PROLOGUE

Gretchen Stokes winced as her comb got stuck in her hair. Again. One of the worst parts of getting ready in the morning was combing her hair. It was a wild, dishelled bush. Some days, she didn't even bother combing it. She said she was making a fashion statement as an excuse. Natural hair rocks! Black Lives Matter. As petty as it was, she would do anything to avoid the war of her hair especially on a lazy day.

But today was different. Today was no lazy day. Today was the day she was having an interview with the Managing Director of the DER, Mr Gladwell.

She wouldn't say she was nervous, even though she was. She never conceded to fear or uncertainty. She was a once in a life time employee. The best private investigator Sincity had ever known. She wasn't going to back down from an obstacle. She wasn't fazed about the fact that she was not only a woman, but also a black woman and this was a very unconventional thing to do. This wasn't what she was expected to do.

She already knew more than half the employees of the DER were white men. Then a quarter of white women, then a handful of black men who were probably just assistants or cleaners or clerks or something. There was not a single black woman. Mr Gladwell had told her that himself. He had said that if she did well in her interview and she got the job, she would be the first black woman to be a member of the DER.

The thought made her sick. This was the 21st century for Christ sake. All the coded racism and the funny insinuations had to be done with. When people ask if they can touch your hair, they always think your going to throw a huge 'black girl fit' over the funniest things. They call you ghetto and homie. They try not to refer to Africans or slavery or 'niggers'around you. Gretchen was sick of it. She had endured it since she was a child. Worse because she was dark skinned.

She grew up with her parents in California because although her mother was From Sincity, her dad was American and they moved there because of him. Her parents died when she was seventeen years old. She lived with her Aunt in Texas for two years before she moved back to Sincity, where she was born, to start her own life.

She had been basically alone ever since. She had a few friends but they didn't last long because she travelled often because of work. Besides due to the technicalities of her job, she had to keep it a secret from a lot of people. She usually framed as a travel nurse.

Here in Sincity, things were different. It was a small, hidden country and she loved it. She could travel for work easily and she had her own space and little haven in Danland - the capital of Sincity - and now she was getting a job in one of the best companies in the continent. Life was sweet but she knew the DER might be a bit difficult for her at first. But her parents raised her a fighter, and she wasn't about to back down from this fight, from this new phase of her life anytime soon.

The DER had better get ready for the amazing Gretchen Stokes.

***Download NovelToon to enjoy a better reading experience!***