Free One Man's Trash by Yolanda Allen

room. JT made eye contact for the first time. She couldn’t turn
away. He started singing. To her relief it was a song she hadn’t heard. Good.
Maybe she can trust that he wouldn’t use any of her lyrics now that he knew she
had a backup of everything. JT winked. What the hell? She rolled her eyes and
turned her head. To think that she had dated this dude. Loved this dude. The
rapper Eve said it best when she said love is blind. That was the only
explanation she could come up with for the reason that she didn’t see his true
colors sooner.

The other artists went through their sound checks successfully. Everything was
set in place and the doors were ready to open to the public. Diamond ordered
two Cosmos at the bar and waited for Kimmy to arrive.

She was halfway finished with her drink when Kimmy sashayed to the bar. She
wore a miniskirt with a black and silver swirly print on it and a sleeveless
sheer black top. Her perfectly toned legs were anchored securely in four inch
stilettos. How did she walk in those things?

“Hey pretty lady!” Kimmy kissed her cheek.

“Hey sexy mama! Thanks for coming.” Diamond twirled her finger in the air.
Kimmy spun around. “You look awesome as always. What, you trying to pick up a
hot date or something?”

Kimmy grabbed her Cosmo and toasted Diamond. “Hey, you should always be
prepared. You never know who you’re gonna meet.”

“Did you know that they’re recording this event?” Diamond pointed out the
camera crew stationed at different posts throughout the venue. “This is my
first ‘official’ listening party. It’s kind of exciting. Like, I feel like,
important or something.”

“Girl, you are important. You’re a superstar!” She threw up her hands like
Molly Shannon did in the movie.

“Girl stop! Put your hands down!” Diamond giggled.

She noticed Philip making his way to the stage. “I guess it’s about to start.
Let’s get closer.” She grabbed Kimmy’s hand and led the way through the crowd
until they reached the front of the stage.

“Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for coming out to Tri Records’ artist listening
party. We are much appreciative of your support. Tonight we want to showcase
some music from our newly signed artists. This is a way to get feedback on the
music, and the artist. So get ready for a great night. We have some very
talented people to take the stage. Our first performance is from a singer by
the name of JT. So help me give a warm welcome to JT, everyone!”

The crowd cheered as JT walked out onto the stage. He shook Philip’s hand and
took the mic.

“Thank you everyone for coming out tonight. This means a lot to us. I hope you
enjoy.” JT looked down at her.

She had an urge to give him the finger but she knew that people were watching.
Instead she gave him the coldest stare that she could muster. He closed his
eyes and started to sing.

I have a desire for you
    built
up inside
    A
passion for you
    that
I try to hide Diamond’s
mouth dropped open. Her heart sank into her tummy.She held onto Kimmy’s
arm to steady herself.

“Diamond, what’s wrong?” Kimmy whispered.JT made eye contact. Her tummy danced in circles. A warmth ran through her
body.
    I have this feeling that just won’t go away
    A
feeling, I admit, I want to stay
    I
become overjoyed
whenever you speak
    My heart aches for the love
only you can give me He hadn’t erased it like he said he would. Diamond looked over to Philip and
the execs. They were enjoying the song. Her song. He stole her song. She
felt her feet move but she wasn’t sure where she was headed until she landed on
stage yanking the mic from JT’s hand.

“You bastard!” She dropped the mic on the floor. “You stole my song!”

A darkness filled his eyes. “What are you talking about?”

As if he didn’t know. “Don’t try to play me, JT. You stole my song. You thought
I wouldn’t recognize my own music just because you put another beat to it?”

Philip walked up behind