"SPRING'ING AHEAD... Better days? (Part 170t)

“SPRING”ING AHEAD… Better days? (Part 170t)

Lying in bed I couldn’t help but hope that Eddie would be put away for what he did to Ruthe. The fact that her parents had taken her kids out of state for fear of what he might do told a ’story’ in itself. I knew nothing of the law and how a beating like he’d doled out would be treated but common sense told me he should be severely punished. Before falling asleep I couldn’t help but wonder how Ruthe would take the news and what she’d do. I’d have to wait until Monday to find out.

Mondays, for most people, are the least favorite day of the week, me included. I had an idea what mine would be like but was not expecting to be told by Mike to report to the Board room. I ran into CeeCee in the coat room and asked if she knew what was up. She shook her head in a negative way but she seemed to be acting a little strange. As we were walking out she told me that when the meeting was over she wanted to see me about the passbook loan files that she’d been reviewing back on Friday afternoon. I pretty much knew that would be coming so didn’t ‘react’ when she mentioned it. I let her lead the way up the back stairs to the Board room with my mind trying to figure out just what might be coming. If my mind had been clear I would’ve paid more attention to CeeCee. She was already at the landing which was half way up when the bouncing hem of her skirt caught my attention. I remember stopping before getting to the landing and just watching her continue on to the top. I’d like to be able to write that I got a nice upskirt but, at best, all I got was a peek of white and that was probably of her slip. However, it was enough to take my mind off the pending meeting.

The lead examiner for the Federal group was at the head of the table where the Chairman of the Board would sit. Bert and Hobie were at the table to his right and J J, Bette and Liz, (the auditor who’d been out for medical reasons) were on his left. Hobie indicated for me to sit by him. The Fed examiner stood up and motioned for CeeCee to come over to the far corner of the room. The two chatted for a few minutes before returning to the table with CeeCee sitting beside him. I’d had minimal contact with him but just from observation had formed a definite opinion… a no nonsense, hard nosed authoritarian. As soon as he opened his mouth I changed my mind. He had a very soft voice and opened by saying he appreciated the hospitality granted to him during his stay. That comment seemed strange as the projected end of the audit wasn’t until Thursday. He went on to comment on the help CeeCee and her people had provided. That statement only added to the building confusion in my mind. Then he made the announcement… he’d been called back to the main office and that CeeCee was assuming control of the remaining aspects of the examination and would handle the exit interview with the Trustee’s audit committee. He then got up and headed for the door. The whole thing took less than two minutes. It was bizarre. CeeCee looked like she’d been blindsided and it took a minute or two for her to make an attempt to speak… and when she did there wasn’t much substance to it. The only thing of value was in asking for our continued co-operation. She got up and left the room leaving the rest of us to try and make any sense of it… that is except for J J who loudly commented that now he’d get his office back. Typical J J!

Aside from normal bank business I had two things on my ’to do’ list. The first was to call my banking friend in the city, Dan, to ask if there was any chance of him being able to get tickets to the circus the following week. I’d told Elle to wait to ask Ginger about it until I found out about ticket availability. Bret was waiting for me as I approached my desk. It was obvious that he was excited. The ‘latest’ on Ruthe’s ex husband was that he was still being held. I knew very little about how the court/legal system worked (The only thing I know now is that it is unbelievably convoluted). I did know that each of the ten townships in the County had what was called a Justice Court and an elected Justice of the Peace (JP) that presided over it. The job was only part time and each of them held full time jobs or were business owners. In fact, the JP in the township where Elle and I lived owned and ran the dairy right across the road from our house and, for all intents and purposes, when necessary, the ‘court’ was in his living room. What Bret had to say was enlightening because the JP for the township where the bank (and where Ruthe lived) was away on vacation when Eddie (the ex) was brought in on Saturday. That meant he had to stay in custody until a visiting JP could be called in and then he’d decide what the actual offense was and if he would be released on bail or not. Listening to Bret I could only imagine what was going through Ruthe’s mind as she had to wait for a decision to be made.

The call to Dan was rewarding in a number of ways. He thought I was calling about the ‘Training the Trainer’ concept I’d put forth at the Personnel Management Committee meeting and was working on with me. He’d reviewed my material and said he’d mail his most recent comments sometime during the week. When I finally got to making my request about tickets he handled it like he had the tickets in his desk drawer. When he told me “No problem…” it was great news. He asked for a date and I told him any day the week before Easter to which he again repeated “No problem…”. With that good news it was time to get back to work. I headed for where CeeCee was working to ‘face the music’ on the problems with the passbook loans. Approaching her I thought back to the back stairs when we were heading for the meeting and wished I’d paid more attention.  With a lot on my mind I’d really not paid all that much attention to how she was dressed. I tried to imagine getting a really good look at her panties but knew the chances were slim. CeeCee apologized when she told me she’d have to write up the whole loan program but tried to make me feel better saying everything else that her group had reviewed was “clean” but she still had to go over the report on the branch. That pretty much negated my good feelings. We finished up with her telling me that even though she'd be doing the exit interview with the Trustees she'd make a point of reviewing the operations department with me beforehand. I was able to breath easier after hearing that.

By noon I’d gotten confirmation from Dan on the circus tickets. He surprised me when he said he’d asked for two extra children’s tickets. I was really looking forward to getting home to tell Elle. It was just before Bret left that I saw him standing at his desk and on the phone. He, still on the line, turned to face me and then gave me a thumbs up. I was sure it had to do with Ruthe's 'ex' and couldn't wait to hear the latest. It was very good news... there would be no bail and his case was going on up to the county court system. Bret couldn't get over the fact that his father hadn't been able to get him out like he'd been able to do many times before.

To be continued...