𝑬𝒓𝒆𝒔 𝑴í𝒂 | ᴮᵒʸ ᴹᵉᵉᵗˢ ᵂᵒʳˡᵈ

13: Race Horse and Racing Hearts

"Topanga and I invested our imaginary thousand dollars in the stock market." Minkus said.

"And how did you do?" Mr. Feeny asked. "We kicked Wall Street butt." Minkus said.

"Yet, none of the companies we invested in discriminate on the basis of race, sex, or bad karma." Topanga said. She drew a smiley face on the end of one of the lines. "You gotta love her." Minkus said.

"You gotta lock her up." Cory said in the same tone as Minkus. "Well thought out, Mr. Minkus." Mr. Feeny said, getting out of Topanga's desk. "Very politically correct, Miss Lawrence. Uh, which companies next?" "Mr. Feeny, this project wasn't due for another week." Cory said. "This is just a progress report, Mr. Matthews. Those companies who've made progress should have no problem." Shawn got out of his seat and stopped next to Cory on the way to the front of the class.

"We have a problem." He said. Cory followed him to the front, and they began their progress report. "Our investment plan is..." Shawn drew a straight horizontal line on the chart. "Proceeding." "We are pleased to report we have absolutely no losses." Shawn said. "And we haven't fired anybody, and nobody quit."

"They haven't even started yet." Minkus said. Mr. Feeny pretended to be in shock. "No?" He said.

The bell rang, and people started backing up their stuff. I ran out of the class before I got dragged into a Feeny lecture that has nothing to do with me. I waited by the door for Shawn and Cory.

After a moment, they came out just as Minkus was hitting on Topanga. If Minkus somehow ever gets a girlfriend, I will literally lose my entire head.

"Minkus, anyone can draw lines on a chart and say they're making money." Cory said. "You know you guys are big talk because you're bigger than me, but when it comes to using your brains, how confident are you?" "More confidenter than you." Shawn said.

"That isn't a word." I said. "Let me handle the negotiations, Mongo." Cory said. "What have you got in mind?" "I say we forget Feeny's imaginary money, and we invest real money and see who comes out on top." "I don't have a real thousand dollars." Cory said. "You get an allowance, don't you?" "That five bucks in sacred. That's my snack money." Cory got defensive.

"Afraid?" Minkus said. "No." I answered. "Yes." Cory said. "Make it ten." Shawn said. "Are you nuts?" Cory asked. "Fifteen." Minkus said. "Apparently, I'm invisible." Cory said. "Welcome to the club." I replied.

Shawn and Minkus went back and forth. "Twenty." Shawn said. "Twenty-five." Minkus replied. "Topanga, make them stop talking." Cory said.

"As an equal partner in our corporation, I'd like to have a voice in this." She said. "Fine. Let me set it up for you." Minkus said. "It's me against them in a battle of wits." Topanga turned to Cory. "Three hundred thousand dollars." She said. "Ten bucks it is." Cory said, grabbing Minkus' hand and shaking it. "There's a sucker born every minute." Minkus said. He looked at Shawn and Cory. "Two that minute." He said.

Minkus and Topanga walked away. "I'm just going to give this to Minkus now so I don't get attached to it." He said, looking at his five dollars. "It's been real, Abe." He said.

"Okay, I've got an idea." Shawn said. "Let's call my uncle Frank. He knows horses." "You want to bet our allowances on a horse?" "Come on. Uncle Frank puts out ten bucks on a five to one shot. Bingo, bango- fifty bucks. We win the bet, we sell our story, we're movie stars."

I don't know if it'll work like that, but its their ten bucks. Not mine. "Shawn, I have a question. If your uncle knows how to make easy money, how come he still lives in a trailer?" I asked. He shrugged, and we walked to our next class.