little of the liquor. She doesn't enjoy it much, but she drinks to warm herself and calm herself. Then the door opens and Charles comes in with a team of bankers and he introduces her. Ashley raises her cup as they close the door. "This is a fine day isn't it?" she asks in a bitter tone. There are no laughs. The world turns hard and serious as Ashley is attacked by the cluster of men. Ashley feels her head. She feels she has died and woken up from a dead dream, but she has only been asleep after having had fainted. She feels Charles lift her up and carry her out of the bank. She feels undone, broken, and she holds onto him as though he is a horse to hold onto to be taken away. Charles is swift as a hare to get home, and when home he drops her on some carpet. She has been beaten, carved into with pen knives, and her skin shows cuts and bruises. "What's gong on?" asks Anne. Charles looks over his shoulder as his body shadows Ashley. "Best leave us;" he mutters. "Do not come in;" "What is it Charles?" asks Anne as she steps closer. "Leave!" warns Charles. "Or i'll beat her!" he adds. Anne cringes and then she moves away. She leaves Ashley alone and Charles picks up some medicine to help heal her cut and bruised skin. "It's a game they play;" he tells her. "These bruises will just go away;" Ashley narrows her eyes as she remembers the men teasing her, pinching her, hitting her. She felt as though they were all foul and she attempted to battle them as she swiped her arms to and fro. She was hit so hard and then mocked again, like they had just drunk a dictionary of foul words. "That's a very foul game;" tells Ashley as he looks to Charles and sees a green glimmer which punches her as he smiles over his manners to laugh with the rest of them in that dark room. "Broth of hag!" he adds as though it is his turn. Then all the voices chime and Ashley falls down with faint as she cries harder then ever. "I don't want to see you;" see tells him. "Ever!" "It was just a game;" tells Charles. "A harmless little game;" he adds. Ashley wipes a tear from her eye, and then she turns her head away as Charles cleans her skin the medicine. The next day Ashley races out of the house. Charles had wanted to take her to work, but she had screamed and bitten him to make him let go of her. She runs as fast as she can, and when in town she hides behind a garbage bin. Charles passes her, he doesn't see her hiding, and so she grows comfort as she stays hidden behind that bin. Ashley then falls asleep, and when she wakes it is night. Ashley goes for a walk. She meets the clock and a stranger asks her the time. "It is ten pm;" she tells them. "Shouldn't you be at home?" they ask. "Can you take me to one?" she asks in quick retort. "No, I am married;" tells the stranger before he leaves her alone. Ashley feels sour. She knows it is dangerous to stay outside, but she doesn't feel like gong home. So she stays by the clock where she feels safe, and she counts the hours. By morning Ashley is asleep and she is picked up by a passer-by. She is taken to the bank where she is woken by the sound of a bell. Ashley looks and she sees Malcome who smiles at her. "Were you running away from your father?" he asks her. "Yes;" mutters Ashley as she sneers. Malcome had called her 'candy cane' and 'snow cone'; she feels hurt still by the harsh pinch he had given her cheek. "He will be here soon;" tells Malcome. "Then you be good and stay at home;" he warns her. "Or you be sorry;" Ashley nods. She feels so sad she wishes to cry, and so she does cry. That night Charles comes home with Ashley hanging off his arm. She rushes to her room and he rushes to fetch a drink. "You stay in your room!" he warns Ashley. Anne shakes her head. "That bankers job is ruining us!" she tells Charles. "It's hurting us, your family;" Charles turns away. "You should not work there;" she tells him. "Or I'll leave;" Charles laughs a bitter laugh. "Leave Ashley behind, she's giving me a good image;" he drawls before he leaves Anne to sob. Charles looks at the world outside - it is wet with dew and fog clouds the window to stop him from staring outside. He feels the fog covering his guilt as he drinks some more drink. He wishes to not feel guilty and so he stares at his cuffs and straightens his spine. He cannot be anything else, he is too deep; he will grow to be a banker, and he will not feel sorry for himself or anyone else. It's what he is now.