The Bullshit Investors Club, Rednecks and Crypto, What Could Go Wrong? Chapter Six, (chapter list included)
In defiance of her humiliation, Yolanda showed up the next day with a new “short do” dyed a bright pink, and a decidedly “punk” twist to her usual trailer park beauty queen wardrobe. The icy glare she wore to defend it, kept questioners at bay, and the most anyone dared to say about it was, “I like it, looks great!”
Meanwhile, Charlotte had been given a mandatory three days of free time, after Yolanda declined to file a complaint against her with HR, and was back on the job by midweek.
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A steady stream of hipster investors had been stopping by to watch work from the catwalks, overlooking the kill floor and packing plant areas. The man came in two flavors, old school hipsters, who still sported thick, chest length beards and short hair, and new wave hipsters, with a three-day’s supply of stubble, and giant porn star mustaches.
The women, there had only been two, were split, one crunchy granola, and one Betty Paige, rockabilly pinup with a huge mermaid tatt swimming up her left shoulder. The latter had backed Tito against a wall, when he wouldn’t take a simple no thanks for an answer, and some said she’d pulled a knife. Tito wasn’t talking.
Lunch room decorum had returned, for the most part, and whenever Alex was in the room, it got downright civil. A few less dedicated “Founders” employees had taken the offer of an early buyout on their benefits and those who remained were hoping their good behavior would be enough to keep their jobs when the new owners showed up to take over.
Wendel and Billy spent every lunch hour together, huddled over Billy’s laptop, and from the gleeful chuckles, and awkward high fives, the older man refusing to adopt the new “fist bump” protocol of the younger generation, the Bullshit Investors club experiment was going well. Sid was watching them closely from behind his newspaper, at a seat near the windows. He’d left his money in and “reupped” but seemed determined to voice his hesitancy, just in case the whole thing went sideways.”
For those who paid attention, the most interesting thing going on was Alex’s subtle delivery of manila envelopes to Billy in the parking lot every few days, and his increasing nervous watching of his smartphone at break times. In preparation for his big transition, he’d been learning to trade Crypto currencies on the side, and baubles in the bitcoin market made him nervous as a wet hen.
Then it happened.
When Tito had hired on, three years before, the bosses had known about his past. But, his sealed record meant, unless they wanted legal trouble, they had to give him a chance. He was a known hothead and all around douche bag, but there was a more sinister undertone to his demeanor that kept most smart people at arm’s length, unless they could avoid it.
After a weekly update to the Bullshit Investors club, which was closely watched by nearly everyone on the shift now, Tito had slammed out of the break room. It seemed the coin had taken a dip and their rosy investment had lost about thirty percent of its value almost overnight. Whether Tito realized that meant he’d still more than doubled his money or not, he was pissed.
No one looks good in a chicken processing worker’s gear. But a man like Tito, looks like something out of an eighties slasher flick. As Billy headed back to his station in IT, Tito stepped out of a cross hall, blocking his path, the large black rubber boots he wore, squelching on the hallway tile. At six foot six, Tito was intimidating, to say the least, here he stood with elbow length black gloves, a dirty plastic hair cap, and a blood smeared, white cotton apron. A large knife, used for separating chickens from their heads, dangled loosely from his left hand. He thumped Billy in the chest with the pointed index finger of his right hand.
Yolanda stepped out of the office door at the end of the hall, emboldened by her new look, she struck a tough pose, “Hey, everything okay out here, Billy?”
Tito turned toward the woman and glared. Her eyes shifted to the knife, “Just asking,” she laughed, nervously, as she stepped back and closed the glass office door, turning away from the scene in the hall.
Billy thought too late about running, as Tito spun back and caught his black T shirt in his fingers, drawing Billy up onto his toes.
“Listen, nerd boy, I need my money out, today,” Tito growled, low and threatening. He stood almost pressed up against Billy, the smell of dead chicken overwhelming the smaller man.
“Uh, look, we’re up over thousand dollars in that account and…”
“No more excuses,” Tito snarled, thumping the would-be investment advisor with each syllable.
“Ouch, hey man, that hurts,” Billy said, swallowing, as he eyed the knife, hanging in Tito’s hand. “Man, it takes time to cash out. Tell you what, do you have a Paypal account? I’ll send you part of it tonight.”
“Do I look like I have a Paypal account, man? You have until tomorrow to get my money and deliver it before we clock in, or things get interesting, you feel me?” Tito turned and walked away.
That afternoon Alex caught Billy at his truck, “Listen, man, I’m going to have to cash out of this investment thing and be done.” Billy said, looking over Alex’s shoulder for signs of Tito.
“What? No, you can’t do that,” Alex said, his voice rising slightly, “These people deserve a chance. It’s going well. I don’t know how many of them will have a job when this is all over and you know how things are around here. Tito’s just blowing smoke,” Alex said, in an attempt to sound confident, but something in his eyes made Billy even more nervous. “Okay, look, I’ll handle Alex, just, don’t quit on me yet, okay? Here’s the rest. You have no idea what this will mean for my family.”
“I don’t know, he didn’t just threaten you with his kill knife. I didn’t really sign up for this, I don’t even need this stupid job. I only came here for Charlotte and that’s been over a long time,” Billy said. He took the manila envelope and slid it into his pocket, the climbed into the truck. “He told me to have his money in the morning, but I can’t, unless I give it to him out of this.”
Alex looked down at his feet, “How much?”
“About half of this payment, for his current share, but what if that doesn’t make him happy?”
“Give it to him. I’ll take care of the rest,” Alex said, closing Billy’s door as he turned the key.
Alex, stopped trying to bail out of investments! Really enjoying this series, Cheers
Thanks, I'm enjoying writing it too.