209

Chapter Nineteen

Time Forward Two

Loveland, Ohio

Tuesday 5/7/15

2:44 PM

Slowing as the Chevie approached the… Actually all but stopping as it reached...

‘Welcome to Loveland’:

‘Population 5,100’.


...the sign along-side the road.

Guess that’ll make it ‘five thousand-one hundred and two’ between you and me, Morrie.”

“Yes it will, sweetheart, unless things have changed between then and now.”

“For the future of humanity, let’s hope they have.”

“Don’t know if Loveland National Bank keeps bankers hours…” turning the petrel valve, giving the sputtering motor power enough to putt forward “...but think we’d better find out.”

A horse pulling a wagon passing in the opposite direction was urged to the far side of the road until the Chevie sputtered by. The youngster atop the seat, tipping his hat, yelled a cheerful, “hello!” as the automobile… Agie, waving, answered, “Hello!” back as the automobile continued on.

Within fifty to sixty yards the rutted dirt road had been leveled smooth and covered with crushed white rock and within another fifty to sixty yards the rock road became a two lane, blacktop covered, two block long street with thirty to forty,— hitching posts between each other of the thirty to forty home-owned and operated storefront businesses on either side of what the sign had stated was, ‘Main Street’

3:02 PM

A large watering trough off to its left, near dead center of the row of storefronts to the right of the Chevie, there was a double— the only one on either sides of the street— storefront window wit heavy gold lettering running along both storefront windows stating:, ‘ Loveland National Bank; est. 1905’ and five doorways forward there was an overhanging sign reading ‘HARDWARE & Feed’

Jerking towards the curb while cutting the gas flow, sounding much as a person with gas pains, the Chevie noisily shuttered to a stop as an older, thickly gray mustached, portly man, indeed keeping ‘bankers hours’, stepped outside in preparation of locking up for the day as...

Seeing as well as hearing the jerking gasp of the exhausted vehicle — “Mister and Mrs Pink, I assume?” The man correctly assumed as, stepping to the curb, formally introducing himself, his hand outstretched. “I’m William E. Forester.”

Instead of Morrie reaching to the man’s hand, shocking William Forester; Agie, tightening hers as best she could, taking the man’s hand — sensing a humorous sensation whenever she the said the word, “ ‘Pink’. We’re the Pinks.”

“Yes…” he said “...I’d been waiting for you.”

 Stepping carefully as the banker helped her from the automobile to the walkway “I’m Agnes and my husband here… I know you have spoken to him, is Morris.”

Tapping the brim of his black fedora. “Pleased to meet you.” he said as opening the door and stepping aside. “Come in, why don’t you and…” gesturing towards what apparently was his office “.. if you’d like, we can finish the paper work…” meaning give me the three hundred dollars “...and I’ll give you the keys for your new business.”

Morrie and Agnes followed the man into his office and sat on front side of the desk.

Getting right to the point: “Purchasing this business, which has been a part of our community for years…” assuming his ‘bankers tone “... at that reduced price…”

Thinking, He’s going to try to renege. “ ‘Reduced price’’?” Taking Forester’s acceptance telegram from his wallet, holding it forward. “If I remember, you agreed on that price rather quickly!”

“Mister Pink…” his voice rising “... the point I’m trying to make is that there are a number of past due bills from local people and nearby businesses that were to be paid from the proceeds …”

Unseen by Forester, sharply clasping her husband’s knee, sending a message to stop talking.

“Stop!” Speaking directly to the self important man on the other side of the desk. “Morris here…” glancing to her left “… is a very intelligent man and has an excellent ‘knack’ with people and will do just fine running the place. But me…” patting her chest for emphasis, while getting directly to her point “...I will handle the books along with the outlay and income of monies, and you ‘will’ speak to me when it comes to these matters!”

Sitting far back in his plush chair, as though attempting to distance himself from this demon woman … A woman of business such as he had never before encountered.

“ ‘You’ll’ be running ‘Procter’s’ then...” insultingly stated as to a person of far lower intellect, as to a, “You’? A ‘woman’!”

