Post by TLS on Nov 23, 2022 21:14:05 GMT -5
July 29th, 2022
Mom: Hey, I see your sign every morning when I drive to work!
I nod and wave back. As the car drives past me, her teenage daughter in the backseat glances at me quickly before putting her head down when I meet her eyes. The night before, we caught Grim trying to break the windows to the building, but he was only doing it because we fired him. There's still the mystery of who is responsible for the repeated destruction of our day care facility. I may have to take some time away from the OCW and focus on figuring this thing out before we lose the Center for good.
my phone vibrates, I check it and it's a message from Fanny.
Fanny: Boss, just got a notice that the City is coming in to do an inspection today. Seems like someone sent a complaint to the city about building code violation conditions.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I went all the way to finals with PIC in the Margarita Mix, and then he pinned me. One of us had to win. While he was celebrating his victory, I sat backstage and had a moment to myself. And I realized I no longer had that fight in me. Wrestling was no longer the most important thing, I felt like I had an obligation to make sure I did right by the kids and the families that put their trust in the BabySitters Club. Did it sting a little that I put my heart and soul into defending the honor of the OCW for the past year only to have the fans cheer for guys who sat back and watched some clowns run roughshod over the whole roster? It did. I put myself in the line of fire. I formed an entire group to combat the intruders. And after months and months of bickering and banter and backstage antics, we finally did it. We got rid of those clowns. But the ending to that saga didn't leave me with the sense of fulfillment that I was hoping for. In fact I felt empty inside. I felt that my actions didn't matter in the scheme of things. I felt irrelevant, and so I walked away quietly, and put my focus and energy towards the people that needed me.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
October 25, 2022
Leslie, Fanny, Grim and I have been a 4 person team these pst couple of months getting this place ready for inspection. I've actually had to dip into my savings from the money that I've made over the years. But we're almost there. We've re-floored the main room with child safe padding, and added an indoor play structure that takes up half of the space. The kitchen and eating area are remodeled, new appliances were brought in. We repainted the exterior walls and are adding a sandbox and play area with artificial grass on the outside as well.
Leslie: I'm glad you got rid of the mask. Makes you more approachable. You're the face ( she makes finger quotations) of this company.
TLS: Well one of the provisions the inspectors handed down was for me to take the mask off.
Leslie: You've aged well sir.
Fanny: Stop flirting with the boss Lez. We have a problem.
TLS: What is it?
Fanny: The construction company is walking out. They say our check bounced. We still owe them 35k, and another 50k is needed to finish repaving the parking area and installing the sandbox and outside play area.
TLS: What do you mean? Leslie?
Leslie pulls out her phone and punches something onto the keypad, we all stand there silently for a couple of seconds. Leslie looks up with a frown.
Leslie: We're out of money sir. Maybe we can pull from our Bitcoin account, but that too is starting to bleed.
TLS: What are we going to do?
Fanny: Let's have a bake sale.
Leslie: We'll raise 200 dollars at most. We might have to shut down operations until we can get the money to finish the remodel and get this place up to code.
Suddenly a rock comes crashing through one of the front windows. It's wrapped in a white sheet of paper. Grim drops his broom and goes to retrieved the rock and brings it over to the group. TLS unwraps the paper and reads the worlds scrawled in purple permanent marker.
DIE! BSC! DIE!
I thought the threat was over, but I guess we're back to square one.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Every-time that I feel like I'm done with this business something pulls me back, something draws me in. There is a Rumble in the Bronx with all the big names in the OCW and even some from the outside ready to stake their claim and win a shot at the World Champ. I guess I'll have to come back now and try and outlast everyone. I'm sure the winner will get a good monetary bonus. Hell I could even cash in my Oh Shit contract and take the title from pic. I wonder how much the OCW world title is worth on the black market. I wonder if it's real gold.
There is one person that I'm hoping I'l get a chance to square up against in the Rumble. That's Thaddeus Duke. The "owner" of the OCW. Ever since he bought the company, the place has gone to shit. He got rid of the hard workers who did the job with no questions asked. They showed up everyday and kept this company going. He brought in some of his own people, who have been unreliable and dangerous to work with. He's done nothing for this company. And at the Rumble I'll be glad to beat him senseless toss him out of the ring and hopefully out of the OCW once and for all.
