Lucina looked over at him and shook her head, smiling herself. They were all feeding a growing monster named Ivan David.

IVAN SAT DOWN with Thomas Jones over lunch again in the Chula Vista area. He wanted to explain the numbers and terms of real estate development deals to the San Diego Chargers football player Jeffrey Morefield, who had joined them there across the table.

Jeffrey summed up the terms after understanding it all. “So, basically, we double our money,” he commented.

“In nine to eighteen months,” Thomas filled in for him. “And this is just to get your feet wet. Once you do it a few times and qualify for a line of credit from the banks, you can do several of these development deals at the same time.”

Ivan said, “I’m plotting to make even more money on commercial real estate. But it’s riskier.”

Jeffrey eyed him and asked, “You planning on sharing the wealth?”

“You interested in hearing it?” Ivan asked him.

“I’m here, right?” Jeffrey answered with a grin.

Ivan nodded to him. He said, “All right. Well, here’s my idea. White boys rarely invest in black, Mexican, or Filipino establishments unless they have famous names attached. So, they’ll do a Michael Jordan restaurant, Junior Seau’s place, Keyshawn Johnson’s. You know, establishments where they believe they can make some money off name value.” He said, “But with the power of my website, I can make any place popular, like we did with Raymond’s Lounge and Carol’s Soul Food. They’re both doing extremely well now.”

He continued, “With that in mind, my idea is to jump on commercial properties and create hot spots to serve the people who live there. Like right here in Chula Vista. I’d hook up with Mexican promoters who know the clientele and all of the hot Latin performers. Then we bring them in, make them all grand-scale events, push the event through the Latin radio stations, post it up on my website, and we can’t lose. All we need to do is find a Mexican partner willing to be the face of the establishment.”

Thomas loved the idea and knew that it would work. Ivan had already spoken to him about pitching the Padres rookie Emilio Alvarez on the idea. Ivan also had a solid connection with his friend Julio and plenty of other Mexican-Americans he had become friends with through their various parties. But Jeffrey was still hesitant.

He warned, “Those nightclubs never seem to last long, Ivan. I’ve seen them come and go all the time.”

Ivan said, “Exactly. But you know who always makes money on these new club and restaurant deals? The builders and smart owners of the property. That’s what I’m setting up to do now. We want to build the spots, make them hot for the investors, and then sell them.”