“Kickback Carlo is nervous and deep down, he’s doubtful.”
– The mayor’s Blue Suit talking with Josh Resnek
By JOSH RESNEK
I picked up the Blue Suit at a bus stop on Elm Street Tuesday afternoon. He had bought Scratch tickets and cigarettes. He was obviously feeling pretty good about himself.
We drive around the city in my red Honda Fit. No one noticed us. No one cared.
“Kickback Carlo, as you like to call him, is really nervous,” the Blue Suit said to me about the mayor.
I laughed.
“How so?” I asked.
“I hear him talking about losing the immigrant vote – at least that’s what he calls the Blacks, Browns, Hispanics, and all the others.”
“Oh yeah? What does he say?”
“What he calls them behind everyone’s back I cannot repeat. I mean the terms he uses, including the N-word, are civil rights violations. I’m shocked whenever he speaks like that, but I’m never surprised because that’s who he is. Frankly, his language is worse about gays and LGBTQ people. God, you cannot believe what comes out of his mouth,” added the Blue Suit.
“If you had to live inside his mind it would be like trying to survive in a sewer. I will say with some pride that he looks like a mayor when he wears me around.”
The Blue Suit scratched a 100X ticket as we drove down Broadway.
“Carlo says he knows the Blacks aren’t going to vote for him. He knows he’s lost that vote to Gerly Adrien,” the Blue Suit replied.
“Does he mean that?” I asked.
“Are you kidding,” he said rather amazed.
“Of course he means it. He understands if this is true, he is likely gone. Haven’t you been paying attention, Josh? The city is now a majority place of color and ethnic peoples. Why do you think he’s been making promises he will never keep to Haitians he does not care for?”
I changed the subject.
“But what about these polls he’s been doing? Don’t they all tell him he’s in the lead? He can’t be beaten. He is going to be the mayor forever?”
“The polls give him a boost, but he knows they are not real and don’t mean much, not this time around. Adrien has organized so many Blacks and Browns, Hispanics, Asians, and women of all colors that he believes she’s the candidate he has to beat. Compared to his harsh manner and the need for control, she presents herself well.”
He scratched a number. He seemed to move like he was struck by lightning.
“Look at that Josh. $500! Does this make for a great day or what!!”
I dropped the Blue Suit off in Everett Square where he cashed his ticket.
Back inside my Honda, we headed for Santilli Circle.
“Does Kickback ever talk about kickbacks?” I asked the Blue Suit.
The Blue Suit looked at me knowingly.
“Carlo talks in code about kickbacks on his cell phone or in-person with developers. That 21-story thing going up in the triangle, maybe, could be the mayor’s biggest score in 14 years,” the Blue Suit confessed.
“How do you know this?” I asked.
“I heard him talking. Can you imagine the thank you for that project? The kickback on that monster must be the size of Mighty Joe Young and Godzilla put together unless I’ve got the mayor all wrong. The mayor does not want to lose out on that. That’s why he’s campaigning so hard,” the Blue Suit said.
The Blue Suit let out another precious gem.
“Kickback is working on a nice payment for himself right now that comes at the expense of someone else in the city. You should hear the particulars about that piece of work,” he said to me.
“Tell me the details, please,” I asked.
“In due time, Josh. In due time before the primary. I promise,” he said. “It’s a classic Kickback Carlo rip-off of a friend. That’s all I’m going to say,” he added.
Back to the campaign.
“Tell me. Does Kickback think he can lose?”
“The thought terrorizes him. Without his job, he’s got no income to support himself and others who have thrown him hundreds of thousands at times when he was in trouble in the past won’t be coming forward to do that if he loses,” the Blue said with assurance.
“What happens to you if Kickback loses?” I asked the Blue Suit.
“He will cut me up into pieces, toss me into a corner and then have his dog do his thing on me. For me, if Kickback loses, it is, as the ancient Latins said: et finis.
The end.”