I close up the gate and lock the latch. We boarded up the busted window with cardboard and duck tape. Grim was afraid that his pay wouldn't go through, I assured him it would, but gave him the last 200 dollars from my wallet in case it didn't. The night sky grows dim, I had to do the math in my head. "If it's 5 o'clock here, what time is it there?". Fuck it, I pulled out my phone and punched in his number. He picks it up after the second ring.
TLS: Hey man, it's me Tommy.
PIC: TLS? This is a surprise. Where have you been man?
TLS: I need to ask a favor from you, you know I hate doing this.
PIC: What is it? I'm scared to know what crazy scheme you have.
TLS: I need to borrow some money.
PIC: You lost all your money in the sportsbook again? How many people have bailed you out.
TLS: It's a long story, I just need some money to save my business.
PIC: What? I thought the business was doing great.
TLS: It's a long story, I just need to borrow some money.
PIC: How much are we talking about?
TLS: 10 thousand. I need to pay my workers and the credit companies.
PIC: 10k? What the heck man? That's a lot of money.
TLS: I wouldn't ask if I didn't need it.
PIC: (let's out a big sigh) I think I can do it, but I'll need a favor from you......
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
November 20th, 2022
I step out from the subway station and walk onto the street. It's been years since I've been to the Bronx. A young lady in a sailor costume runs past me, she keeps stopping and looking behind her shoulder, then she'l take of running again.
"They're just a bunch of Sissies!", She yells out before disappearing around a corner.
I notice a lot of the old brick houses in the neighborhood have those fake owls on their roofs. It's a tactic that people have used for decades in hopes to scare off pigeons. But I think the pigeons have caught on. They pay the artificial owls no mind and roost on the roofs alongside the wooden creatures.
Suddenly a young asian man bumps into me. His face is battered and bruise. He's wearing a name tag labeled "Jackie". He must work at a convenience store.
Jackie: I'm sorry sir. There are some guys after me.
TLS: What did you do to them?
Jackie: I don't know. They vandalized my uncle's store. So I stole one of their motorcycles and wrecked their hideout. Now they are after me.
TLS: how many of them are there?
Jackie: I don't know, maybe 20. I was able to get some good licks in, but there are too many of them. You have to get out of here too before they beat you up.
TLS: That may be a good idea.
I help Jackie to his feet, but before we can even turn our around, we hear a loud deep voice shouting at us. A large burly chinese guy, presumably the ring leader is holding a long wooden stick. Behind him are about 20 other guys.
Jackie: They call him Di Gaw Faw, means the Big Guy in cantonese.
Big Guy: You have offended my family Jackie! All we wanted was for your silly uncle to pay his protection money. Now you must pay.
I've heard the chinese triad have been running extortion for years, but I didn't realize they've made it across the bridge into the Bronx. Di Gaw Faw and his begin to make their way towards us.
Jackie: We're not going to make it to the subway, maybe we can go through this alley here.
I follow Jackie into the alley.
Jackie: God dammit. It's a dead end. I'm sorry I got you into this sir. Do you have a gun?
TLS: No.
Our backs are against the wall as Di Gaw Faw and his crew box us in. I survey the group and strategize a plan in my head. The gang charges at us, The Big Guy goes straight for Jackie. A guy in a blonde flat top whose breath smells like hot dog and mustard is the first to grab me. I flip him over and and push him against the wall. He groans in pain and holds his head as a person who looks like a man but has the hips of a woman swings at me with a stick, I duck under and kick them in the shin.
TLS: Stay down Jackass.
Two more guys charge at me as I slip under one and them shoulder thrust both of them to the ground. Jackie meanwhile is in the Big Guy's grasp. He holds Jackie in the air and is about to slam him down. I grab the stick from Jackass and fling it the Big Guy. It hits him in the back and falls to the ground. He seems more annoyed than anything as he turns his attention to me.
