Denzel walked down the sidewalk, kicking a cup out of his way as he moved under the raised subway tracks as he neared his place of work. The nearly 21-year old African American man paused at a crosswalk as he waited for an opening to cross. A city bus passed a few feet away from him, spraying exhaust in the air. Denzel wasn’t even affected by the horrible smoke; he was used to that smell having lived in this area his entire life. First in the orphanage and now in his tiny one-bedroom apartment.
He was slightly taller than the average guy, but nothing really made him stand out. His hands were covered with marks and his jeans were dirty and would get far dirtier by the end of the day. His hair was braided in short braids. He did keep a small gold chain around his neck but he didn’t have much else on him besides a lunch box.
His darks eyes were down in his phone as he played a game, his ears noticed the sound of gunfire in the distance, but that didn’t cause him to flinch, he had heard that sound before. He crossed the street on the sign and then walked into his place of work.
“Morning Denzel.” Said his boss behind the counter, a middle age white man which was rare in this part of town, however the multiple biker tattoos on his arms told everyone he wasn’t to be messed with. “We have a full day ahead of us, so get to work.”
“Sure.” Confirmed Denzel as he walked into the break room to place his stuff before going out and getting a set of key from the rack.
He walked out to the fenced parking lot, the chain link fence topped with barb wire as he got into his first car and drove it to the garage. Once on the lift he began his work.
He had never done well in school but he was brilliant working on cars and once he had finished high school, which by itself was rare in this part of town he had gone to work at this shop.
Having fixed the monitor he went on to the next car, which was installing a custom hidden compartment in the door frame. He didn’t ask questions and neither did the owner of the shop, the fact that they didn’t ask questions petty much made them untouchable by the multiple gangs in the area. All of them wanted their cars worked on by someone who was skilled, wouldn’t ask questions and did so at a reasonable price. The third car of the day needed some body work filling in some bullet holes, something which was common enough.
Final after a few more cars, the day was done.
“Night, Denzel. Your off tomorrow, right?” inquired the owner
“And Saturday.” Stated Denzel as the owner looked at the calendar, the days were marked off so he had approved it. “Decided to take a three day weekend on my 21st birthday.”
“I forgot about that, well enjoy your time off, heading anywhere?” inquired the owner
“Maybe I will get on my bike and head out of the city?” laughed Denzel, both knew that he wouldn’t do that. Denzel was a city rat, he had never left the city in his life, he wouldn’t know what to do outside of it. “In truth, I plan to go out and have some drinks legally for a change.”
“Alright.” stated the owner “Enjoy your time off.”
“Night.” stated Denzel as he walked back to his tiny apartment, showered in the shared bathroom at the end of the hall before turning on his TV to settle in for the night.
What magical creature is he about to become