Chapter Six: Degrassi Royalty

It had been three weeks since Manny had first gotten hold of Dean Marin, and she, along with Craig and Jimmy, were reaping the benefits like no other.

"Alright, so...the east side of Toronto is having a new club opening on Saturday. I want someone there, and I need them to pull at least a one thousand dollar profit." Dean told his group of guys as they all sat in his luxury high rise on the richer side of Toronto. Manny pretended to be watching TV, flipping through the channels and finally landing on a talk show. She booed and gasped at random moments to convince everyone there she was truly into the show.

"Cole, you and Morris, I want you two over there. Saturday night. Club Mynx. Got it?" Dean said.

"Alright, boss." Cole replied.

Manny checked her watch. "Um, sweetie?"

Dean turned to her. "What is it, Maria?"

"I have to go to class." Manny lied. "I can see you're busy, so I'll just let myself out."

"Okay. Call me later." Dean said. He gave her a quick kiss on the lips.

"Okay. Bye hun." Manny waggled her fingers at him and headed out the door.

She hailed a cab back to Degrassi, letting her off near Craig's house. Walking to his front step, she knocked on the front door. Craig answered a moment later, and Jimmy and JT were sitting on his couch.

"Hey, we were wondering where the hell you ran off to." Craig said. "What's up?"

"We have to hit up Club Mynx." Manny said, walking in and taking her coat off.

"What is Club Mynx?" Jimmy asked.

"Um, it's this new club on Toronto's east side, opening on Saturday night."

"Alright, sounds okay." Craig said. "I don't have any bets running this weekend, so I could definitely use the money."

"Wait a minute, we can't. We have that thing Saturday night." Jimmy said, looking at Manny, raising his eyebrows.

"That thing? Oh! Right, right. That thing." Manny said. "Yeah, Craig, Jimmy and I have to do inventory, we're gonna be working all night."

"Working on what?" Craig asked, crossing his arms across his chest.

"Hrrmffin." Jimmy mumbled, looking down.

"What?" Craig asked.

"Heroin, alright? It's coming back, we want a cut." Manny said.

"You can't sell heroin, are you nuts?" Craig exclaimed. "That's worse than coke!"

"How do you figure?" Manny asked.

"Well, do you do coke?" Craig asked.

"Yeah." Manny said. "So?"

"Do you do heroin?" Craig questioned.

"No way! You have shoot that shit up! I hate needles!"

"I think you just proved my point, heroin is way worse than coke." Craig argued.

"Ahem." Jimmy said. "If I recall, wasn't it you that sold a 20 rock to that Jay kid last week?"

"That...that's different!" Craig spat.

"Oh yeah, cuz you'd much rather have your heart explode on contact than be stuck with a needle." Manny said sarcastically.

"Shut up." Craig replied. "Fine, do whatever, but I need someone to go with me to Mynx on Saturday, so, Manny, you're gonna have to bail."

Manny gestured to JT. "JT's free."

"Yeah, I'm free." JT said.

"I am not going to Club Mynx with him." Craig stated.

"Why not?" Jimmy asked.

"Because it's a gay club. They have one back in BC." Craig said.

"Take Marco." Manny suggested.

"You're not getting it, Manny. I don't want anyone thinking I'm gay. Sorry to be crude, but, I need to take someone with a vagina."

"So take JT." Manny said.

"Hey!" JT yelled. Jimmy snickered from his place on the couch.

"Look, Jimmy and I are busy on Saturday, you and JT are going to Club Mynx, end of story." Manny replied.

"Or what?" Craig shot back.

"Or I tell Ashley what you're up to." Manny replied, raising her eyebrows challengingly. Craig had been trying to get back with Ashley for weeks, any sort of setback would be sure to send it crashing to the ground.

Craig growled. "God I hate you Manny."

"Love you too, Craig-y."

The next weeks were a success. Craig and JT had pulled in over two thousand dollars working Club Mynx, while Dean's boys had made a measly six hundred, much to Dean's perplexity.

Manny was learning to listen to everything Dean said out of the corner of her ear, sending in Craig or JT to do the dirty work. After all, if Dean caught her, her cover would be blown. And that couldn't happen, with all the benefits Manny was reaping.

The others were doing okay too. JT had just bought the super computer of his dreams, and Jimmy was throwing lavish parties in the penthouse suite at some of the nicest hotels in the city almost every weekend.

It was a Monday morning, and Jimmy was fast asleep after forgetting to set his alarm clock. As he slowly came into consciousness, he became aware of a horn blowing.

"Jimmy!!!"

He finally pulled himself out of bed and went to the window. Opening the blinds, he shook his head and grinned at what he saw. He opened his window and stuck his head out.

"Where'd you steal that from?" he yelled, the humor evident in his voice.

"That" was a candy apple red 2004 Ford Mustang, with Manny in the passenger side and Craig in the driver's seat.

"I didn't steal it, I bought it!" Craig yelled back. "Is this a sweet ride or what?"

"I'll say!" Jimmy yelled back.

"Jimmy, get dressed, we're gonna be late for school!" Manny yelled.

