Once the deal was sealed, Ivan met up with Lucina downtown and told her that he needed two party girls who were familiar with the ethnic crowd of southeast San Diego, preferably Filipinas and Mexicans.

“Why?” Lucina asked him curiously. “Is that who you want to attract?”

Ivan explained, “Look, I can’t really count on these athletes to come out here every week. They might start off well in the beginning, but they’re gonna have their own parties and other things to do. So I mainly want to introduce this idea to the guys on the street level. They’ll come in there and try to spend the same kind of money as the athletes do. It’s impulsive spending, right? But you can count more on the local baller types to make it their regular hangout.”

He continued, “You already know we’re gonna get the brothers. But on that southeast side, you got Mexicans and Filipinos over there. And I want them all to come together, watch the game, drink, and talk shit just like they would at Jack Murphy Stadium watching the home team. The Chargers have a Monday Night Football game left themselves.”

Lucina asked him, “But what if they all don’t get along? Then you have them all in there drinking with pretty girls around.” She frowned and said, “I don’t like it. It sounds like trouble waiting to happen.”

That only made Ivan smile. He liked the idea even more now.

He said, “And you know what, that’s exactly what urban men gravitate to, that sense of danger. The ones who don’t like danger don’t spend money like that. I learned that from being around my brother’s crew in L.A. So I wouldn’t even want a safe crowd over there. And it’ll be my job to make sure that we all do get along. That’s my risk.”

Lucina looked at him as if he were crazy. She said, “Well, I don’t want any of my girls mixed up in the middle of that. And the two hundred fifty dollars apiece you offer is no money for them. Some of my girls can make up to two hundred dollars per hour.”

Ivan repeated, “Per hour? Is that what you pay them? Modeling rate? That’s crazy. That would be eight hundred dollars for one girl. We would never make any money like that.”

“What about if I had my liquor friend sponsor two thousand dollars toward the party?” Lucina suggested.

Ivan thought about it. He said, “And then pay the girls out of that? But would your guy offer us two thousand every week? He could advertise for two months on my website for that price, and you would keep nearly eight hundred of it. Then you can pay your girls extra from that if you want.”

Ivan was turning into an experienced wheeler and dealer overnight.