Did you expect me to not be in Queen for A Day?
Did you expect me to keep my mouth shut when stupid shit happens that robs the people I'm trying to lead to the promise land?
I want to make this place better. And it appears that no matter what is done, the management, the brass will find a way to put whomever they want, in the spot they want, regardless of how deserving, qualified or skilled they actually are.
They will just revert to their favorites when push comes to shove.
Well, I'm about to just take matters into my own hands.
I don't blame Crystal.
I blame the people who put her in this spot.
Well, no... I blame her too.
It's ALWAYS been all about who you know, isn't it?
In time, I will change that.
Trust me.
We really didn’t know how long we would have to wait. That was an issue and I didn’t know if Levi ever worked anywhere before. I hadn’t worked for about a year and a half at this point. I just left Burger King when Eddie and I left Wisconsin, and then I worked as a stripper for all of six months.
It’s kind of hard to put giant gaps in your resume, and then try to explain that, I was riding around the country, stealing, robbing, doing breaking and entering, drug dealing, and eventually killed a cop. I think they look down on that.
But then again, I didn’t really need to put that in there anyway. I could have explained anything really. Who reads resumes anymore? What’s the point? It’s all done by AI. Human eyes will only read your resume if it beats the scan. And the only way that really happens is if you actually cheat the system.
One of the lessons I learned from Mal was to actually copy some of the information for the job you wanted into your resume and then change the text color to white. That way when the AI looks for keywords, it’ll pop your resume.
Now the only real question was, what the hell kind of jobs were we going to do?
“I ain’t trying to be no pencil pusher, and I ain’t trying to serve fat people food.” Levi said, staring out the window of the hotel we were in.
“That shit’s for the birds.” He added, stretching out his back.
“Well, I’ll see what I can do.” I said, looking through the job search sites.
I remember when there were like 20 different job sites and they all had different jobs. It was great. Because the only saying always was “It’s about what you can do, not who you know.”
Nowadays, the only job site worth a shit is LinkedIn, a job site literally based on who you know. And hell, we didn’t know anybody. By the time we were finished with our jobs, you barely had time to get to know anyone, nor did you want to. Knowing the people you rob is just weird. Or at least it would be, right?
Well, maybe not. That shit happens all the time and it’s someone who you trust that fucks you over and then acts like they’re upset about it.
There wasn’t a lot to actually work with. Employers on the internet want to have people who have super high qualifications. And that’s the shit they actually check. I probably went a little overboard with a GED to be honest. I got it and I carried it with me, but I had no resume to speak of. A burger flipper and a stripper. Not exactly qualified for much.
“What about retail?” I asked, looking up from the laptop.
“Working at Wal-Mart?” He turned, questioning me.
“Doesn’t have to be Wal-Mart, but yes.”
“No.” He answered.
Not that Wal-Mart would be on LinkedIn or anything, but the choices were few and far between. The searches happened every day that we had, waiting for that, or Rapahel to call back with a job. And neither seemed likely to strike anything.
“Don’t they have those job fairs anymore?”
“Job fairs are a waste of time, Levi.”
They always have been. At least in my experience. Job Fairs, Job Expos, no matter what you call them all ask you to do the same thing. Walk around, shake hands and network, and then when you feel like you make a connection, they hand you a piece of paper and say “Go apply online!” Like, you could easily look up all the information online instead of that. So it’s just designed to waste your time.
But we had to do something.
We drove an hour to Los Angeles, and looked around. There just wasn’t much to really go on and nothing that really sparked our interest.
Until we were at the pier.
Walking along the tourist attraction was one thing, but then Levi thought about getting a job at the docks.
“You really wanna work there?” I asked.
“Look at it this way, I’m working, and things that come in, well hell, they go missing all the time, right? Then we’ve got some items we can move and make some money on the side.”
I was really unsure of this plan, especially, because Levi would be working alone and I wouldn’t be there. We were a team and losing the team to try solo ops wasn’t, in my mind anyway, the best idea. Because if Levi got caught, then he’s be in jail and then the whole operation was fucked.
“There’s a lot of variables I don’t like, Levi.”
“I look like I can work there, and it’ll be… semi-honest. Look, we can’t wait around for Raphael to call us forever. We have like $30K between the two of us. It won’t last forever. We need something like this.”
“How do you propose you get a job at the docks?”
“Let’s go down and ask.”
I mean, we had to start somewhere.
We took the drive down to the docks and sure enough, there was a “now hiring” sign. Levi was a pretty smooth talker so, once he got the foreman’s ear and spoke to him, he had it in the bag. He and the foreman were laughing and joking and shooting the shit like old buddies in no time. I smiled to myself, knowing how useful it is.
Levi walked out like an hour later and was smiling ear to ear.
“I start on Monday!” He hugged me as he said it.
“How the hell did that happen?”
“Turns out, I know his nephew.”
Levi didn’t need a resume, he didn’t need references. It’s all about who you know.
The lessons we learn. Right?
But, it was something. And I needed to find something for myself. I wasn’t interested in retail, services or anything like that. The truth was I didn’t know what the hell I wanted to do. I was having the most fun robbing people. But now going back to being legit? That sounded awful.
This is the American dream, isn’t it?
Well now what?