"Give me two minutes!" he yelled back. He shut the window and blinds and quickly got dressed, pulling on a pair of track pants and a sweatshirt, and sneakers. Grabbing his backpack, he ran out the front door and hopped in the backseat of the Mustang.

"Man, I never thought you'd have a car this nice." Jimmy said, stretching out in the backseat.

"Well, I figured I'd spend my drug money on something other than more drugs." Craig mused. "V8 engine, off the hook system, convertible, leather seats...can this get any better?"

"I don't know man, looks good enough to me." Jimmy replied.

"Jimmy, when are you gonna get a car?" Manny asked.

"When I get my license." Jimmy replied. "What about you?"

"I think I have awhile to worry about that. I'm thinking more along the lines of apartment."

Craig looked at her as he turned the wheel. "You, get an apartment? You're fifteen, Manny."

"Hey, I gotta get out of parent's hair, but more important, I gotta the hell out of the projects." Manny replied. "I don't know about you guys, but I'm tired of just playing the cards I've been dealt."

"I get you, Manny." Jimmy said sympathetically. "But we're not exactly playing with a full deck these days."

"Thank god." Manny replied, pulling down the passenger seat visor to fix her lipstick in the mirror.

"You guys, do you realize we're pulling in over four grand a week?" Craig asked. "That's more than Joey sometimes makes in a month."

"At this rate, nothing in the world can bring us down." Jimmy said with a smile.

Craig parked the car in the Degrassi school parking lot, and the three teens walked inside.

It was funny. Just a few months ago, they were treated like any other students. Now, they were revered. Practically Degrassi royalty. Between Craig's new car, Jimmy buying a new pair of sneakers practically every day, and Manny's two thousand dollar Louis Vuitton handbag, it was obvious to the other students they had money, and they all wanted to be part of it.

"Hey Manny!" a guy yelled. Manny just smiled at him. Various other kids yelled at the trio as they walked down the hall. Sometimes they acknowledged them, sometimes they didn't. It was nice to have the power.

"Manny, hey!"

"Oh, hey Emma. What's up?"

"Nothing, where were you all weekend?" Emma asked.

"Uh, Manny, we gotta get to homeroom, we'll see you later." Jimmy said.

"Bye guys." Manny called. "Um, I was at work."

"Oh, right. At that coffee shop...the one where I still don't know where it is."

"Sorry. I keep meaning to bring you over there, but I keep spacing." Manny lied. "So what else is going on? How's the baby?"

"He's fine. Snake's doing okay. A lot better mood." Emma said. "And, um...there's something else I need to tell you."

"Emma!"

Emma turned her head to see Sean walking down the hallway towards her, and she smiled.

"Sean and I are back together." She finished with a smile.

Manny grinned widely. "Emma, that's fantastic!"

"Hey." Sean said, kissing Emma on the top of her head.

"Hey." Emma replied.

Sean began walking down the hallway with Manny and Emma to homeroom.

"Wow, this is big. And I missed it." Manny said.

"So what about you? Any new guys?" Emma asked.

"Well, there's someone." Manny replied.

"Who? Craig?" Emma asked in a loud whisper. Sean looked up in interest.

"No, of course not. He's hard up for Ashley." Manny said with a roll of her eyes.

"Jimmy?" Sean asked. Manny bit her lip and tried not to blush.

"Oh my god, it is Jimmy!" Emma said as they walked into homeroom.

"Don't tell anyone okay? We're still figuring things out, and it'll piss off a lot of people." Manny said as they sat down.

"Don't worry about it, my lips are sealed." Emma said. She waited for Sean to say something, then elbowed him in the ribs.

"Ow! Yeah, mine too." He said.

Manny smiled. "Okay, great. We'll talk about it later...I could meet you at The Dot and we can gorge on veggie lover's pizza."

"I'm there." Emma replied, as the bell rang.

Jimmy was getting books out of his locker when Manny approached him.

"Hey." She said.

"Hey! What's up?" Jimmy asked.

"I just needed to let you know I won't be right over at your house after school." Manny said.

"Why not?" Jimmy asked, closing his locker door and looking at her.

"I promised Em we'd go to The Dot and do the whole girl talk thing." Manny explained.

"Damn. I wanted to see you...you know, alone?" Jimmy asked. He looked around to see if anyone was in the hallway looking at them, and kissed her quickly.

"Jimmy, you can see me, okay?" Manny said, flashing him a dazzling smile. "After I'm done with Emma."

"Okay..." Jimmy said wistfully. Manny laughed.

"Don't give me that pouty face. I gotta go to class."

"Alright. See ya."

"Bye." Manny smiled at him again, and headed off down the hall.

Later...

Manny met up with Emma at The Dot, surprised to find only Emma there. According to her, Sean had to work. The two girls sat and talked for awhile, eating pizza, laughing, and talking like old times. But Manny had to get going. She had to run over to Dean's to see him.

"Maria, I'm glad you're here!" Dean said. "How was class?"

"Oh you know, class." Manny said with a shrug. "So what'd you do today?"

"Not much, little selling here, little selling there. I want you to meet my new guy." He said.

"Oh, okay." Manny said. "So where is he."

"Right here." Dean gestured to the guy, and Manny felt her stomach flip flop.

"Maria Sanchez, Sean Cameron."