A/N: I would like to thank Twilightwicked5678 for beta reading this chapter for me.

Chapter 2

Once on the subway train, Johnny sat down and pulled a paper out of his jacket pocket. It was a printout that Ms. Sauve' had given him; she got it from the Youth Job Board website. Even though Johnny now had regular computer access at Covinngton House, he still wasn't too computer savvy aside from the occasional email at school or downloading MP3s from Bruce's computer to the iPod he stole from Peter Stone.

Johnny decided the best strategy was to go to each of these places in the order they were in on the sheet. Each of these places had recently posted ads looking for part time help and they were supposed to be arranged by address. The closest places to school were at the top of the list.

Johnny noticed the place at the top of the list. He didn't really want to go to this place begging for a job, but they needed a dishwasher and Johnny needed a job.

So he swallowed his pride, got off the train at the Degrassi Street station and headed toward a place he hadn't been to in quite a while. A place he hoped never to go to again.

The Dot.

Ever since that prick, Spinner Mason, became the manager, Johnny avoided that place like the plague, although they did have killer breakfast sandwiches and great coffee.

Johnny arrived at The Dot just in time for the lunch rush. He didn't quite have the guts to approach Spinner at the counter right away, so he took a seat at a table closest to the door. Holly J Sinclair approached the table to take his order.

"Johnny DiMarco! I haven't seen you in here before," she said sarcastically. Actually, he stopped coming there before she started working there. "What can I get you?" she asked, more businesslike.

"Get me a double bacon cheeseburger with fries and coleslaw on the side with a Coke and a slice of cheesecake," he responded, using everything in his power to keep from lashing out at her.

"What kind of cheesecake? We have strawberry, blueberry, cherry and plain."

"Blueberry." Johnny handed Holly J his menu.

"Coming right up," she said and walked away.

"Are you sure you can afford all this?" she asked when she came back with his food. She was really trying his patience today, but he managed to keep his cool.

"Thank you, Holly J," he said, giving her look. She walked away without saying another word.

Johnny took a bite out of his hamburger. The employees of The Dot may have attitude problems, but their food was delicious. He tried to ignore Holly J and Spinner at the counter looking at him and talking.

When Johnny got up to pay the check, he heard a familiar sound coming from the restaurant's stereo system. It was a drum roll, but not just any drum roll. It was the intro to a song called "Hypnotized" by a band called Whiskey River that was once very popular on the South Ontario bar circuit.

That drum roll was the signature of Bullet, the band's drummer.

Johnny approached the counter and paid Spinner. When he didn't leave after paying, Spinner looked at him expectantly.

"Something else I can help you with?" asked Spinner.

"Yeah," said Johnny, "Where'd you get this CD?" Once he heard the song's intro, he forgot all about applying for the job.

"It belonged to my dad," replied Spinner suspiciously.

"You know that this is a limited edition CD, right?" inquired Johnny.

"Well, my dad bought it from the band when they played The Den of Thieves back in the early 90s," Spinner said defensively. The Den of Thieves was a popular nightclub back then. It was also where Johnny's mom had worked as a cocktail waitress before she became too sick to work.

The CD was recorded in 1993 when Johnny was a year and a half old.

"That drummer, Bullet," said Johnny. "He's pretty amazing, huh?"

"Bullet?" said Spinner. "Yeah, he's awesome."

"Do you know his real name?" Johnny challenged Spinner. "Because I do. His real name is Tony DiMarco and he's my dad."

"No way man," said Spinner, shaking his head and laughing. "You're lying. I mean DiMarco's a pretty common last name, especially in Little Italy."

"Well, it just so happens that I'm related to this DiMarco," Johnny snapped. That wasn't the only DiMarco Johnny was related to. His estranged grandfather was Giovanni DiMarco, the well-known restaurateur. He was the owner of La Piazza in Little Italy and La Trattoria in the Corso Italia neighborhood.

But no one ever made the connection between Giovanni and Johnny because, well, DiMarco was a common last name.

"I don't care if you don't believe me, dude." Johnny said,

"Well that's good, because I don't," Spinner retorted.

Suddenly Johnny remembered the reason he came to The Dot in the first place. But he couldn't very well ask Spinner for a job now.

"You know what?" said Johnny. "I was going to ask about the dish washing job, but I might as well forget it!" He stormed out the front door, slamming it behind him.

"Yeah?" Spinner called out after him. "I wouldn't hire you anyway, hood rat!" He turned and looked at Holly J who had been standing there listening to the whole exchange.

"Can you believe the nerve of that guy, Holly J?" Spinner vented.

"Yeah, he didn't even leave a tip," she scoffed.

"I mean, he honestly expects me to believe that Bullet from Whiskey River is his dad," he said, ignoring Holly J's comment.

"Spin, I won't even pretend to understand that kid," said Holly J, shaking her head.

"Well, you went to Lakehurst with him," said Spinner. "Do you know anything about his family?"

"Well, I hate to burst your bubble, Spin, but there was talk that his dad was in some band," Holly J told Spinner. "But I never paid much attention because, personally, I don't like the guy. Besides, it's not like his dad's Chad Kroger."

