Chapter Text
MAY 4TH
UNDERLYING CAUSES
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"Ugh, another fuckin' week where we don't get shit!" Jacky exclaimed as she clocked out for the day. "I can't believe this bullshit! Why don't I just quit this fucking job already?!"
She recklessly threw her jackhammer to the side with rage, nearly slamming Carl into the jagged mine walls as it came to an abrupt stop. Now provoked, Carl immediately snapped back.
"You don't quit because you can't find any other job, Jacky! Nobody wants that attitude of yours. You're lucky Mike and I can put up with your constant complaining!"
Mike chuckled from a little deeper in the mine compared to the arguing duo, his fingers hovering over a gem he had just finished uncovering. "Heh, the little robot's right! Your complaining is really driving me crazy! If not for our paychecks, I'd have blown down this whole place already!" He held up a stick of dynamite between two fingers and wiggled it. He chuckled a bit more and stuck it back into the barrel strapped on his back.
"Shut up, grandpa!" She yelled across the mine, then trudged right in front of Carl and grabbed him by the bowtie. "And you- NERD! Shut your fuckin' mouth or I'll drill a hole into that stupid fuckin' helmet of yours and shut it for you, GOT IT?!"
Carl frantically nodded. She tossed him to the ground like a ragdoll and proceeded to throw off her helmet and visor, which nearly hit him as well. He didn't like when she got mad like this- it never really ended well for anyone.
"I can't with this shit. If they don't give me my fuckin' paycheck by tomorrow night, I'm quitting. I'll find some stupid job by Monday and get right back to work!"
Mike then decided it was a good idea to get out of there as well and follow in Jacky's footsteps, since he put his gem down and set his barrel aside. He skipped to the entrance of the mine and looked back at Carl as he left, leaving with a friendly "if I don't get anything else sometime soon, I'm takin' this whole thing of dynamite and blowing this whole cave down! See ya tomorrow, Carl!"
Starr Park management hadn't handed her nor Mike their weekly check for working their asses off in the mines. Jacky had a huge problem with that.
Despite being promised a huge load of cash (and fun) every week for their efforts and bountiful finds of gems when they first signed up for the job, they were getting nothing now. And the conditions were getting worse. It didn't make any sense- they signed the waiver, the application, and all of the consent forms when they took the job, and it told them they'd get paid while they stayed safe. It wasn't like anyone worried about the safe part, but the park had to pay them. They had to get their fair share after all of the effort they'd been through. Yet, every time Jacky angrily confronted the managers about where their money was at, she was constantly told "soon" with no other answer.
Nobody was having it. They were going to quit now because of it.
Management had gotten in huge trouble in the past with the gem mining trio, too. One week, the miners found a huge deposit of gems and they promised they'd get paid double. They took the gems, and the miners never received the money. But management was hiding their own little secret: they blamed the miners. They argued that one week, when the miners thought they were being paid too little and went on strike due to the dangerous conditions the mine was going through, they wasted too much time and cost the park too much.
In the end, the miners were forced to make up for all the lost time by working for extra hours and little to no pay.
But no matter how long they slaved in the mines, working themselves down to the bone until they had no energy left, it seemed like it was never enough.