𝟙
As Skyla walked to her desk, she could hear the other officers making sexist comments and trying to put her down. But Skyla, much to their distaste, was one of the best officers on the squad. She had a higher arrest rate, was fitter and capable of arresting someone twice her size. She had trained hard and was at the top of her classes. Being the only female just meant she got more attention than she had wanted. And it wasn’t always positive attention.
“Shouldn’t you be in the kitchen making the real officers a sandwich?” Someone asked leaning against her desk, “I’m getting hungry here,”
Skyla smiled at him “There’s not enough food in there to feed you,”
He scowled at her “Watch what you say to me,”
“Oh. I’m so sorry,” Skyla lifted her eyebrow “I suppose your wife put you on a diet because I don’t want to point it out, but your buttons look like they are fighting to stay done up. Maybe you should lay off the cake for a while,”
The men around the room laughed slightly and the officer grabbed Skyla, yanking her to her feet.
“If you weren’t a girl, I’d punch you,”
“Even if I wasn’t, you’d never be able to hit me. Have you forgotten what happened during training? Or did I hit you that hard you forgot?”
The man turned a deep shade of red and let her go before walking away. Skyla straightened her shirt out and sat back down to carry on typing up her work. The cops liked to mess with her but they knew they would never be able to get the best of her. She was tough and strong-willed. Her younger brother had tried to knock her down when they were growing up, but he was the one that was knocked down. Mostly on his ass.
“Channing!”
“Yes, sir?” Skyla said as her boss walked over and she got to her feet.
“Stop threatening my members of staff,”
“Excuse me?”
Her boss glared at her “Just remember your position in my squad. Count yourself lucky that I haven’t fired you or moved you to another squad. A girl doesn’t belong in my squad and you are only here because of your dad. Keep up the bad attitude and you will be gone. Are we clear, Channing?”
Skyla bit her tongue and nodded, spotting the guy who started on her standing at his desk with a smirk on his face.
“Now, make me a coffee and hurry up about it,”
“Yes, sir,” Skyla said through gritted teeth and headed to the kitchen with her fists clenched. She kicked a chair across the kitchen and took a deep breath before turning the kettle on “Sexist bastard. You’ll meet your maker one of these days,”
“Did I miss all the drama?” Skyla jumped at the voice and turned to see her partner smiling at her “What did he do this time?”
“Nothing I can’t handle,” Skyla said, “You are late,”
Dexter grinned “I was showing someone around. Some new kid is starting and he got lost,”
Skyla folded her arms and leaned against the counter “Do you think I’m a good cop?”
Dexter lifted his eyebrow “Sky, you’re the best damn cop on this squad. The guys don’t want to admit it because you’re a girl but you have the highest arrest count and the public love you. Why are you doubting yourself?”
“The boss said I only have this job because of my dad and I sort of doubted my skills,”
“Your dad has nothing to do with you getting this job,” Dexter said, “You got this job because you’re a great cop. Now, are you going to spit in his coffee or do you want me to do it?”
Skyla laughed and shook her head “As much as I’d love to do that, he isn’t worth it,”
“That’s my girl,” Dexter winked at her, “Grab the coffee and let’s go back to our desk. I need to type up a few more things from the last arrest and we can go for breakfast?”
Skyla nodded and followed her partner back to the desk. She knocked on her bosses door and went in with the coffee. She placed it on the desk and went to leave.
“Not so fast,” He said, “Sit down,”
Skyla took a seat and looked at him “What can I do for you, sir?”
“Cut back on the attitude for starters,” He said, “I won’t have you getting away with anything anymore. I’ve had it up to here with the complaints about you,”
“I’ve had complaints?” Skyla said, “Those cops out there are lucky I haven’t gotten my lawyer involved with the sexist comments they throw at me every day I come to work,”
“Are you threatening my staff again?”
Skyla glared at him “If it carries on then yes. I will be filing a complaint against them. I’ve done my best to keep my mouth shut, but they are harassing me and I won’t stand for it anymore,”
“If you take them to court then-”
“I will get them fired,” Skyla said standing up “As a police officer I’m sure you’d understand. I have work to do, sir,”
“Channing, if you take my boys to court then I will have to sue you for-”
“You have nothing on me,” Skyla shrugged, “My lawyer will be more than happy to look over those complaints you have but I’m sure that it will be heavily disputed,”
Her boss scowled at her “Get out of my office and before you walk the beat, you have the new kid,”
“Not a problem, sir,” Skyla smiled and slammed the door as she left his office. No one dared look up as she walked by their desks and she dropped into her chair.
“So...I take it that went well,” Dexter said.
“Perfectly,” Skyla said, “I told him that if I keep getting sexist remarks and being harassed when I come to work, I’m taking everyone to court. You have my back?”
“Obviously I have your back you dummy,” Dexter grinned, “But first, type this up for me. Women are better at sitting behind a desk and ow! Don’t throw the stapler. I was joking!”
“You better be,” Skyla muttered, “The boss said we have to show the new kid the ropes. So this should be fun because we are walking the toughest part of town,”
“How fun. I wonder if we will make it an hour without making an arrest,”
Copyright © 2021 Imsugawonho
No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without written consent from the author.
This is a work of fiction. Unless otherwise indicated, all the names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents in this book are either the product of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.
