Balanced Account

evening star
Originally uploaded by mihay.

He broke free of her. He landed a job at the bank, sank his teeth into dollar bills and general ledgers rather than into the flesh of her. But even though his days were spent behind the counter, greeting customers and punching keypads, his mind was tossing through bed sheets, chasing her limbs, trying to catch the heart of her, trying to find her face in the mounds of pillows. His days would end with locking the vault, nerves jumping at the utter finality of the click of the locks. Home was only a faint memory before morning, a hazy flash of television, of microwave food, and sleep in the reclining chair. The firm edifice of the bank building greeted him in the morning light, silhouetted by a giant smiling face of her hovering over the north end of town. She knew where he worked, where he ate, where his mother lived. Even in her absence she followed his every move, drew him into her. But in his asylum of the bank, he would be yanked back to the surface of things; “Good morning Mr. Tolefson. Another check today? Let me pull up your account.”