Agnes Longstead had been on the receiving end of this tone of insulting questioning while being introduced to a new savings or checking account customer at National City Bank. However she had been an ‘employee’… a ‘female’ employee then and had to remain silent, now though, three years of resentment in the process of erupting…

“Mister, uh…” knowing his name, but pretending not to remember, taking seconds studying the name plate on his desk…

“Forester…” her husband prompted “...Mister Forester.”

“Oh, yes, ‘Forester’.” Nodding, ‘thank you’ to Morris.”

“If there are ‘Accounts Payable’, then there should also be an ‘Accounts Receivable! ‘Would there not’?” Adding. “You’ve both ledgers, then?”

The man’s complexion tinging red, “Uh…” Looking to Morris for confirmation, or possibly escape.

Realising why he loved this most woman…

Loving this woman with her steel infused womanly temperament, intelligence and feminine beauty— Morrie made a two handed, upward palmed gesture as if presenting a person of royal heritage, informing the banker that ‘yes! Best you talk to her’.

“Mister Forester, we’re going to be neighbours for a long time because Morris and I are here to stay...” as a fly on the wall in any number of ‘manly’, National City Bank meetings “...so let’s ‘cut the shit’ and get right to the point because we’ve yet to find somewhere to spend the night.”

“Mrs Pink…” Forester and Morrie surprised at her choice of words “… you’ve no reason to speak in such a manner!”

Perhaps as revenge for three years of having to be ‘the speechless fly on the wall’. For being female and treated as an intellectually inferior person.

Stopping him. “ ‘No reason to speak in such a manner,’ that’s unless I were a man, you think? So me reiterate! Morris paid thirty dollars to secure the price you had quoted him of three hundred and thirty dollars and he sent, and you accepted his thirty dollars as earnest money for the purchase of…”

“Procter.”

“Yes…” spoken sweetly “... thank you Morris.” Her tone hardening. “You accepted his money meaning that you, as the executor of Procter Hardware Store, in essence did agree to the sale of Procter’s for the sum of three hundred and thirty dollars without further question. ‘Did you not Mister Forester’?”

His authority hardly ever questioned by a man, let alone by a woman, by ‘any’ woman! Now held speechless by this woman’s… Sounding much as an Attorney at Law’s harsh questioning, Forester merely nodded his head in assent.

“In addition you and ‘Loveland National Bank’ accepted an additional two thousand, five hundred dollars for deposit — which you noted by return Western Union telegraph, proving Morris… and Agnes Pink, a legally married couple are more than responsible to conduct business in the city of Loveland, Ohio… Do you agree, Mister Forester?”

“Mrs. Pink, as impossible as it might be, knowing you and Mister Pink are from New York…” noting Morris’s British accent, thinking, And maybe even London “...and us Ohio hicks being so ‘far’ less progressive, would you happen to be an attorney?”

Finding this utterly amazing! “Me…” once again tapping herself on the chest “...an attorney…” in the eyes of this esteemed bank manager escalating from her lowly female aspect to an accredited personage of the highest intellect, looking to her husband who’s bland expression with his palms held upward apparently giving his wife full authority to say whatever she wished “...Mister Forester, like I just told you, Mister Pink and myself are going to live here, in Loveland for a long time, and I do not want to have everyone in town with any sort of a legal problem coming to me for advice, so actually I would rather not say if I am or am not an attorney.”

Accepting the fact. “I understand.” Assuming that this ‘Mrs Pink’, a newcomer and new business owner in town was, indeed, an unheard of female attorney at Law. No longer willing to consider her strictly as a ‘woman’. Standing, going to a large cabinet of drawers. Returning a minute later with two green, hard cover ledger files and a smaller slimmer file. Laying them on the desk face up and turned in Mrs Pink’s direction. “Here’s the ‘Accounts’ files and inventory list you requested.”

“Thank you Mister Forester.”

Two thousand-five hundred dollars posted, making the Pinks one of Loveland National Banks largest depositors, and the woman actually an Attorney! Amazing how quickly attitudes can change.

“It’s alright…” the banker said “... why don’t you just call me ‘W.E.’, if you wish.”