Big Guy: You fucking Gway Lo (White Devil). I'm going to turn you into a chicken bun and eat you.
He tosses Jackie to the ground and waddles his way towards my direction. I ready myself, but before I know it I'm grabbed in the back by 2 of his men. The Big Guy punches me in out to the gut, then lets out a big laugh. He then aims for my face and is about to deliver a finishing blow, but Jackie hops up to his feet and does a jumping fly kick that staggers the big guy.
Jackie: I hate to do this but you've left me no choice but to use my sacred Drunken Fist Kung Fu.
Jackie starts doing some weird shit, then begins beating the shit out of the rest of the crew. This buys me time as I get out of the grasp of the two muscular guys and bang their heads together.
Jackie does a flip, yells out and then elbows the Big Guy in the neck, he then smacks his head with the stick. The Big Guy falls to the ground. Jackie runs towards me and we stare at the pile of bodies.
Jackie: Thank you for you help sir. I know these guys will be back but at least today we've defeated them. Please take this as a show of appreciation.
Jackie hands me a 20 dollar bill. Now let's get out of here.
An alley full of bodies, all looking to do me harm, yet here I am the last man standing. A Rumble in the Bronx. An all out clusterfuck of an event where every man is out there for himself. But you see? I'm not out there for myself, I'm there for the kids. I'm there so people like Grim and Fanny and Leslie have jobs. I'm there so the kids and parents that rely on our childcare facilities have a place to go. It doesn't matter who comes out through those curtain, and it won't matter if I'm number 1 or number 25, every other body will hit the floor.
I exit the alley and make my towards my original destination.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A young woman greets me at the counter.
Worker: Welcome to shake shack, what can I get for you?
I order a burger, fries and a drink it comes to a total of $17.50. I tip the counter 2 dollars and place the 50 cents in my pocket. After about 5 minutes my number is called and I grab the food and take it to the seating area outside. I take a big bite of the burger and pat the change in my pocket. At Rumble in the Bronx, I'll prove to the world that I still have what it takes to outlast the competition.
Amount Needed - $80K
Money in hand- $.50
$79,999.50 to go
Mom: Hey, I see your sign every morning when I drive to work!
I nod and wave back. As the car drives past me, her teenage daughter in the backseat glances at me quickly before putting her head down when I meet her eyes. The night before, we caught Grim trying to break the windows to the building, but he was only doing it because we fired him. There's still the mystery of who is responsible for the repeated destruction of our day care facility. I may have to take some time away from the OCW and focus on figuring this thing out before we lose the Center for good.
my phone vibrates, I check it and it's a message from Fanny.
Fanny: Boss, just got a notice that the City is coming in to do an inspection today. Seems like someone sent a complaint to the city about building code violation conditions.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I went all the way to finals with PIC in the Margarita Mix, and then he pinned me. One of us had to win. While he was celebrating his victory, I sat backstage and had a moment to myself. And I realized I no longer had that fight in me. Wrestling was no longer the most important thing, I felt like I had an obligation to make sure I did right by the kids and the families that put their trust in the BabySitters Club. Did it sting a little that I put my heart and soul into defending the honor of the OCW for the past year only to have the fans cheer for guys who sat back and watched some clowns run roughshod over the whole roster? It did. I put myself in the line of fire. I formed an entire group to combat the intruders. And after months and months of bickering and banter and backstage antics, we finally did it. We got rid of those clowns. But the ending to that saga didn't leave me with the sense of fulfillment that I was hoping for. In fact I felt empty inside. I felt that my actions didn't matter in the scheme of things. I felt irrelevant, and so I walked away quietly, and put my focus and energy towards the people that needed me.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
October 25, 2022
Leslie, Fanny, Grim and I have been a 4 person team these pst couple of months getting this place ready for inspection. I've actually had to dip into my savings from the money that I've made over the years. But we're almost there. We've re-floored the main room with child safe padding, and added an indoor play structure that takes up half of the space. The kitchen and eating area are remodeled, new appliances were brought in. We repainted the exterior walls and are adding a sandbox and play area with artificial grass on the outside as well.
