"Talk more quietly please. In a couple of minutes the TV over there is going to start issuing breaking news alerts and I would not be surprised if the Police start searching for us. We were not overly discreet after all." Nathaniel chastised him.
Realizing what Nathaniel said, Alexander turned around to look at the other patron on the dinner and the waitress going from table to table. Nathaniel had taken the table the farest from the door, him having the wall in his back and with vision on the front door and not far from the back. Alexander was facing him so that his face could not be seen by anyone entering.
"To answer your question, when I entered the bodega, there were already some people who had died. But no, I shoot to injure, not to kill. It's possible for someone to bleed out because the paramedic arrived on scene but it's not likely, I'm pretty accurate with a gun."
"Why didn't you? They were bad guys after all." Alexander asked.
"Some of them, yes but not all of them. You must understand something Alexander, in neighborhoods like these, good paying and legit jobs are scarce to find and working for gangs is more easy for some. After all, some of them have families to feed, what will you do if the only way to do that is to enter a gang and sell drugs?"
"I would never sell drugs or enter a gang!" He affirmed resolutely.
"You are still young and I hope you will never have to make a decision under extreme circumstances, that's in time like this that you learn the real truth about yourself. I know being the son of the President can be hard on you, You can't be alone anymore, you become a target from various nefarious organizations and you have an obligation that no young people should have but at least you have three meals a day. Some of the young people living in this neighborhood have to take upon themself to find money to have electricity in their homes and if they manage to eat once per day, they find themself fortunate. You never have to worry about that in your entire life, right?"
"No, I never had to worry about any of this. It's not my fault if my family is wealthy and influential and theirs are not." He replied defensively.
"In truth, the only difference between you and them is luck, simple as that. This is why you should stop talking down to people you think are beneath you. " Nathaniel added.
"They are beneath me! I'm the son of the President!" He answers back.
"So you are arrogant because of what? Because your father succeeded in his life? You know we are in a democracy, you will not inherit his title." Nathaniel smiles before turning serious once again. "My father was a financial analyst and he died before I was even born, do you think it makes you better than me for that reason?"
Alexander was going to respond when he stopped and started to think. He knew that Nathaniel was better than him in almost every way and even if last night he had sneered at him, after everything he saw him do today, he could not anymore. Not even his physical prowess, his attitude was even more impressive. He was exuding so much control and calmness that everyone felt at ease beside him, himself included.
"No, I'm not. You are not a peasant are you?"
"I never say I was, you did." Nathaniel answered with humor. "When I was young, we didn't have much money. Enough to eat and pay our bills but that was it. Now, I have millions on my bank account and I'm not eighteen yet. I have money coming from my dead father's insurance on a block account, I could use it when I turn twenty one but I don't know if I will ever use it. I never give much thought to it but I think I will give it away to help some who need it more than me."
"How do you become like that? Who trained you to manage to fight in a 1v3 situation like that?" Alexander asked.
"I was self taught you could say as I never been to school much. For my ability to fight, I asked my grandfather to give me his two personal bodyguards to train me. I kept them with me until I could beat them alone and after that I knew I didn't need them anymore. I always challenge myself to become better at everything. I read and learn a lot in books, I taught myself to be fluent in many languages. You just need to find what is hidden in your heart, discover what your ambitions are and then fight to get it."
"How do you do that?" Alexander asked, interested.
"Be confronted with an extreme situation when your life's on the line that did it for me. That's how I knew what I wanted to do with my life."
"And what was it?"
"I want to change the world Alexander." Nathaniel answered truthfully, making Alexander's mouth open wide in surprise.
"Close your mouth, the waitress is coming back to take or order."
While they were eating and like Nathaniel predicted it earlier, breaking news started to come from the TV in the dinner, showing images from the bodega. The cops and paramedics run around with bloody people in their arms. The scene was jarring even to them as they knew it was not far from here. In fast listening to the broadcast, a couple of people took their phones out and started calling their loved ones to make sure they were safe.
Forty fives minutes later, they were exiting the dinner once they were full, Nathaniel leaving a very good tip that made the waitress smile at him sweetly. They had stopped talking in that period, focusing on the news broadcast and the food that they were devouring. Seeing the waitress making googly eyes at Nathaniel, Alexander laughed once they were out of ear shot.
"Do you have a girlfriend Nathaniel?" He asked curiously.
"No, I don't." Nathaniel responds with a voice devoid of any emotion.
"Why don't you? And why didn't you try to get the waitress phone number? She was pretty and she was flirting with you from the moment we enter and until we leave." Alexander asked.
"Let's just say that the last girl I was seeing cheated on me so I decided to take a break from dating for a while. And I'm a New Yorker, I'm going back there when we are back to the White House, I don't really see the point."
"Oh, I'm sorry. Was she a singer or actor like you?" He asked.
"No, she was just a girl going to the same college as me. Her father on the other hand is quite well known. He's Senator Livingston, I don't know if you know him."
"Oh I do! Dad talks about him often, they don't like each other based on what I hear."