After Holly J walked away, Spinner reached under the counter and grabbed the CD case. Looking in the liner notes, he saw that the drummer's name was Tony "Bullet" DiMarco.

Nah, Spinner thought to himself. That still doesn't mean anything.

Meanwhile, Johnny wasn't having too much luck with his job search. He put in applications at the hardware store, the fish market and the drugstore. But the grocery store and the bookstore already filled their open positions, and the Indian restaurant told him they wouldn't hire him unless he cut his hair.

That left one last place, the auto repair shop.

The only problem with the auto repair shop was that Spinner's best friend, Jay Hogart, worked there.

Jay was from Johnny's old neighborhood but he thought he was better because he lived on Priscilla Street up along the train tracks. Everybody who lived along the tracks thought they were better than anyone who lived closer to Temple Street. Johnny could never understand why. Every time the freight trains passed by the TV reception got messed up and it was hard to talk on the phone.

Another thing Johnny couldn't understand was how Jay Hogart ever got a job in an auto repair shop. The auto mechanics teacher at Degrassi always used Jay as an example of what not to do.

"Always remember to wear a filter mask when you change the break pads. New pads give off a lot of dust. You'll choke without a mask. I don't want to have to do mouth to mouth on any of you guys like I had to do with Jay Hogart," he would say.

"Pay attention when you put the battery in. Don't put it in up side down. Jay Hogart made that mistake and I'd like to think that you all know better," was another thing he liked to say.

Rumor had it that the sex van in the ravine once belonged to Jay. Supposedly, he got super drunk, drove his van into the ravine and crashed into a tree. He tried to get it to run again, but he couldn't.

But as much as Johnny dreaded the prospect of having to talk that bonehead, he knew he had to. He couldn't afford to have another confrontation.

Jay was working on a car when Johnny entered the garage. The radio was on full blast and the latest song from Nickelback was playing.

"Hey!" Johnny yelled over the music. Jay looked up and went to turn down the radio.

"Yeah?" said Jay

"I wanna apply for the job," said Johnny. Jay looked Johnny up and down with disdain and snorted.

"Do you have experience fixing cars?" asked Jay condescendingly. If Johnny wasn't at Jay's mercy right now, he'd clock him.

"I took auto shop in school," Johnny. 'You know Mr. Matthews still speaks very highly of you to this day." Jay cringed slightly.

"Well, the manager's not here right now," said Jay. "But I'll give you an application. Just fill it out and bring it back." Jay walked over to the manager's desk. Without wiping the motor oil off his hands, he picked up an application and handed it to Johnny. Johnny made a face and without thanking Jay, he left.

When he got home, there was still time before dinner. He went to his room to chill. Today was the first time in four years that Johnny even thought about Whiskey River.

Whiskey River had been hot on the local music scene from the mid 80s and throughout the 90s. There were close to getting a deal with a major record label. But then along came Nickelback, who had a sound similar to Whiskey River, but they did it better. People started to forget about Whiskey River.

The band finally broke up after Tony DiMarco went to jail for drug possession. It was a shame. Despite his issues, Bullet was an amazing drummer. He taught his son, Johnny, everything he knew.

Johnny wanted to follow in his dad's footsteps and become a professional drummer. He was three years old when Tony sat him at his drum kit. Johnny couldn't reach the bass drum pedal but Tony gave him his drumsticks and just let him bang away. But he wasn't just banging on the drums; he was actually playing a rhythm.

Tony was soon taking his son to rehearsals so he could show him off. Johnny seemed to have a natural rhythm. Maybe it was all the time Johnny's mom spent around the band when she was pregnant. It might be said that Johnny was born to play the drums. In grade school, teachers used to yell at him for drumming on his desk with pencils.

One thing hardly anyone knew about Johnny was that he subscribed to Modern Drummer magazine. He hadn't missed an issue since he was 12. But after his dad's arrest, Johnny sometimes felt resentful when he read it.

He read articles about professional drummers who were around his age, like Ilan Rubin of Lostprophets and Nine Inch Nails and Steven Spence of Black Tide. There was also Jay Weinberg whose dad, Max Weinberg, played for Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band. He filled in for his father when the band toured last summer. And then there was Mike Byrne, who had just been chosen to drum for Smashing Pumpkins.

Johnny couldn't help but be aware that, if circumstances were different, he could be where these guys are now.

His thoughts soon turned to a the time when he first played in front of a crowd. He was eight years old. He and his dad went to visit his dad's friend, Jose Chavez, who was the bass player for Whiskey River. Jose also owned The Grace Note, a musical instrument store. Tony was looking at a Ludwig Legacy Classic drum kit with red sparkle finish. It was in the front display window.

Johnny took a pair of sticks from the counter, sat down on the stool and began to play. As he played, a small crowd gathered outside the window. Johnny was oblivious; he was too into playing to notice what was going on around him. When he stopped playing, the crowd outside applauded.

That kit would later be the one Tony played for Whiskey River. It was the one he played on the CD and the one Tony promised Johnny for his 13th birthday that Johnny never received.

Suddenly, an idea came to him. After Johnny's mom died, Jose had told Johnny to let him know if he needed anything.

Johnny took the oil-smudged application from the auto shop out of his jacket pocket and dropped it in his wastebasket.