Page 1

CHAPTER 1

Saniyah

Istood in front of the full-length mirror in the corner of my room, tugging on the zipper of my dress. I swore everything that could go wrong this morning did. It began when my clock didn’t alarm, and I woke up twenty minutes late. Then, after a quick shower, I walked into my kitchen only to realize I’d forgotten to grab coffee when I’d went to the grocery store the day before. Now, here I was, struggling with this damn zipper when I needed to be walking out the door right now.

“Come on now, shit,” I mumbled to myself.

I twisted my arm behind my back again, fingers fumbling as I tried to pull it up the rest of the way, but it wouldn’t budge. It was stuck right in the middle like it knew something that I didn’t. I didn’t need any more extra shit going on, not this morning. Not when I was on my way to the one company that had decent starting pay and had called me for an interview. I had exactly zero dollars coming in, and the first of the month was right around the corner.

I sucked my teeth before taking a deep breath. I adjusted the dress and slid the zipper all the way down then back up again. This time, I was able to get it all the way up. I smiled then smoothed my hands over the fabric. I took a step back, lookingat myself in the mirror. The dress was a soft brown and stopped just above my knees. It was fitted just enough to show off my shape yet still appropriate for an interview. My skin was glowing, even in the middle of the bullshit that was my life right now. My grandmother told me as a little girl that a woman should take pride in her appearance and that she should never look like what she was going through. I took that lesson with me throughout my twenty-five years of life, and today was no exception.

My face had a light beat because I didn’t need much. My light brown skin was already flawless, so all I added was a little concealer, some powder, and gloss. I’d placed a full set of lashes on the night before, so all I needed to do was run a spoolie through them, and they were good to go. I’d also done my own hair, laying one of my wigs onto my head flawlessly before placing huge curls throughout. One thing about it, if I couldn’t do nothing else, I knew how to make myself look good.

I turned to the side, wanting to see how my ass looked in the dress. I smiled and smacked it, knowing I looked good. I just hoped that my interview was with one of the male owners and not one of their female assistants. It had been two weeks since everything in my life shifted. One minute, I was clocking in, minding my business like always, checking emails like a regular day. Next minute, I was sitting in my supervisor’s office, being told I was being let go. He gave me some lame ass excuse about budget cuts. I didn’t give a fuck about their budget when it meant my livelihood. Bills were due, rent was due, and I had no money coming in. At this point, if I didn’t get this job, I would be on the pole by tomorrow because getting put out was not an option.

After spraying myself with Juliette Has a Gun Not a Perfume, I was finally ready to walk out the door. I looked and smelled good, so I knew I would do good at my interview. I slid my feetinto a pair of gold slingback heels and grabbed a matching purse and walked out the door.

The sun was bright, even though the early morning air was still cool. For the middle of April, it was going to be a beautiful day in Detroit. My heels clicked against the pavement as I made my way to my car with my head held high. This job was mine, and I wasn’t going to let anything stop me. I unlocked my door and got inside, smiling as I pushed the button to start my car. However, I frowned when nothing happened. I pushed it again, getting the same outcome.

“Come on. Ain’t no way this shit happening now.”

I couldn’t do shit but shake my head because if it wasn’t one thing, it was another. I sat there for a second, just staring straight out the window, as I tried to gather myself. If I didn’t, I would have lost it right then and there. An Uber was going to be too much money, and I damn sure wasn’t taking nobody’s bus. With that, I reached into my purse and called the one person I knew I could count on, my best friend, Nazuri.

“Hello?” she answered, her voice low, still half asleep.

“Zuri,” I said quickly, “I need a ride.”

“Girl, what? It’s nine in the morning, and you want me to get up out my bed and take you somewhere? I just went to sleep a couple hours ago.”

“My car won’t start, and I got this interview like right now. You know I need this job, bitch.”

Nazuri paused, and for a moment, I thought she’d gone back to sleep. Then, she finally spoke again.

“I’ll be there in ten minutes.”

“Thanks, bestie. I knew you loved me.”

“Just be outside,” she replied before ending the call.

I sat in my car, scrolling through TikTok, as I waited for Zuri to pull up. I knew I got on my best friend’s last nerve. I also knew that even when she cursed me out, if I needed her, she wasalways going to be there. Exactly ten minutes later, Nazuri was pulling up. Rushing out my car, I got into her passenger’s seat.

“Come on, pull off. I can’t be late. That shit look bad, and you know I need this job.”

“What’s the address?” Zuri asked.

She put the address into her GPS, then we pulled off. She looked over at me, nodding her head and tapping her two fingers together.

“I can’t lie. You look good, sis. You gon’ fuck around and get this job just off body alone.”

“Shit, I sure hope so. I need this muthafucka bad.”

“I mean, if it don’t work out, you can come work at the club with me.”

“And if I don’t get this job, I probably won’t have a choice.”

I laughed, but I was dead ass serious, and I knew Nazuri knew it. About ten minutes later, we were pulling into the parking lot of Blackline Security. It was a tall glass building with a huge titanium fence wrapped around it. The building itself looked like money and made me even more nervous to walk inside.

“Oh, this shit nice as hell. And this is a security company?” Nazuri asked, looking over at me.