Chapter Seven: Finding Manny

Manny couldn't find her voice. She knew it was over. Once Sean told Dean was what up, the jig was up. Hell, he might even shoot her.

But Sean just looked at her coolly, like he'd never met her before. "Hi, nice to meet you."

"You too." She croaked.

"Sean's gonna handle all my dealing in this little town he lives in." Dean explained.

"Oh. Cool." Manny replied. "Shit, you know what? I forgot I had that study group. I'm sorry honey."

"It's alright. Your education comes first." Dean replied.

"I've gotta be going too Dean, gotta back to Degrassi before dark." Sean said.

"Alright man, well, call me later in the week and let me know how things go." Dean replied.

"Alright, thanks." Sean replied.

Manny was already halfway down the steps, running, when Sean left Dean's apartment.

"Hey! Wait!" He jumped down the flight up steps and stepped in front of her.

"Get out of my way, Sean." Manny said.

Sean grabbed her by her shoulders and pushed her up against the wall. "What the hell are you doing, Manny? You wanna get killed?"

"Sean get off me." Manny said coolly, shoving him.

"No! You listen to me! You're playing with fire here, and you're gonna get burned if you don't get out now!" Sean said. "He'll kill you!"

"Oh look at you, you hypocrite! You're working for him!" Manny snarled.

"I didn't lie about who I was, Manny. I never do. I'm Sean Cameron, take it or leave it. But you? You're playing three different parts! At school you're Manny the cheerleader, on the streets you're Manny the drug dealer, and here you're Maria the college student! How can you keep them all straight? It's gonna catch up to you, Manny. Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but someday, it will."

"Sean, you of all people should understand what I'm trying to accomplish here. I'm this close to getting out of the projects." Manny said. "You know how it is where we live!"

"And Dean is your way out?"

"Dean is my leg up on the competition. I listen to his conversations, find out where he frequents, and I send people in to get there first." Manny replied.

"And have you ever thought about what might happen if he found out? You're putting everyone at risk, here, Manny. You claimed to love Craig, but you send him in to do your dirty work. You claim JT is a great friend of yours, but you made him a runner. In the areas Dean frequents! You could get both of them killed if he finds out!"

"He's not gonna find out, Sean. Unless you say something."

"I'm not gonna say anything, Manny. But Dean didn't become the biggest drug dealer in Canada because he's stupid. He will find out. And I'd hate to be you, Craig, or Jimmy when he does." Sean replied. He turned to leave, but Manny grabbed at his shirt collar.

"Sean, you can help me. You can let me know what's going on in there, and let me get out."

Sean shook his head. "No way. You wanna get yourself, your ex boyfriend, and your current boyfriend killed, be my guest. But I am not going down with you." He turned and walked down the steps.

"I'll tell Emma what you're up to." Manny threatened. Sean stopped, turned, and glared at her.

"Manny, I'm still on your side right now. Don't make me fuck you over." He replied evenly. He continued down the steps.

Manny sighed and ran her fingers through her hair. The life of Manny Santos...growing more complicated by the second.

The Next Day...

"You guys?" Manny sounded concerned as she looked up from the pile of money she was counting in Jimmy's living room, while Craig, JT and Jimmy were playing video games.

"What's wrong?" Jimmy asked as they all turned their heads to look at Manny.

"You guys may wanna come look at this." She said solemnly.

Craig, JT, and Jimmy walked over to the couch where Manny was sitting and watched Manny count the money.

"Nine thousand nine hundred ninety seven, nine thousand nine hundred ninety eight, nine thousand nine hundred ninety nine, ten thousand dollars." She looked up at the guys and grinned.

Jimmy and JT's mouths dropped open. Craig had to sit down.

"Holy...shit. Ten thousand dollars in one week." He said.

"We did it." Manny said, staring at the money in disbelief. "I can finally get out of the projects."

Jimmy reached for the phone.

"Jimmy, who are you calling?" Craig asked.

"Dylan."

"Michalchuk? Why?" Manny asked.

"Because he's the only one that can buy liquor. And we're gonna need a whole lot of it for the party tonight!" Jimmy said.

"Holy shit!" Manny yelled, laughing. "We're rich, you guys!"

"Manny, this is only the beginning!" Craig said excitedly, throwing a wad of bills at her.

"Hey!" she yelled, throwing a bunch back at him. She missed, and hit JT.

"Alright, that's it!" JT yelled, throwing more money at Manny. "Get her!" he yelled as he and Craig ganged up on her.

Manny squealed as she was bombarded with cash. She never thought she'd get into a money fight. She never thought she'd be getting out of the projects either. But it seemed like her luck was finally changing.

Nothing could bring her down.

Meanwhile...

Dean looked up at his "cronies" angrily.

"Can anyone tell me why we're twenty thousand below what we normally are in a week?" he asked.

"Because we're not selling, boss." Cole said.

"Good, Cole. You're right, we're not selling. Can anyone tell me why?"

"Because someone else is." Morris answered.

"Exactly. Now, I don't take kindly to people coming in to my turf, selling on my turf, and making more money on my turf than I do! Because I don't like losing money." Dean said, pausing to snort a line. "Now, I keep hearing this name around town. Manny something."

Sean's head snapped up. Shit. He knew Manny would get caught eventually.

"He's Puerto Rican or something, I don't care. The point is, I don't like him dealing on my turf. Find this Manny guy, and everyone that works for him, before he takes anymore of my cash, alright? All of you!" Dean barked.

"Okay, boss." Sean and the rest of the guys answered. As they left to go about their daily jobs, selling, organizing, whatever, Sean headed back to Degrassi. He needed to find Manny, before someone else did.