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“Ha, ha,” JD replies sarcastically. He looks past me. “Speak of the devil.”
Cheryl comes up to me and tells me that Manny wants to talk.
“He’s not asking me to allow more Park Street Boyz into my club?” I inquire.
Manny recently partnered with Tim Tran of the PSB on opening massage parlors in the ’burbs. The PSB used to fight over turf with the Jing San in the old days, before the triad moved into higher-level crimes.
“He says it’s personal,” Cheryl replies. “He’s waiting in the office.”
I check the time on my watch. It’s just past ten. Bridget should be here soon. But I make my way down to the office.
“What’s up?” I ask Manny, who’s a little younger than me but looks older.
“You know how I’m working with Tran to get these massage parlors opened?”
I sit behind my desk and notice Manny doesn’t sit down. He tends not to when he’s anxious.
“That going okay?” I ask.
“Yeah, yeah, it’s going really well. We’ve got locations and business permits for three of them already.”
“That’s fast.”
“Well, I used our connect in the county business licensing department, and we made sure all our sites are in unincorporated areas. Now we just need to staff them up and get the word out.”
“So what did you need to see me about?” I inquire, betting that it has something to do with money. Manny is better at spending than making it. Right now, he’s dressed in a burgundy silk shirt and black Armani pants and jacket.
“I just need to chip in a little more investment to help make sure everything is up and running smoothly. Plus, I told Tran that I had a connect that could help supply the women.”
“I can’t help you there,” I reply. Sex trafficking is my least favorite part of the triad business.
“Yeah, yeah, I can figure that piece out myself. Word is JD might be groomed for that.”
I don’t reply. Is that what JD’s new project with Lee Hao Young involves?
“But if you could help with the capital end…” Manny continues.
“How much?”
“Just a couple thousand.”
“Exactly how much?”
“Six or seven thousand.”
“How is ‘six or seven’ just a ‘couple thousand?’”
Manny chuckles nervously. “I hated math. But you can spare that, can’t you?”
I narrow my eyes. “Have you tried selling your clothes?”
Manny rubs the back of his neck. “You’d be helping me out in a big way, Darren. Tran was really impressed when he was here. He’d like to come back. I can’t look cheap now.”
“Your idea to invite him here,” I point out with little sympathy. This isn’t the first time Manny has asked me for money.
“Think of it as an investment. I’ll pay you back. With interest. How ’bout that?”
“Manny, you haven’t paid me back the twenty bucks I lent you to buy cigarettes when we were sixteen.”
