No matter what time period Frankie was in, one thing remained: the errands of everyday life looked more or less the same. Frankie stood in line at the Marine National Bank on State and 9th Streets, waiting to make a deposit for Meyer’s Place on Levi’s behalf.
The lobby of the bank was very grand and ornate. Back when these institutions wanted to give off the perception of wealth so that people would invest their money in the bank. It also added to the city’s architecture, which was one of the finer details Frankie enjoyed about being stuck in 1924.
Toward the windows overlooking the street, Frankie heard two people talking. Or rather, one man making a scene while the woman tried to maintain her composure. Frankie had noticed them when he had first walked in, but didn’t pay them much mind until their conversation escalated. Now, nearly everyone in the lobby was pretending to not hear them.
But even though they were being loud, Frankie still couldn’t decipher what exactly they were talking about. The man was hysterical and the woman seemed cold. He was begging her to reconsider, but neither of them specified as to what that was.
When the man burst into sobs, Frankie and the woman in line behind him both turned to look in his direction. He sat at a bench near the windows overlooking the street and had his head buried in his hands.
“I don’t know what I’m going to do! I have nothing left! I can’t go home to my wife with this! She’ll leave me for sure!”
The woman with him took the seat beside him. Frankie was surprised by their pairing. She was very put together in her white dress and hat, while the man was very unkempt. Shirt untucked, hair standing on end, tie hanging loose around his neck.
“I know, I know,” she said in tones that didn’t convey generosity.
She’s nicer than I am, Frankie thought to himself. I would probably just walk out and let him be.
Frankie exchanged a look with the woman standing behind him and raised his eyebrows to convey their shared annoyance at the disturbance during their mundane errand. After she returned the gesture, he turned and faced forward again, taking one step ahead as he moved forward in line.
“Your luck has run out,” the woman in the white dress said to the crying man. “But I believe that has changed. You and I can work out an arrangement.”
Really? Frankie thought. A hooker picking up a guy in the middle of a bank? In 1924? Then again, it is the oldest profession, so I guess they would be in any time period. And why not a bank? She’d probably find a man with a fat wallet quick enough.
“Can I help you?” the teller called to Frankie. He stepped forward and made the deposit. It wasn’t a large amount. Inflation hadn’t kicked up to 1984 standards yet, but Levi seemed happy with how much he was making and he knew his finances better than anyone else.
With the errand complete, Frankie turned toward the door as he folded the written receipt and slipped it in his pocket. He looked up just in time to stop short of running into the woman in white at the door. She paused and waved her hand to indicate that he could exit first.
Two things struck Frankie at the same time. The first was how beautiful she was. The second was that she looked familiar, but he couldn’t place how, exactly.
He stepped outside and held the door open for her. “After you,” he said with a smile.
She winked at him as she stepped through. “Thank you. Such a gentleman.”
Her familiarity nagged at him and he considered asking her if they’d ever met before. She walked down State Street and disappeared into the bustling crowd. He didn’t get the chance to ask her why she looked familiar, however, when his attention was pulled by someone else exiting the bank. It was the man she had been talking to.
There were no more tears on his face, though. This time, he was elated. He had a wad of cash in his hand, which he counted greedily, oblivious to his surroundings. He stepped right off the curb and into the street.
“Hey!” Frankie hesitated in the crowd before using his power. This wasn’t 1984. State Street was packed with people. If he exposed himself as a witch, it would bring loads of unwanted attention. Still, he couldn’t let the man die.
An oncoming streetcar rang its bell to warn the man. Brakes squealed as the streetcar tried to stop in time. Finally looking up, the man stopped in his tracks in the gap between the passing streetcar and a car whipping by in the opposite direction. Both moving vehicles narrowly missed the man and, after they each passed, he safely crossed to the other side of the street.
The whole interaction surprised Frankie. That had been a near-miss. That man was lucky that he hadn’t been hit. And that sudden wad of cash he had, after spending several minutes crying to some woman about needing her help?
Frankie looked down the sidewalk to where the woman had walked off to, but he couldn’t spot her either. He suddenly had a suspicion that there was something supernatural going on. What had happened in that bank?