"Yeah that's what I also understood."
"Are you still talking with her?" Alexander asked after a few moments had passed.
"No. I can pardon honest to god mistake or error, after all we aren't robots, people make mistakes, you and me included. But cheating and lying to the person you are with especially when you had a good and honest relationship, It's a betrayal of trust that I can't excuse. A relationship without trust can't survive whether it is in a couple of just basic friendships." Nathaniel explained patiently.
"I get it." Alexander said with a pensive expression.
"Are you really Alexander?" Nathaniel asked arching an eyebrow.
"What is that supposed to mean?" He asked defensively, stopping in the middle of the street.
"Let me ask you a couple of questions first. Who do you trust the most in your life?"
"My parents of course." He answers easily.
"Good. Who is the smartest person you know?"
"Mom. Dad is smart too but mom is easily the smartest I know." He gave a proud smile.
"Then why are you trusting the word of your friend Logan over the ones coming from your parents?"
"I… euh…" Alexander seems to be sort of a word before breaking eye contact. "I said I didn't want to talk about it!"
"You will need to at some point Alexander. Becoming a man is about owning his mistakes and making things right, even if it hurts your pride or ego. But by doing that, you could win something far more valuable than any of that." Nathaniel explained.
Not adding anything after that, Nathaniel waited patiently for Alexander to speak again. It was important now for him to take the last step. Nathaniel could give him a push in the right direction but it was up to him to walk there of his own volition. That kind of thing could not be forced like his parents tried to in the past.
"And what is it?" Alexander finally asked, turning back to him.
"Pardon and respect. Admitting wrongdoing takes balls and courage where not saying anything knowing that you are wrong makes you a coward not able to take responsibility for your mistakes. Sometimes, especially when someone is as young as you, it's easy to think only about what you feel but it's important to think about the other, especially your loved ones. Word and action have consequences to the people around you, Alexander, they always have and they always will."
Alexander was going to respond when Nathaniel's phone started ringing. Looking at the caller ID, Nathaniel looked back at Alexander with a smile.
"It's time to yell, I believe." He said before accepting the call. "Hello Tobias."
"Tell me it wasn't you." He said with a pissed off voice.
"Okay, it wasn't me. What are we talking about?" Nathaniel asked in an innocent voice that made Alexander laugh beside him.
"You know full well what I'm talking about! The shooting in Bellevue that happened an hour ago!"
"Oh that. Well it was definitely me then."
What followed was a never ending string of curse yell in the phone. Luckily, Nathaniel had been prepared and had put his phone away to prevent him from becoming deaf.
"Did you know that because of your stunt and the fact that you identified yourself as the FBI, the Washington Police commissioner called every federal agency in the city to find out who you are? They want to question you, especially after finding out that you are not from the FBI."
"Well, I had no other choice. I had to evacuate the street to reduce the risk of civilian casualty. I looked too young to be taken seriously in a case like this so I used the badge that I asked from the President for that effect. How have the casualties been so far?"
"Three dead, ten people who all have matching gunshot wounds in their knee and shoulder but are not in critical condition and three other found outside of the bodega unconscious. Let's just say that a number of officers and doctors are really curious to know how in the middle of a gunfight ten people managed to be shot all in the same place. Please, just tell me that you didn't use the gun that I gave you."
"I'm not an idiot Tobias. I know that gouvernemental issued guns have bullets that can easily be tracked to the gun in question. I used the gun of two of the three people that the Police find knock out in the street. What is the APB used by the cops to find me right now?"
"So far they search for a young man in his early twenties, six foot, blond hair with blue eyes. Is Alexander alright?"
"Yes uncle Tobias, I'm all good." Alexander answers after Nathaniel gives him the phone. "No, I didn't see anything of the fight, Nathaniel told me to stay away and hidden from the shooting."
"Okay, tell me where you are, I'm sending a car to pick you up and bring you back to the White House." Tobias said after Nathaniel retrieved the phone.
"Negative Tobias, no car. We will continue our walk like it was scheduled."
"Listen to me you insufferable bastard, the cops are looking for someone matching your description so it's too dangerous for you to stay in the street, especially with Alexander. Now tell me where you are, it's an order." He yell on the phone.
"See you later Tobias." Nathaniel said simply, hanging out on him.
Putting his phone in quiet mode, Nathaniel looked at Alexander who was giving a stupefied stare.
"You hung up on him, uncle Tobias is not going to like that at all. Knowing him, he's going to send his men to find us in the street and try to hack your phone GPS." Alexander warned him.
"Well, I told him already that he needed to stop insulting me and talking to me like I was one of his men. For the GPS part I have a spoofer on it, if he tries to locate me, it will indicate I'm somewhere in Somalia right now."
"Seriously? That's so cool! Can you do the same thing with my phone back home?" Alexander asked excitedly.
"I could but I won't. Now, would you like playing hide and seek against Washington Police and the Secret Service?" Nathaniel said, giving a crafty smile at Alexander who smiled back.