Leslie: I'm glad you got rid of the mask. Makes you more approachable. You're the face ( she makes finger quotations) of this company.
TLS: Well one of the provisions the inspectors handed down was for me to take the mask off.
Leslie: You've aged well sir.
Fanny: Stop flirting with the boss Lez. We have a problem.
TLS: What is it?
Fanny: The construction company is walking out. They say our check bounced. We still owe them 35k, and another 50k is needed to finish repaving the parking area and installing the sandbox and outside play area.
TLS: What do you mean? Leslie?
Leslie pulls out her phone and punches something onto the keypad, we all stand there silently for a couple of seconds. Leslie looks up with a frown.
Leslie: We're out of money sir. Maybe we can pull from our Bitcoin account, but that too is starting to bleed.
TLS: What are we going to do?
Fanny: Let's have a bake sale.
Leslie: We'll raise 200 dollars at most. We might have to shut down operations until we can get the money to finish the remodel and get this place up to code.
Suddenly a rock comes crashing through one of the front windows. It's wrapped in a white sheet of paper. Grim drops his broom and goes to retrieved the rock and brings it over to the group. TLS unwraps the paper and reads the worlds scrawled in purple permanent marker.
DIE! BSC! DIE!
I thought the threat was over, but I guess we're back to square one.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Every-time that I feel like I'm done with this business something pulls me back, something draws me in. There is a Rumble in the Bronx with all the big names in the OCW and even some from the outside ready to stake their claim and win a shot at the World Champ. I guess I'll have to come back now and try and outlast everyone. I'm sure the winner will get a good monetary bonus. Hell I could even cash in my Oh Shit contract and take the title from pic. I wonder how much the OCW world title is worth on the black market. I wonder if it's real gold.
There is one person that I'm hoping I'l get a chance to square up against in the Rumble. That's Thaddeus Duke. The "owner" of the OCW. Ever since he bought the company, the place has gone to shit. He got rid of the hard workers who did the job with no questions asked. They showed up everyday and kept this company going. He brought in some of his own people, who have been unreliable and dangerous to work with. He's done nothing for this company. And at the Rumble I'll be glad to beat him senseless toss him out of the ring and hopefully out of the OCW once and for all.
I close up the gate and lock the latch. We boarded up the busted window with cardboard and duck tape. Grim was afraid that his pay wouldn't go through, I assured him it would, but gave him the last 200 dollars from my wallet in case it didn't. The night sky grows dim, I had to do the math in my head. "If it's 5 o'clock here, what time is it there?". Fuck it, I pulled out my phone and punched in his number. He picks it up after the second ring.
TLS: Hey man, it's me Tommy.
PIC: TLS? This is a surprise. Where have you been man?
TLS: I need to ask a favor from you, you know I hate doing this.
PIC: What is it? I'm scared to know what crazy scheme you have.
TLS: I need to borrow some money.
PIC: You lost all your money in the sportsbook again? How many people have bailed you out.
TLS: It's a long story, I just need some money to save my business.
PIC: What? I thought the business was doing great.
TLS: It's a long story, I just need to borrow some money.
PIC: How much are we talking about?
TLS: 10 thousand. I need to pay my workers and the credit companies.
PIC: 10k? What the heck man? That's a lot of money.
TLS: I wouldn't ask if I didn't need it.
PIC: (let's out a big sigh) I think I can do it, but I'll need a favor from you......
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
November 20th, 2022
I step out from the subway station and walk onto the street. It's been years since I've been to the Bronx. A young lady in a sailor costume runs past me, she keeps stopping and looking behind her shoulder, then she'l take of running again.
"They're just a bunch of Sissies!", She yells out before disappearing around a corner.
I notice a lot of the old brick houses in the neighborhood have those fake owls on their roofs. It's a tactic that people have used for decades in hopes to scare off pigeons. But I think the pigeons have caught on. They pay the artificial owls no mind and roost on the roofs alongside the wooden creatures.
Suddenly a young asian man bumps into me. His face is battered and bruise. He's wearing a name tag labeled "Jackie". He must work at a convenience store.
