Derrick broke out laughing. “Ivan, you don’t know shit about throwing no parties. What made you decide to do this? But I like this name, though,” he commented. “I.D. Promotions is a good look. I like how you used your initials on that.”

Ivan told him, “Look, I’m just learning on the job right now. But I just started this hustle, and already I’m meeting the right people to help me blow it up.”

His brother asked him, “You made any money off it yet?”

Ivan couldn’t lie about that. “Not really,” he answered. “But I haven’t really lost any money, either. Everything is breaking even. In the meantime, I’m building a strong website.”

Derrick flipped the flyers over to view the website brand on the back and nodded. “I see.” He said, “But if you wanna make the real money in the party game, invest in a liquor license.” He took a seat on the sofa. “You need any help with this hustle?” he asked.

Ivan thought about how unreliable his brother had been over the years, but it didn’t matter anymore. He needed to help out to manage his mess of a family, as well as to maintain their mother’s house in L.A. So he came up with a workable plan.

“I could make you a special events advisor and put you on salary. That way I can pay your insurance, taxes, and child support, and they won’t have to bother you about money anymore. And from there you can just be a father to your kids.”

Derrick frowned and said, “How much are you talking about paying me for that?” He didn’t want all of the money going somewhere else.

Ivan sat down on the sofa beside him. He said, “We still have to run through all the numbers and figure that out. But I’m looking at somewhere around…three to four thousand a month.”

That was nearly as much as Ivan’s salary at Hutch & Mitchell. But he offered it anyway.

“Are you sure about that?” Derrick asked him. He didn’t believe his brother had it like that. He would have been satisfied with one or two thousand. That’s all he was there to ask for. The rest he figured he would scrape up for himself.

Ivan said, “If I’m able to make that happen, would you be all right with that?”

Derrick said, “Three, four thousand a month? Hell, yeah! That would be good looking out.”

Ivan nodded and said, “That’s what I need to work on, then. And that would take care of Mom’s house, too.”

Derrick nodded and changed the subject. “So, who you had over here last night?” he asked his brother. “Some girl you picked up from one of these parties?”