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.”

“This is different. These massage parlors are going to make bank. More people have moved out of the city lately, so demand in the suburbs has skyrocketed.”

“Massage parlors in the ‘burbs aren’t new.”

“There’s more demand than supply.”

“What is the six or seven thousand going to buy?”

“One of the parlors is a little close to residential, so we might need to retain a lawyer in case neighbors want to take us to the planning commission or city council or some shit like that.”

“What else?”

“Maybe more massage beds.”

I stare hard at Manny. “And how much is going to your gambling debt?”

Manny chuckles nervously again. “You know me well, don’t you, Darren?”

I don’t say anything, which makes Manny fidget more.

“Those PSB boys play a mean game of poker,” Manny says.

“How much?” I demand.

“Eighteen hundred. But like I said, I’ll pay you back. With interest. If you loan me this money, man, I promise you’ll make it back. Because once people like Lee Hao Young see how successful I am, they’ll finally take me seriously. And, unlike JD, who basically inherited everything from his dad, I’ll be self-made. And that’s worth a hell of a lot more. Self-made.”

“How do I know, if I give you any amount of money, that you aren’t going to spend it on more Armani suits?” I question.

“Darren, I’ve never been more serious about anything before.”

Manny speaks in earnest, but this wouldn’t be the first venture that excited him and that he was convinced would make him. Poor Manny has struck out more times than an entire baseball team.

I consider offering to pay expenses, like the lawyer, directly, but I don’t want my name associated with the parlors. Plus, I don’t want to deal with any administrative hassles of making individual payments.

I sigh and get up, ready to see if Bridget has arrived. “I’m not investing in any massage parlors, but I’ll loan you eighteen hundred to cover your gambling debt. If I don’t get any of that back in three months, that’s the last dime you’ll ever get out of me.”