letter might get overturned by the Appeals Committee, but as far as I'm concerned, you say the word, and he's gone."
I suddenly felt myself genuinely touched by her concern. How ridiculous that I had believed she was about to issue me a letter of discipline. No, she really wanted to help. I must really learn to be less the Tory.
She held her peace. It occurred to me that she knew there had to have been some kind of incident between Nelson and myself, and if I denied that such an occurrence had taken place, that would call more attention to the situation than would be prudent. Finally, I related the incident in the bathroom and showed her the note and the fangs or rather the mangled remains.
Maureen shook her head sadly at the story's completion. "Okay, Al. He's gone." She leaned back in her chair and tipped her head up toward the ceiling. "I never like firing anybody, and I was really hoping Frank was going to work out, but he's sick, and he needs professional help."
"I am afraid I have no idea of what it is you are talking about."
The general manager laid a hand on the folder. "I'm not really supposed to tell you this because it's a confidential, personnel matter, but this does involve you, and besides, you could hear about it from several other people. Hell, Kern was there when it happened."
"When what happened?"
"A few months ago, Frank totally went off his nut. We don't really know exactly what happened, but one night in late November, he fell through a second-story window. He was okay, just cut up a bit, but when Kern found him, he was babbling about some glowing creature coming to him through his windows. Kern was nearby because Frank had called the dispatch office asking if a cab could come by and check if someone was messing around outside his window.
"Well, Frank spent some time atMendotaMental Hospital . They let him out a month ago. He said he was okay and needed a job. Hell, we were glad to hire him back and help him if we could. I guess he needs more help than we can give. I hope he gets it."
"Yes, and so do I." Indeed, but what kind of help? Those Dr. Frankensteins, who consider themselves so damned qualified to manipulate the human mind, could not comprehend the giant worm that had planted itself inside Frank's head. Their alleged help would do nothing but exacerbate his agitated state. I rose from my chair and thanked Maureen for her attention.
Descending the stairs, thoughts rushed through me. Was it truly time to take action? If so, what would be the best manner in which handle this situation?
Clearly, more information was needed. If only I was not scheduled to work the next five days; some intelligence gathering would be useful if only the time was available.
Kern appeared at the bottom of the stairs bearing his usual smiling countenance, though his expression was softer than usual, and there was a certain peculiarity to the way he looked at me. Clearly, he looked concerned.
"Hey, Al," he said. Al, not Count. Hewas concerned. "How's it going?"
"Well, I just met with the boss," I replied with a sardonic grin, "and I have survived."
"You're the boss, Al," Kern countered. "We're a co-op. Maureen works for us."
"Indeed. And an excellent job she does."
"She met with you about Frank. He's history, isn't he?"
I nodded. "Frank has been discharged."
"I knew something happened between the two of you. Must've been pretty nasty."
"Sufficiently nasty."
Kern shook his head sadly. "Well, he's pretty loony-tunes. He can go be crazy someplace else."
"Maureen said you know something about it."
Kern repeated the story pretty much as Maureen had told it, except his version seemed a bit more vivid, down to a detailed description of the cuts covering Frank's face and arms and how the blood squirted rhythmically from sliced arteries.
"Just a little warning," Kern said, stepping out of my way. "Frank's on his way here. He's scheduled to work tonight, but I guess he won't be doing his shift. You probably don't wanna be here when he gets here."
"No. Thank you for the warning."
His grin spread fully across his face. "Glad to help. And if you need anything, let me know. Don't worry, it's gonna be all right."
Indeed. I yearned to share Kern's confidence, but he most likely would not be quite so optimistic if he knew all there was to know.