“Iv’e got a tip for you, Josh” – The Blue Suit
By JOSH RESNEK
“Did you hear who’s leaving city service to go elsewhere?” the Blue Suit asked me during a discussion earlier this week.
“Not really,” I answered. “There’s almost nothing you can tell me about what’s going on that I already know.”
“You seem pretty confident about that, Josh,” the Blue Suit said to me.
“How can you know everything when no one talks with you?” the Blue Suit asked me.
“The mayor orders everyone not to speak with you, not to tell you anything, not to communicate with you. I know this. I hear him tell people not to return your calls or to tell you anything,” the Blue Suit added.
“Yeah, you’ve got that right. He thinks by ordering people not to speak with me that they will do as he demands. Guess what? That strategy doesn’t work. In fact, people are more willing to speak with me just knowing it pisses the mayor off as long as I promise not to say anything or to reveal my source,” I said.
“Then the mayor comes back with his lackeys claiming I write articles without sourcing them. That’s a joke,” I said.
“Everyone paying close attention to the Leader Herald knows I’m right on the mark about what I have to reveal about the mayor and his cronies.”
“I know it,” the Blue Suit replied. “That doesn’t stop the mayor and his pals from warning everyone that you’re the enemy and that the Leader Herald is the enemy,” he added.
“Enemy of what?” I asked. “What is the Leader Herald to be considered an enemy about?”
“The Leader Herald prints the truth. The truth is a terrible weapon of aggression,” the Blue Suit said. When the Blue Suit uses a Shakespearian expression like that I am impressed and made sad at the same time. The Blue Suit deserves better than the mayor. I just know one day my pal the Blue Suit will be squashed to death during one of the mayor’s eating fits and then be disposed of like a city hall employee with no thanks or goodbyes, just like that, into a dumpster, with the mayor laughing after tossing him away after all these years of abuse and saying to himself, ‘The Blue Suit was always useless to me. I’m glad he’s resting comfortably in a dumpster now. That’s where he belongs.’”
“The mayor cringes at your story telling about him. It drives him crazy, this column from week to week. He hates it. You reveal nearly everything he does wrong. Everything he is sneaking. Everyone he hates and makes fun of. Those he doesn’t care for because they’re black or Hispanic, gay or transgender, or because women of color are assertive and won’t take his guff. He hates Gerly Adrien. She’s the real enemy. Everyone around him hates her as well. She’s a bit too ambitious, to uppity, too Black and too assertive. They try to make the case to anyone who will listen that she has no idea what she’s doing, that she needs to be brought down to size, and that they will go great lengths to push her out of city hall.”
The Blue Suit took a deep breath. He released it slowly, the way the mayor would exhale after a hearty meal, a few drinks and a cigar.
I pressed my index finger onto the Blue Suit’s lapel.
“Hate is a bad thing. Jealousy is a bad thing. Greed, wanting what others have or taking what others have away from them…that’s all bad stuff,” I said to the Blue Suit. ” That’s your boss all the way.”
“You think I don’t know this? I’m trapped just like everyone else working for him. I don’t want to be in a dumpster. Others working for him don’t want to be in an unemployment line.”
The Blue Suit composed himself.
“I’ve got one for you Josh that you know nothing about because it happened yesterday.”
“Oh yeah, what’s that?” I asked.
“A major cog in the city hall development wheel is leaving. It’s a big loss if you ask me because he knows what he’s doing. He’s been loyal. He’s put up with all the mayor’s petulance and tom foolery. He’s been beaten down by the mayor for years and he’s finally called it quits,” the Blue Suit revealed.
“I know who you’re talking about,” I said to the Blue Suit. “Impossible!” the Blue Suit said boldly.
“It’s about Anthony Sousa leaving as the director of Planning and Development, isn’t it?”
“How did you know that,” the Blue Suit asked me.
“I’ve got my sources,” I answered.
“Tony has been unhappy for quite a while. That’s not unusual. He’s a complete gentleman – no bombast, to hate, no greed, no disrespect for anyone in the public place…or in private for that matter,” I said.
“Oh, so you were talking with Tony?”
“Of course not,” I said.
“Tony is a good guy – and I have spoken with him on numerous occasions over the years, but he is not crazy. He had enough going on he had to deal with between the mayor and his vassals to be confiding in me. I spoke with someone else about him leaving – actually with two people connected with city hall – one inside and one outside. Call them both sources who wished to have their identities remain a secret.”
“I found out two weeks ago truth be known. But I waited before letting the city know. It was the responsible thing to do,” I added.
The Blue Suit expressed amazement.
“Do you know why he left?” he asked me.
“Of course,” I said to him.
“But let’s leave that for another time.”
“Let’s just say he was unhappy in his position and was very happy to leave. He had enough.”