The Spiked Heel

“What’s the matter?” he asked immediately.

“Nothing,” Danny said. He attempted a smile, and then he limped closer to the counter and picked up his coffee cup.

“Come on, pal,” Griff said, “don’t snow me. You been getting some static?”

“I guess,” Danny said. He seemed very troubled. There was a pained look in his eyes, as if even talking were excruciatingly unbearable.

“What is it, Danny?” Griff asked blankly.

“I’ve been canned.”

For a moment, it didn’t register. “What do you mean, canned?”

“Fired.” Danny turned his head away. “It’s nothing to get excited about, Griff. People get fired every day, especially at Julien Kahn. I’ve just been canned, that’s all. Fired, axed, let go, dismissed, discharged, disemployed, laid off, cast off, thrown aside, kicked out, oh, Christ!”

“Are you kidding me, Danny?”

“No, I’m not kidding you.”

“When’d you find out?”

“About ten minutes ago. Manelli. Griff, what am I gonna do? What the hell am I ever gonna do? How can I tell Ellen I’ve lost my job? With her the way she is now, Griff? Oh, Jesus, I feel like bawling. I wish I was a kid, Griff. I’d lay down on the floor and bawl my ass out.”

“I’m going to see Manelli,” Griff said.

“What good will that do?” Danny sighed heavily. He seemed actually on the verge of tears. It was painful to look at him. “Listen, Griff, forget it,” he said. He bit his lip. “I’ll find something else. What the hell, I’ve got to find something else.”

“I’ll see you later,” Griff said. “I’m going to talk to Manelli. That son of a bitch has gone too far this time.”

He left Danny standing disconsolately at the counter, and he took the elevator up to the ninth floor and then walked straight to Manelli’s office. Cara must have been powdering her nose, for a girl he had never seen was sitting in for her at the reception desk.

“Is Joe in?” he asked.

“Yes. I’ll buzz him. Who shall I say is—”

“Never mind,” he snapped. He walked past the desk and then threw open the door to Manelli’s office. Manelli was signing something at his desk. He looked up, surprised, and started to say, “Well, Griff, to what do I owe—”

“Is it true you fired Danny Quinn?”

Manelli stared at him as if he were a maniac. “Yes. Yes, I did,” he said.

“Why?”

There was something about the way he said that single word that ruffled the comptroller feathers of J. Manelli. He put on his crown, picked up his scepter, and said, “Now, just a moment, Griff. Just a—”

“I’m asking you why you fired Danny Quinn,” Griff said coldly. “I’d like to know why. I damn well would like to know why.”

“I don’t see as it’s any of your business, Griff,” Manelli said curtly.

Griff recognized the crown and scepter, but they didn’t matter much to him now. “I’m making it my business,” he said recklessly. “Are you going to tell me why?”

“He was dead weight,” Manelli said, sighing.

“Dead weight, my foot! He does as much work as Magruder, if not more. Are you trying to tell me—”

“He does not. We’ve no need for a two-man Credit Department,” Manelli said hastily. “We’ve got less than a thousand accounts, big accounts, true, but Danny was handling only four hundred of them, and Magruder can throw those four hundred into his pile just as well. Griff, that job in Credit was manufactured for him, you know that as well as I do. It was invented, Griff, and we can’t afford paying a man for a useless—”

“Shut up!” Griff said angrily.

“What?” Manelli asked, his eyes popping wide.

“I said shut up! Where’d you get all this garbage from? You know goddam well the job wasn’t invented for Danny. He replaced Alberghetti who was shifted over to Sales. There was a legitimate opening in Credit, and Magruder filled it with Danny. Joe, I’ve been working at this factory for a goddam long time now, so don’t give me any crap about invented jobs. I know exactly which jobs were invented, and Danny’s wasn’t, and you know that as—”

“I don’t like the way you’re talking to me,” Manelli said. “I don’t like it a bit. I don’t think—”

“Do you know Danny’s wife is pregnant?”

Manelli’s words ended in a short gasp.

“Do you know how much trouble he had finding a job at all? God damn it, do you think he’s going to step into some other firm the second he walks out of here? What the hell’s wrong with you anyway, Joe? Can’t you let a week go by without throwing someone out into the gutter? What the hell—”

“Griff,” Manelli said, raising his hand. There was something of cowed surrender in the gesture, something almost pathetic. Griff stared at Manelli, his anger subsiding.

“Call his office,” he said softly. “Tell him it was a mistake, Joe. Go ahead.”

Manelli turned his head, avoiding Griff’s eyes. “I… I can’t,” he said.

“Why not? Why not, Joe?”

“I just can’t. I… I had no idea his wife… Griff, I had no idea. Griff, am I bad guy? You know I’m not a bad guy, don’t you? You’ve known me for a long time now, Griff, and have I ever hurt anyone? Would I ever hurt anyone, Griff? Griff, am I a bad guy?” He would not bring his eyes to Griff’s face.