Pretending to cough, turning her head while covering the side of he mouth with an open hand, Agie stifled laughter as, loudly clearing his throat, Morrie opened the ledger marked ‘Accounts Receivable’.

In extremely neat — obviously a woman’s precise penmanship, were names of people, some by what appeared to be last names and many by first name along with what appeared to be small businesses. On page one of the first, or maybe the last of fifty marked pages in this ledger, the last entry was made on 2/5/15 for ‘Miles Meats’ for the amount of .19 that was blank in the ‘paid’ column. Room enough for forty entries on each page, the entry for ‘Miles Meats’ was the seventh on the page, the five prior entries before 2/5/15 — three for individuals and two appearing to be for storefront businesses for amounts ranging from .12 to 2.78 were all marked paid.

Agni now thumbing through the past pages that showed hundreds of ‘paid’ ’entries going back to year 1908.

Looking at Forester. “The last entry here was made precisely three months ago showing an unpaid balance of twelve cents owed the hardware store. This is our ‘accounts Receivable’?” she asked incredulously.

Shrugging his shoulders. “Most all businesses hereabouts is done ‘cash and carry’. If the day’s business was good, taking what they would need, Ken or Ollie…”

“Ollie?”

“ ‘Mrs Procter’... Ken or Ollie would either bring it over or sometimes just let the cash accumulate then bring it over for deposit.”

“What name was it deposited in? Theirs or the business?”

Knowing that if in the name of Procter Hardware, it would be accessible to Morrie and herself. But then again, whatever cash there was may have held off the foreclosure until a buyer was found to cover what was still owed the bank...Which, as it turned out, was Morris and Agnes.

“The money deposited was in the name of Kenneth and Olivia Procter and, sadly, it all went to the asylum in Cincinnati when Ollie went mad.”

“She went mad?” Morrie asked.

“What do you mean? What happened.”

“No one knows but… Kenneth was a really handy person and when they decided to open a hardware store… You do know that Loveland is the centre hub for three other smaller surrounding communities and that’s why he thought a hardware store would work out fine here.”

“And does it?”

Looking at Morrie, the banker wondered why he bought it completely sight unseen. “ “Oh, yes. You’ll see it does very good most times.”

“Good to know. So what happened to, uh, Olivia?”

“Kenneth was a very handy person and when he decided to put a hardware store here, he didn’t feel like he needed all that much space as each of those locations run thirty feet side to side and near a hundred-twenty feet from front…” motioning towards Main Street “...to rear, so he took about twenty feet from the rear of the store and made the prettiest apartment for himself and Olivia … Matters of fact, you say you have no place to stay tonight, I say, it’s your place anyway, so stay there.”

“It’s clean enough to stay a night?”

“It is, Mrs Pink. Olivia was a spotless house keeper, and you’ll get a kick out of this, but Kenneth even figured a way to make an outhouse an indoor outhouse with water… well cold water to… you know.”

“So why did she go mad?”

“No one knows. After her husband died, oh, about fifteen months ago, Oliva held everything together pretty well, handled the business also and then about six months ago became… strange.”

“How so, ‘strange’?”

“Don’t want to be the one carrying tales…”

Reaching into the humidor on his desk, taking a cigar, Forester offered one to Morrie, who accepted, then both men waited until they were lit-up and there was a cloud of grey smoke swirling above their heads.

“Where was I…? Oh, yes. ‘Olivia’. Customers would come into the store and in the middle of whatever they might have been talking about, Olivia, out of the blue would say something that had nothing to do with whatever they had been talking about. And she started mixing the colours of paints and screws with nails. And then, about five months ago, people would find her outside very early in the morning wearing only her nightgown, and once actually naked... good thing she was found by another woman... walking aimlessly not even knowing where she was, and, so you know, first off thinking it for her best, and also because she was then months in arrears on a loan Kenneth had made from this bank to purchase an automobile he was planning on putting on display to sell, so myself and the town council decided — to keep Olivia safe, of course, we had her committed to the mad house in Cincinnati.

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219

Chapter Twenty

Time Forward 5