It's Raining Benjamins Read Online Free PDF

Daisy’s shrill voice calling my name, I realize the curtain is about to come down on our little
charada
. One look at Daisy’s face, and I definitely know our off-Broadway production is closed for renovations until further notice!
    â€œUm, Chanel, I think there is a problem with my choker,” Daisy says apologetically, handing it to me. “The snaps popped off—I’m sorry, but I couldn’t find them—I don’t know where they fell. This thing just came off my neck. I didn’t pull on it or anything!”
    â€œ
Está bien
, Daisy, no
te preocupas
,” I say in Spanish, because I don’t want everybody to hear about our catastrophe! “Don’t worry about it.”
    â€œCan you give me my ten dollars back, please?” Daisy asks me nicely.
    â€œOh, sure,” I say, wincing. I scrounge around in my cheetah backpack for my cheetah wallet. I’m so nervous that my keys, my books, and all my other junk fall out of my backpack! The crowds going both ways through the hall start kicking my stuff all over the place!
    â€œIt’s right there,” Daisy says, trying to be helpful and pointing to my wallet, which is under the only notebook that hasn’t fallen out of my backpack.
    â€œOoh, you’re right,” I say, giggling nervously. “Here. I’m sorry. I’ll make you another one.”
    â€œOh, that’s okay,” she says. She gives me a smile and shrugs. “Sorry. They’re cute, though. See you later.” And she turns and leaves, in a big hurry to get out of that embarrassing situation.
    Daisy will probably
never
buy anything from me as long as I live. I swear,
Te juro
. It’s only right, after all. And she’ll probably tell everybody from here to the
barrio
that the Cheetah Girls are not ready for prime time—just broken-down cubs trying to get some grub!
    I look pleadingly at Bubbles, but she gives me a look like she’s gonna wring my neck. After Daisy leaves, she hisses, “You were the one who said the Wacky Glue would be strong enough to hold the letters. Obviously it isn’t.”
    Stammering, I point out, “Yeah, but that’s not why the snap closures came undone in the back,
está bien
? It’s not
all
my fault.”
    â€œYeah, well, obviously, we didn’t know how to work the snap machine either,” Galleria admits, softening.
    Fighting the tears welling up inside, I take a deep breath, then hightail it with Bubbles to find Do’ Re Mi before she goes to her next class and gives LaRonda the soon-to-be-broken-down choker.
    When I see Do’ Re Mi walking toward
us
, with a look on her face like she got hit with something, I know it’s too late.
    â€œI don’t know what happened,” she says, shaking her head, embarrassed. “The letters came off LaRonda’s choker! I had to give her back the ten dollars.” Do’ Re Mi hands Bubbles the choker, like it’s a squashed mouse. “We couldn’t find all the letters that came off, either.”
    â€œI know,” I say, feeling my breath leave my body like I’m in a seance.
    â€œHow did you know?” Do’ Re Mi asks, puzzled.
    â€œLook at this one,” I huff. I pull the choker I sold to Daisy out of my jacket pocket. “The snaps came off this one,
and
the letters came off Bubbles’s choker!”
    â€œWord? What are we gonna do, Galleria?” Do’ Re Mi whines, rolling her eyes to the ceiling. I know exactly what she’s thinking before she even says it. “If Derek’s choker starts to fall apart, we are burnt toast!”
    â€œI know—but let’s just go with the flow,” Bubbles says, trying to act
coolio
. “Obviously, the Wacky Glue had a wack attack.”
    â€œDon’t blame it on Chanel, Galleria. It’s
our
fault, too,” Do’ Re Mi says, hanging on to the straps of her backpack.
    I stand there, stunned. This is