I have to ask this question because now? Now it’s just become ridiculous. We’ve veered so far off track that nobody knows what the hell is going on anymore. Why are we doing this?
What’s the point, Crystal?
Why do you want to wrestle me? Why do you feel the need to be mad at me? I didn’t say anything that wasn’t true. I simply pointed out the obvious and it makes you look bad.
How is this different from… any other situation you find yourself in? There’s literally dozens if not hundreds of examples of you being a shitty person, and being called out for it.
Actually, actually, I do tell a lie here and there. This is different.
The difference is… the difference is that this isn’t even your fault, Crystal.
You see, it’s like I told the Captain, you’re a pawn. You get moved around the board and plugged in wherever they need you. You have no control. And now, you’re stuck in this shit situation by no fault of your own. They panicked when the Captain went down and they pivoted to you. They did so out of reflex.
And that’s where they fucked up. Because unlike most other people, I voiced my opinion, and I called them on the carpet. And then others did so as well. How do you lose a match, throwing away your rematch or championship clause or some such nonsense. And then get rewarded with a title match out of nowhere? They gave you that match with the Captain and you know you don’t deserve it.
And then… the match gets canceled because everyone finally opens their eyes and points out the obvious issue with that match: You. And what happens? Christian Underwood blames Gwendolyn and takes zero responsibility. So he hired a puppet to be the fall guy for his asinine decisions. It’s either that, or he hired an incompetent idiot who isn’t fit to do her job.
And what happens next?
The Captain goes down. And instead of having the proposed triple threat match turned into a singles match with a minor adjustment… You are then placed in the match. Like, at this point they have to be doing it on purpose.
And here you are, stuck in the middle.
And you’re mad at me? And you want to fight me?
Why?
What good does it do you, Crystal? What is there for you to gain? What do you want? Respect? You threw that away a long time ago. Dignity? That’s long since left you. You choose to throw those things away. You chose to gleefully accept the spotlight and take it over and over. You have the match already. You can become a 7 time champion. Winning or losing this match does nothing for you. You have literally zero to gain. And nothing to lose for that matter. All you have is a chance to lose for 2 weeks in a row and then… just getting a championship match anyway.
Do you think it’s going to shut me up?
Bitch, I have been talking shit to every single woman on this roster for a god damn year. I will continue to disrespect you and everyone who crosses my path. That’s what I do. And you’re a fucking easy target anyway. You should be walking on pins and needles every goddamn time you even think about running your mouth. I have verbally cut you to shreds and that will continue no matter what.
Do you think it’s going to hurt me?
First, I’m already in Queen for A Day.
Second,not as much as you hurt others.
You already stole a match from me, running your re-run bullshit that everyone has already seen and now… Oh yeah, you are a happy couple again. But you don’t fucking care about that. I’m just waiting for the next time that you leave Seleana, and her family, and go and pal around with someone else and then try and pull it back together when you need some extra motivation for a championship match.
So really does this boil down to, you just don’t like what I said? You think I’m just a hater? You sat there and ran all the re-run nonsense and I said nothing.
And to be honest, this shit wasn’t even about you in particular. You’re irrelevant in the conversation.
The part of Crystal Whoever could have been anybody. If they stuck Bea Barnhart in that spot, I would have called it out. If they stuck Bella, Alexandra, the list is literally everyone not named Mercedes, and Victoria Lyons. Even if they stuck ME in the fucking triple threat match, I would have been confused.
But I know like everyone else, you think this is about you. You stick your nose in everyone’s business anyway. You constantly pick sides and troll from the sidelines. You want to be the center of attention and now, you are. Just like you wanted.
I would much rather prefer it if you just said nothing and like… I dunno, owned it and said “fuck yeah I’m getting at title match!”
But that’s the whole point here, you cannot say that now. You have no wiggle room for the spot you are in, and you’re not even at fault.
They pivoted to you too fast, and now management is pointing the finger at each other.
If anything, you should be mad at them. Not me.
But, since you wish to lash out at me, you will pay the penalty for it.
This is going to be one of the worst decisions you’ve made in your entire life, and that’s saying a lot.
I’m going to continue the job that I started last year. You wanted the spotlight so bad then, and now, you will have it shut off, and I’m going to be the next person who makes piece after piece fall off. This is the beginning of your end. You chose this, not me. You ran your mouth and requested this match with me. Stupid ass reasons aside, you made this mistake, and it’s one you’re going to regret.
Your misplaced anger at me just mirrors the masters you serve. They want you to be angry at me. They want you to try and take me down. They’ve already tried to kill me 3 times already and have failed, and once I am done with you, I will walk into Into The Void and I will win Queen for A Day. There’s nothing that’s going to stop that. Not you, not them, not anybody.
And then I will show all of them, and all of you that I will make this place better by being in charge. We will no longer have to suffer from you getting countless rematches and title matches and all this other happy horseshit because I’m going to help break the chains that are holding this company back. And that includes you.
You can be mad at management, you can be upset at the position they put you in, and you would be justified.
But trying to call me out? That one is all on you. You deserve this beatdown that I’m giving you.
You’d just better hope you don’t actually pull a win out of your ass at Into The Void. Because that would put you back in my crosshairs. And if that happens, I will pull the trigger and put the final bullet through your career.
Trust me.
