THE BAD BOY OF MANHATTAN
Chapters 27. Getting Emma to Date With a Minimal Budget.

"Elric, wait!" call Nathan when he sees Elric coming out of the library room followed by Mrs. Becky Sanders's. Nathan waved at the woman as he said goodbye.

"What (what)?" asked Elric indifferently.

"Why your temple?" nathan asked as he examined Elric's face. The young man's temples were no longer covered in scarf, but his scar was red.

"It's nothing (nothing)," Elric replied in passing.

"You fighting?" accuse Nathan of following Elric in the corridor of the house to the kitchen where Lupita is preparing lunch for him. The woman deftly served her young master.

"El?" Nathan demanded his son's answer.

"Why if I fight? You're gonna assume I wasn't being nice and cancel your plans to return me to public school?" Elric accused his father. "Anyway, Dad (again, Papa) ...." Elric looked at Nathan. "I think I'd better find a place to live alone."

"What are you talking about (what are you talking about)?" nathan was surprised.

"You know what I mean, Nath," said Elric. He continued his spoon feed. Then return to being indifferent.

Nathan shook his head. "I really don't understand your way of thinking. What do you really want? Am I a bad father? Do you hate me so much?"

Elric breathed. "All I want is, don't interfere in my business. Can you?" He slammed the spoon and fork on his plate, then stepped away leaving Nathan, who could only watch his departure.

"You see that, Lupita?" nathan said to his assistant with a face that looked annoyed. "I could never talk to the boy" he grumbled.

Lupita smiled and pulled up the chair to sit next to Nathan. "Mrs. Bradley .. I think Elric is in the process of proving himself" he said.

"What kind of self-evidence?" sergeant Nathan.

"Providence that he's on his way to adulthood. Loosen your bond, Mr. Bradley ... Elric was no longer a child," Lupita asked as she patted Nathan on the shoulder.

Nathan stroked his hair. "I just don't want him to go the wrong way and get involved in bad things. As he did a while ago."

Lupita smiled back. "Mrs. Bradley .. You won't know which way is right if you don't get lost first. Elric needs experience. He is exploring his world. Let it. Just watch from far away. Help Elric if he really needs help" he explained. "I'm sorry if I sound patronizing, Mr. Bradley," he said.

Nathan smiled faintly. "It's okay, Lupita."

"Don't despair, Mr. Bradleys. Dealing with teenagers is difficult. I've experienced it," chuckles Lupita.

"Yeah." Nathan said. Elric is the only one. He just wants the best. And he doesn't understand what kind of life Elric wants.

***

"You three Fat Tony guys?" The big man in a loose-fitting shirt who was dressed in a dark blue suit and wearing a gold necklace looked at Elric, Michael and Ryan in turn.

"Yeah" answered Elric as he moved a step forward towards the man and gave the man a large, tightly sealed package.

"Hm." The man received the package from Elric's hand and patted it while nodding. "Meet my men in the next room. They'll take care of your payments."

"You just wait here." Elric prevents Michael and Ryan from waiting outside the room shown by the man.

Moments later after completing the payment of the goods he was carrying, Elric came out of the room and took the two friends out of the building they knew, it was a small club. The one they had met in the next room was the club owner and friend of their boss, Fat Tony.

"Well .. we can drink as much as we can tonight" said Ryan happily, after depositing the proceeds of the sale of goods on Fat Tony and receiving his salary.

Elric reached into the phone in his pants pocket and checked the clock on the screen. Five o'clock in the afternoon, thought Elric, Emma had just finished work. He intended to invite the girl to eat something in a comfortable place to chat. "I can't" said Elric.

"Where are you going? Don't tell me you're afraid of your father, El," Michael sneered.

"I want to see someone."

Ryan and Michael threw one another a look of astonishment. It was not usual for Elric to refuse their invitation. "Who do you want to see, El? Your boyfriend? That fierce one, Emma?" chuckles Ryan.

Elric shook his hand. "It's five o'clock. I'll go first." The young man immediately passed from the presence of his two friends who returned to look at each other astonished at Elric's slightly strange behavior.

While Elric was walking on a sidewalk that crowded pedestrians that afternoon. The Mexican restaurant where Emma worked is not too far away. It only took him ten minutes to get there.

Elric stood not far from the bustling Mexican restaurant. Some employees walked out of the restaurant door. But, he had not seen Emma. After about half an hour he waited. The figure of the beautiful girl he was waiting for appeared. He came out of the door, still in an officer's uniform wrapped in a large gray knit sweater. Emma walked with a friend while joking, heard from her crisp laughter.

Elric who was smoking his cigarette hurriedly slammed it on the floor and stepped on it. He walked quickly to Emma who immediately put on a shocked face I saw Elric suddenly appear out of nowhere. "What's right here?" ask Emma.

Elric grimaced while scratching his head. He is confused about devising a less suspicious scenario to take Emma for a walk.

"Elric?" call Emma. While Alice, her partner, was just smiling. The girl could already guess that this handsome young man in front of her wanted to ask Emma out.

"I ... want ... actually, there is a .. emmh ... I ...." Suddenly her tongue felt faint as Emma looked at him with a look of astonishment.

"She wants to ask you out, Em," Alice cut into a fit of anxiety. Elric gasped at Emma's friend's words that were straight to the point. His chest that had been pounding fast since then was now growing faster. Maybe her face looks pale now.

"Huh?" Emma squinted her forehead. "What do you want, Elric?" tanyanya. Without a second thought, Elric grabbed Emma's arm and pulled her away from the spot.

"Elric! What are you doing (what are you doing)?" emma protests while trying to remove her arm from Elric's hand.

"Follow it!" Elric exclaimed without letting go of Emma's arm.

"Elric!" snapped Emma while pulling Elric's hair so the young man could let go of the check.

"Auch," complained Elric as he stroked his head. He releases Emma's arm and stops her.

"Basin a weird kid!" groused Emma.

"Get me to China Town." Those words just came out of Elric's mouth. And China Town, was the place that came to his mind. He remembers the story Alya used to take Nathan there. In addition, China Town is the most suitable and exciting place in Manhattan to invite a girl on a date with a minimal budget of course.

***