The road sweeper
Judy pulled up in the car park of the council offices. She stepped from her car and straightened her skirt and jacket. She hoped she looked smart for this morning’s meeting. As she made for the entrance, another car pulled in, it was Mike James, her opposite number on the Wallchester council. Judy would rather not face him until she had to. He was against her tourism policy, but was also a rather brash and obnoxious person. She didn’t like to spend more time around him than was absolutely necessary. She decided she would take the alternative route to her office, through the yard. This wasn't the first time she had done this, though not always simply to avoid Mike James.
This route took her around the side of the office building and in through the garage section where some of the councils smaller vehicles were stored and maintained, the road-sweeper’s and small vans. As she walked through, there were many orange jacketed people milling around. She always said good morning to anyone who caught her eye and they generally responded likewise. She rather hoped she might see one particular worker. She knew him as they were both members of the local history society and they often loaned each other books or passed on some interesting information, or sometimes just chatted. It was looking like he might not be about this morning, but as she rounded the last corner before the door out of the garage area, she almost bumped into him, literally.
"Gordon!" She started, "Good morning. How are you this morning?" They chatted for a few moments about a forthcoming event and this morning’s council meeting. He was fully with Judy on the tourism strategy. Some may have thought it a strange sight, the very elegant and rather attractive leader of the council in her blue business suit chatting comfortably to a man who could have been twenty years older than her, wearing hard-worn workman’s trousers, heavy boots and a dayglow orange outdoor work jacket. His greying, unkempt hair was rather different to her immaculate shoulder length auburn bob. But they talked and laughed for a few minutes before Gordon insisted that he must get back to work. Judy suddenly realised that she really must get going too. They said their goodbye’s and went their separate ways.
Mike James powered into his office. He liked the feeling he got that people cowered a little as he entered.
"Is this morning’s meeting still on schedule?" He demanded. The young lady administrator at the computer began to direct the mouse furiously in an attempt to find out, but before she got to the necessary information, Toby Drew, Mikes lanky and over enthusiastic assistant, stood up and began trailing him as he did most days.
"Yes Mr. James. I've got the architects groundwork drawings here, and the projection report you asked for, and..."
"Great!" Interrupted Mike, "I don't know why Judith can't see the benefits of this, but this should seal the deal or I'm a Dutchman!"
"You’re a what?" Asked a confused Toby, who was rather too young to have heard that expression before.
"Doesn't matter." Boomed Mike, "Get me a coffee and show me those projections."
Toby made for the coffee machine then remembered the report and returned to Mike’s desk with it. He turned a couple of pages into it and started to point things out but then remembered the coffee and so walked off with the report.
"Stop! ...... Give me the projections, and then go for the coffee."
"Oh yes. I'll do that, yes." Flustered the eager to please Toby, holding out the report for Mike to swipe away with a superior sigh. Toby had only worked here for a few weeks. It was his first job after university and he was young and eager, which Mike liked. But in truth, he was a little too eager.
A little later they were both in the meeting room with a number of other councillors and advisors, and of course, Judith, head of the Wallchester council. Mike couldn't help gazing at her. They were members of different political parties, had different strategies for moving Wallchester forward and probably had different tastes in everything from food to music, but Mike still got butterflies when he saw her.
She called the meeting to order. Mikes presentation was first on the agenda and he gave every argument he could on why Wallchester needed a business park, including those projections which predicted millions of pounds of income and thousands of new jobs. He mentioned that it involved building on half of the town’s parkland so briefly that most people in the room probably missed it. At least, that’s what Mike hoped.
Now it was Judy's turn. After Mike’s thorough report, she felt that she was not as well prepared. She put her objections forward to the destruction of so much green land and then launched into her arguments for promoting tourism. It is true that Wallchester has much potential in this direction, being a Roman town with many historical sites from that time, and from before and after it, but it is rather more difficult to quantify the potential benefits. Judy could sense that her presentation wasn't as compelling or as professional as Mike's. But despite the fact that she felt he had exaggerated some of his claims, while she had been conservative with hers, she didn't stoop to accusing him of this.
