the back of my mind, I guess, I was trying to kid myself that Hap had been stringing me about Panzer. Or that, maybe, he'd had the wrong dope. And I hated to get up and find out the truth.
Finally, a little after nine, I got up, caught some breakfast and a barbershop shave, and headed for the row. I hadn't brought any toilet articles with me. I'd been afraid to bring any luggage on account of Carol. I was wondering now what kind of story I'd hand her when I got back.
Everyone on the row had heard about the fire, and I wasted about an hour shaking hands and receiving sympathy before I could get to the Utopian exchange. Of course there was more of the same stuff there. But the manager saw it was bothering me and he cut it short by taking me back into his office.
Maybe I told you he was an old friend of mine? I'd known him since the days when he was peddling film and I was hauling it.
We had a couple of drinks and talked a little. After a few minutes, he took out his watch and glanced at it.
'Well, Joe,' he said, 'what brings you into town? What's on your mind?'
'Not much of anything, Al,' I said. 'I just wanted to get away from things for a day or two.'
'I see. I understand.' He shuffled some papers on his desk. 'Well, I'm glad you dropped in.'
'I was just wondering,' I said, 'if you had anything on next season's product yet. Of course, I know you've always got a good line- up, but if you had anything unusual I'd kind of like to know. I've been figuring on enlarging the house a little.'
He sat there, smiling and nodding. 'I believe I have got a few press sheets, Joe. Yeah, here's something. Take at look at those. Something, huh? I'm not going to run down our competitors, but you can see for yourself that-that-'
His eyes met mine, and the sheets slid out of his hand. He cleared his throat, and looked away.
'You've got a nice house, Joe. It always struck me as being just about the right size.'
'Thanks,' I said.
I'd known it was coming, but it didn't make it any easier to take. I knew it was kid stuff, foolish, to argue. But I couldn't help myself.
'It always seemed to me, Al,' I said, 'that I was a white man to deal with. I don't give nothing away, but I don't ask for noth- anything. If I'm not profitable to deal with, that's a different matter. But it always seemed to me like I was.'
'Oh, hell, Joe,' he said. 'I'm in the business so I've got to talk price, but I don't think you've actually skinned us six times in ten years. I wouldn't say that to everyone, but I'll say it to you. You're a hundred-per-center in my books.'
'Well, that's the way I feel,' I said. 'You've maybe skinned me a few times on superspecials, and you've got a damned bad habit of accidentally shipping me stuff I don't want on the same invoice with stuff that I do, so that I have to take all or nothing. But when I look back upon our whole friendship it's been pretty pleasant. It's something I hate to see broken up. I mean if it was going to be broken up.'
'I'm glad you said that, Joe. I like to keep things on a friendly basis. After all, what are we arguing about? It's just a hypothetical case.'
'Sure,' I said. 'Oh, sure. But take even a hypothetical case, Al; it's kind of hard for me to understand. I mean, I think I get it but I'm not sure. The town isn't going to get a whole lot bigger, if any, and film rentals are based on population. A can of film is a can of film. If you push it too far back on the shelf it begins to stink. Twenty-five per cent more, and I could reach it. Fifty, and I'm still not crazy. They'll let me go around if I wear a muzzle. But higher than that-well, they call in the health department.'
'They've called it in before, Joe.'
'You know what I mean,' I said.
'It's hard to understand, all right,' he said. 'Personally, I don't try to. I just sit back and take orders. By the way, have you seen 'Light o' Dawn' yet? We booked it into the Panz palace here in town last week.'
'I played it,' I said. 'Don't you remember how you jacked me from twenty-five to thirty bucks for it?'
He didn't seem to hear me.
'We booked it into Panz palace at fifty per cent of the gross. It pulled seventeen grand the first five days.'
I got up and held out my hand. 'Well, good-by,' I said. 'I've got to go buy a bottle of liniment.'
'Goddamit, Joe,' he said, 'I like you. If there's ever anything I can do for you-personally, that is-you know where to come.'
'I don't think there's anything you can do, Al.'
'Well-' He let me get to the door. 'Come back a minute, Joe.'
I went back and sat down.
'Joe, I feel like a heel about this.'
'What for?' I said. 'It's just a hypothetical case.'
'Oh, can that crap. The cat's out of the bag. I feel terrible about it, Joe. It's a hell of a note to hit a man with a thing like this right after he's lost his wife.'
'I won't argue with you there,' I said. 'It looks like if Sol had to build another house he could have picked some spot besides Stoneville.'
'No, he couldn't, Joe.' Al shook his head. 'You've got the best show town in the state. You've got a draw there of a town three times its size. It's the only place where he could possibly justify the building of another Panz palace.'
'It's going to be one then? One of his regular articles?'
'It has to be, Joe. You've got a pretty nice house there yourself. Sol couldn't build enough house for three or four hundred grand, even a half million, to freeze you out.'
'I don't know that I get you,' I said.
'Sure, you do. You mentioned it yourself a few minutes ago. If you had to, you could pay three or four times as much for product as you are now and keep running. But you couldn't pay six or seven times as much. Neither could Sol with less than a million-buck house. I mean, he couldn't justify rentals like that.'
'I see,' I said. 'But actually he won't pay you any more than I do, if he pays that much. He'll shave you down somewhere else in the chain.'
Al shrugged. 'I showed you the answer to that, Joe. Panz palace controls every important house in the state- the big city houses that play product on percentage instead of at a flat rate. As long as he doesn't ask us to do anything out-and-out illegal we've got to play with him.'
'I'll make you a little bet,' I said. 'I'll bet inside of ten-fifteen years Panzer has shaved you enough, you and the other exchanges, to pay for that house.'
'Maybe. I just work here.'
'You're cutting your own throats, Al!'
'Better worry about yourself, Joe. What are your plans?'
'I-I haven't thought too far ahead,' I said.
'Why don't you go and see Sol? Maybe you could work out something. I happen to know he likes you.'
'Yeah,' I said, 'he must.'
'He does, Joe.' Al leaned forward. 'Look. Those big boys don't look on things like you and I do. The way Sol sees it, it don't make no difference if there's a Barclay in Stoneville or not. Relatively, you know. It's unimportant. But if he don't put in this Panz palace- and like I say he's got to put it in Stoneville-he sees himself as losing several million dollars.'
I let that sink in, and, if there'd been a laugh left in me, it would have come out.
'I see,' I said. 'It's easy for a man to figure that way. You lose track of the fact that something that doesn't mean a thing to you may mean a hell of a lot to the guy that has it.'
'That's it exactly.'
'But how does he figure several million dollars?'
'Well, Sol has a reputation as a money-maker, doesn't he? When he puts up a new house the public looks on it as another mint.'
'They're not far wrong at that,' I said. 'I see. Panz palace stock will take a jump.'
'It will, but don't get any ideas, Joe. This is Sol's surprise and only he knows exactly when he's going to pull