Jackie: I'm sorry sir. There are some guys after me.
TLS: What did you do to them?
Jackie: I don't know. They vandalized my uncle's store. So I stole one of their motorcycles and wrecked their hideout. Now they are after me.
TLS: how many of them are there?
Jackie: I don't know, maybe 20. I was able to get some good licks in, but there are too many of them. You have to get out of here too before they beat you up.
TLS: That may be a good idea.
I help Jackie to his feet, but before we can even turn our around, we hear a loud deep voice shouting at us. A large burly chinese guy, presumably the ring leader is holding a long wooden stick. Behind him are about 20 other guys.
Jackie: They call him Di Gaw Faw, means the Big Guy in cantonese.
Big Guy: You have offended my family Jackie! All we wanted was for your silly uncle to pay his protection money. Now you must pay.
I've heard the chinese triad have been running extortion for years, but I didn't realize they've made it across the bridge into the Bronx. Di Gaw Faw and his begin to make their way towards us.
Jackie: We're not going to make it to the subway, maybe we can go through this alley here.
I follow Jackie into the alley.
Jackie: God dammit. It's a dead end. I'm sorry I got you into this sir. Do you have a gun?
TLS: No.
Our backs are against the wall as Di Gaw Faw and his crew box us in. I survey the group and strategize a plan in my head. The gang charges at us, The Big Guy goes straight for Jackie. A guy in a blonde flat top whose breath smells like hot dog and mustard is the first to grab me. I flip him over and and push him against the wall. He groans in pain and holds his head as a person who looks like a man but has the hips of a woman swings at me with a stick, I duck under and kick them in the shin.
TLS: Stay down Jackass.
Two more guys charge at me as I slip under one and them shoulder thrust both of them to the ground. Jackie meanwhile is in the Big Guy's grasp. He holds Jackie in the air and is about to slam him down. I grab the stick from Jackass and fling it the Big Guy. It hits him in the back and falls to the ground. He seems more annoyed than anything as he turns his attention to me.
Big Guy: You fucking Gway Lo (White Devil). I'm going to turn you into a chicken bun and eat you.
He tosses Jackie to the ground and waddles his way towards my direction. I ready myself, but before I know it I'm grabbed in the back by 2 of his men. The Big Guy punches me in out to the gut, then lets out a big laugh. He then aims for my face and is about to deliver a finishing blow, but Jackie hops up to his feet and does a jumping fly kick that staggers the big guy.
Jackie: I hate to do this but you've left me no choice but to use my sacred Drunken Fist Kung Fu.
Jackie starts doing some weird shit, then begins beating the shit out of the rest of the crew. This buys me time as I get out of the grasp of the two muscular guys and bang their heads together.
Jackie does a flip, yells out and then elbows the Big Guy in the neck, he then smacks his head with the stick. The Big Guy falls to the ground. Jackie runs towards me and we stare at the pile of bodies.
Jackie: Thank you for you help sir. I know these guys will be back but at least today we've defeated them. Please take this as a show of appreciation.
Jackie hands me a 20 dollar bill. Now let's get out of here.
An alley full of bodies, all looking to do me harm, yet here I am the last man standing. A Rumble in the Bronx. An all out clusterfuck of an event where every man is out there for himself. But you see? I'm not out there for myself, I'm there for the kids. I'm there so people like Grim and Fanny and Leslie have jobs. I'm there so the kids and parents that rely on our childcare facilities have a place to go. It doesn't matter who comes out through those curtain, and it won't matter if I'm number 1 or number 25, every other body will hit the floor.
I exit the alley and make my towards my original destination.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A young woman greets me at the counter.
Worker: Welcome to shake shack, what can I get for you?
I order a burger, fries and a drink it comes to a total of $17.50. I tip the counter 2 dollars and place the 50 cents in my pocket. After about 5 minutes my number is called and I grab the food and take it to the seating area outside. I take a big bite of the burger and pat the change in my pocket. At Rumble in the Bronx, I'll prove to the world that I still have what it takes to outlast the competition.
Amount Needed - $80K
Money in hand- $.50
$79,999.50 to go