She sat down and caught a glimpse of Mikes smug confidence, which only re-enforced her feeling that she had not put her case forward nearly so well. She opened the meeting up for questions. She was a little surprised when the first questioner asked Mike just how accurate his projections were. Not only was it asked in a way that seemed to doubt its integrity, but it was accompanied by much agreement in its sentiment from others at the table. Mike seemed a little taken aback by this and struggled to justify it to the questioner’s satisfaction.
Then it was Judy’s turn in the hot seat, but she could back her figures up a little better as she had a case study. It was of a local authority in a similar town in Austria who had had much success following the tourism route.
By the end of the meeting Judy had half of the council on her side, there were two undecided, and the rest were tentatively with Mike. It was agreed that more studies were required before a decision could be made. Judy had more than survived this battle, and judging by the way Mike stormed out, he knew it!
Mike strode back towards his office purposefully, trailed by Toby who was trying to put a positive spin on the outcome. Mike was having none of it.
"God that woman!" He growled, "On one hand she's hugging trees and bringing the rest of the council along with her, on the other.... I'd like to take her out!"
This last statement coincided with arriving at his office, where he shut the door in Toby’s face. The young admin clerk returned with some paper for the printer. "Oh no!" She worried, "Is he in a bad mood?"
"Yep!" Winced Toby as some loud desk banging could be heard from the other side of the door to confirm it. Toby sloped off. He pondered what he should do to make his boss happy again. Some more facts, he thought. He would try to find a case study too. Judy’s example had seemed to impress. He headed off towards the records office to see what they could do for him.
He entered the lift and found himself sharing it with two women from planning who were talking about some handy work that one of them was having done. Just before Toby had joined them, one had been saying that she had a rat infestation in her yard. The other woman had said that her handyman could sort out anything. It was at this point that Toby joined them.
"Oh! Even ....." The first woman made a throat slitting motion with her finger rather than mention the rats now that they had company.
"Oh yes!" Said the second woman," He does anything."
The lift went quiet now as it continued up. Toby was convinced that the women had been talking about having someone killed, and he remembered the last thing his boss had said, “I'd like to take her out.”
“Of course!” He thought, his naivety and eagerness to please letting his grip on reality slip somewhat, “He wants her killed! And these ladies know a hit man! I didn't realise the council was this cut-throat. But it's clearly everywhere!”
He nervously stood behind them trying to work out how to ask them. The lift stopped at their floor so he blurted out his question quickly, "Who is your man?"
"What? Oh, you mean my fixer?"
"Yes! How can I get in touch? I have a job for him."
"He's the road sweeper, Gordon. I'll tell him you're after him if you like."
The two women left the lift and went on their way. Toby was absorbed, and not a little excited by the prospect of hiring a hit man. "The Road Sweeper!” He thought to himself, “What a cool name!”
Then the lift door began to close with him still in it and he frantically poked buttons to try and get them to open again, "Don't shut.......This is my floor.....Open you blinking doors!"
Later that day Toby was walking near the garage when Gordon called to him.
"Hello." Replied Toby, "Can I help you?"
"I'm Gordon." He said, but this didn't seem to register with Toby, so he added," The road sweeper and handy man. You have a job for me?"
"Oh! Yes." Then, in hushed tones, "I need you to take somebody out."
Gordon was confused for a moment but then he thought he understood. Toby must have a trainee that he wanted him to take out on the road sweeper and show the ropes.
"Oh!" He said. "Yes of course. Who is it and when do you want it done?"
"It's Judith, how soon could you do it?"
Gordon thought he understood once more. Not a trainee! Judy wanted to experience some of the council's jobs first hand. Why hadn't she asked him herself? He wondered. She must have to go through proper channels. But why the whispering? "Errrm, tomorrow I suppose." He answered.
"Wow! That soon?"
"Did you have any time in mind?" Gordon asked. He wasn't sure he was keeping up after all.
"Well I didn't expect it to be so soon. I thought it would take some planning and be in the evening or the weekend, and..... you know, not on home turf."
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