Pinocchio

Think of something to write, anything...nope, coming up blank.


Hmm. How about the brief time I knew Joseph Mollicone. You remember him. He absconded with $18,000,000 worth of Heritage Loan's money and that brought down the entire credit union industry in RI. I met him because I used to work in one of his real estate holdings when I was an early 20 something. From outward appearances he seemed a nice guy and quite knowledgeable with money. He was flipping Providence office buildings before retail America was flipping homes.


And that's as far as I'll take this story. Feeling gypped? Led on? Sorry, but I type stream of consciousness here and this path leads to my first and thankfully my last introduction to the Atwells Ave crowd. They're major league racketeers and in comparison, I was on the tee-ball league. There is no way I'd play well with the big boys. I was just not talented enough and knew it.


Well, I can add that Mollicone dressed in total 80's preppie style and was polite.

 

 

*****



No one's completely honest. If you were, past 18, you'd probably find life a real devil of a time to work with. The friends I know who own businesses dabble in tax fraud via under reporting income. Then there were the one-time amateur pharmacologists who plied their trade in Slater Park and now sell trifling amounts to friends. Then there are the over sexed ones who occasionally cheat on their wives (and vice versa).


All small time misconduct. They know how far to push it, or rather, know their limits.


I've met some pretty honest people. By honest I mean really honest which seems to be damaging to them at times. Ever meet a Mormon and a I mean a real Provo, Utah type? They're transparent as a sheet of glass most are. It's something to see them speak up at an office meeting and in doing so, cut their standing down a few notches by speaking too honestly. Sure, you probably could trust them with your wallet and first born for a month, but as far as maintaining their political standing in the real world?


And we all guard our political standing, whether at work, at home or among friends...don't we?


I was put on the spot once on this question, rhetorically, at a staff meeting over twenty years ago.


Before the meeting began, we were chatting and I retold a story. I was walking along Armistice Blvd to get to the Quickie Mart. It must've been 1 AM or later. As I walked along, I see one of those then new fiberglass ladders Home Depot was selling. It was a good twenty footer too, leaning against a building. It was unattached, untied up and seemed quiet alone there.


“That's going to be long gone before morning...hell...YOU could be the one taking off with it.” I thought.


I never took it, but entertained some ideas ya know.


That's when the second in command of the facility pipes up, as she was eavesdropping.


“So, how honest are you, Ron?”   It was one of those cornering shots, like in tennis where they try to make you run to the baseline, hoping you won't get there in time. It was calculated.


Talk about ambushes.



“How honest am I?” This was followed by a knowing pregnant pause. But I can be fairly quick on my feet once I get my bearings back.


“Well, I'm as honest as a Rhode Islander needs to be.” I answer.


My brain is working fast and I completely made up the next statement...sort of.


“Yeah, as honest as the next Rhode Islander needs to be..." (This is true..now comes the curve ball LIE)


“...I got that phrase from Leonard van Dorn” (The LIE. He never told me at all). As I said that odd name, I shot a focused, staring and knowing look right into her eyes. I broke it off several seconds later.


Our second in command was a married women of several years, except when she was porking her other love interest, van Dorn, who was our sub-contracted psychologist who I got to know well later on. Their affair was a running joke at our job, as she was horrible at covering her tracks. It made for the usual office gossip.


That shut her up quick. As I turned away, I might have said to myself, “Yeah...Fuck you too.” under my breath.


People, when calm and safe, are generally honest. But if you threaten them, intending to ruin their life or make it uncomfortable, people will change quick and defend it in an instant. Why is anyone surprised by this? They shouldn't be. I don't care if the transgression you're being accused of is true or not, people will defend themselves with what weaponry and skill they possess at the moment.




You do this. I do this. You see it every day on WJAR when the defendant says, “I plead NOT guilty” at the arraignment. Hell, five year olds are taught this when caught with their hand in the cookie jar.