Immaculate Spirit 163 :

"Does your old friends ever made you pay for anything?"

"No that I can recall but that does not prove any…" He said after thinking about it.

"Does they ever try to obtain favor from you or your father?" Nathaniel interrupt him.

"Just shut up! I'm done talking with you!" Alexander shout angrily before stomping ahead without saying anything else.

"I can show you the truth, it depend on you if you decide to accept it or not." Nathaniel add not in the least put out by his reaction.

They kept walking in silence for the next thirty minutes, Alexander still slightly ahead of Nathaniel. Even if he was still keeping his mouth shut stubbornly, his mind could not shake off the idea that Nathaniel had put in his head. All of the talk that he had with his old friends and Logan kept coming to him and the more he look back, the more he realised that Nathaniel was right even if he was unwilling to say it out loud. In addition to that, he was getting tired of walking and was also getting hungry.

Nathaniel on his side was just walking with a carefree gait until something start to press on his senses. Looking around him with a sharp gaze, Nathaniel quickly found where this what he feel came from and put a hand on Alexander shoulder, stopping him.

"Don't touch me!" Alexander shout, trying to get free.

"Spare your childish temper to your relatives, we need to move away." Nathaniel said, his eyes serious.

After trying to get away but failing miserably, Alexander realized that Nathaniel was way stronger than he look to be. Seeing his face made him stop struggle as he could see he was dead serious and he had an air of gravity to him.

"What is going on?" Alexander asked worriedly.

"You see that bodega right ahead?" Nathaniel nodded in the direction he was talking about.

Looking at the bodega in question, Alexander could not see from where he was getting at.

"What about it? I don't see anything weird, it's a bodega."

"Alexander, you really need to see past the appearance and be conscious of your environnement." Nathaniel sighed. "What can you tell me about that bodega, what can you see?"

"It's a little bodega like there is everywhere, I don't know what you are trying to make me say." Alexander answers a little lost.

"Look at the front of the bodega, the windows, the doors. What come to mind when you look at it?"

"Everything is old and kind of dirty. It seem small inside too." Alexander answer after looking at it for a moment.

"Good. This is not surprising considering we are in a very poor neighborhood. Keeping that it mind, look around that bodega for an anomaly, anything that do not belong here."

Doing just that, start looking around the bodega until he understood what Nathaniel was talking about.

"Wait, that black car."

"Yes, a brand new black BMW SUV coasting around eighty thousand dollars parked in front of a run down bodega, weird right?" Nathaniel smile appreciatively. "Now, what a car like that is doing in this kind of district in your opinion?"

"I don't know maybe someone who needed to make an errand and stop between two meetings?" Alexander supposed.

"Hum, possible but not likely. Someone who have that kind of money don't have meeting in this kind of neighborhood and they know to not stop here even if they have to run ten more miles to find another bodega to shop. No, in this case the only people who have the mean to own a car like that is gang members, especially head of gang members." Nathaniel explained.

"Gang?" Alexander asked anxiously, taking a step back to be closer to Nathaniel.

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"I'm afraid so, yes. There is only three explanation for gang members to be here. First, they are here because of an errand but it's unlikely considering that the SUV is empty. If they were here to make an errand, one of them should have stay inside, guarding the car. Second, they are here to collect 'protection' money from the owner and in this case there is going to be loud noise coming from that bodega soon, especially if the owner fight back. And lastly, the bodega is own by them and they use it to launder dirty money from drug sell or extortion to quote only these two. What do you think is the correct answer Alexander?"

"Why are you asking me?" Alexander asked.

"Because you are a smart kid but you lack the knowledge on how to use that in a useful way." Nathaniel answer truthfully.

Pausing at that, Alexander look surprised at Nathaniel for a moment before turning back to the SUV.

"The second explanation?" He answers tentatively.

"No. You missed something else in your earlier observation. Look around that SUV again for something not in his place or just plain weird."

Looking long and hard at the street in front of him, Alexander could not find anything except for the black car in front of the bodega.

"I don't see anything."

"Look attentively at the third, sixth and seventh car parked across the street from the bodega. What do you see?"

Looking at the three cars in questions, Alexander start to see movements inside them, something that he had missed earlier.

"Hey there is people inside of those cars!"

"Indeed, I estimate they are between eight and ten people inside of those cars. Why do you think they are here Alexander?"

"Maybe they are also gang members and they guarding the place?"

"If that was true they would look around the bodega like where we are but they only focus is the bodega. Moreover, their positionnement is wrong as they are leaving the back door wide open. No, I believe they are to attack the place."

"What! We need to call the cops!"

"That would not achieve anything. I think they have a police scanner on hand and they are waiting for the patrol to move away before attacking. If we call the cops, they would just leave and come back later. It will also undermined the secret nature of our walk and being kept for hours by cops because I have the son of the President with me is not really appealing."

"We need to leave then!" He said fearfully.

"We have two options for you to choose from. We could turn around and take another road. We will be safe but the people walking on the street will not. Or I could go in and stop them before they know what is. .h.i.tting them but in this case, you will be without protection and could be hurt in the process. I let you choose Alexander, it's time for you take a little of responsibility." Nathaniel finished, locking eyes with him.