"Yo Gigi."
"Hello, my friend?" Her singsong voice rang through the phone, and Joy could feel her anger slowly dissipate as hard as she tried to fight it.
"I think Taylor is letting this other bitch sing the song I wrote, and he better pray my intuition is damn wrong."
"Woah Woah...slow down. Taylor? Unbelievable, how do you know?" Gigi asked; Joy could hear Gigi shuffling around in the background.
"Yes, fucking Taylor. My pretend-ass boyfriend. I told his ass not to lie, and this is what he does to me."
"Okay, first, I need you to calm down. Tell me, how do you know?"
"I don't know. I just have a feeling, so I'm finna pop up on him."
"Okay, but where's the actual evidence? Be rational."
Joy asked, "You don't believe me?"
"Shut that shit up, Joy. I want to go to jail for a valid reason, not just because you got a hunch. Where are you, anyway?"
"Coming up on yo street."
"I'm outside."
Joy and Gigi were riding in her homegirl's car and they were coming up to the studio where her soon-to-be jobless producer/boyfriend spent most of his time.
His claims: "Joy, babygirl, I'm just trying to perfect my kraft...you know how it is."
"So before we go in, can you please tell me what happened?" Gigi, her goody-goody best friend, questions.
"So it's been going through the grapevine that I am putting out new music. The only person who knows I've been in the studio is Tay. You and I both know it's pulling teeth to get him to get me in the studio, but you got money to get this newbie? So you refused to do what I pay you for but can do it easily with this white bitch?!" Joy nearly shouted, "I purposely told the dude that I was rescheduling my studio time for later this evening with him so that I could see what the fuck he was really up to. You know you ain't got to come, G."
"I'll be the getaway car."
Joy couldn't help but laugh as they parked in front of the place she called her peace, and she was about to wreak havoc.
Taking the elevator to the fourth floor, she went to the rented studio room to see exactly what she expected.
Taylor bitch ass with her songbook.
On impulse, she opened the door, "So...this what we doing now?! Huh?!"
Joy watched Cole jump out of his skin, and if she weren't so pissed, she would have laughed in his face.
"So you steal from me, too? So you're a liar and a cheat. My fucking luck." Joy sneered, blocking the exit with her body.
"Nah, we just sharing, that's all." The lie flowed so naturally but Joy of course wasn't convinced.
Ole girl hadn't noticed that her session was over and was still singing her precious heart out.
How pathetic; nobody can sing my song the way I can. Joy thought.
Talk about embarrassing.
"Hand. Me. My. Shit." Joy hissed, "Before I blow my top."
"This ain't yo shit. I own you and everything that comes out of you."
This man must not know; nobody owned Joy, not even the people that birthed her.
Without thinking, Joy bum-rushed him, caring about only one thing. Her precious songbook. Using the element of surprise, she snatched her book from his hand.
"Tay Tay, honey, you'll have to be faster than that. Want to know what's saddening about this situation is that I could sue you. But I'm going to choose the higher road, and you should probably find better talent. She's not even my second runner-up."
"Sue me? For what...taking up a new talent? No one knows you, Joy. Why are you taking this so seriously, babe?"
She felt her blood boiling and felt like a rabid dog; seething.
He began to laugh, "You tripping."
"You are a liar." Her skin crawled with disgust.
"Don't hate the player; hate the game."
"Yeah, we're done."
"Good luck trying to find another producer. You're not even worth the trouble."
He knew his words cut deep, but Joy kept her face neutral. He wanted her to blow this bitch down. Men love that shit; she knew then that continuing the argument wasn't worth shit.
"God bless you."
Running out of the building to Gigi's car, Joy could tell Gigi was worried sick.
Hopping into the passenger seat, Joy told her to drive, unsure if she was even ready to spill her guts yet.
"Joy?"
"I was right, and he had my book. She was singing my song, Maje. I don't know what stopped me from burning the whole place to the ground. I could feel the fire in my blood." Joy summarized, holding her book up to show Gigi it was in her possession.
Gigi gasped, "That fucking bastard. God forgive me but Jesus. Are you okay?"
"I'm not ready to even think about it. Just know it was all the motivation I needed."
Gigi was good at letting things go. She wasn't the type of friend to pry and understood the meaning of privacy.
"Okay, well, you know I am always here. Everything is going to be okay." She started, "Where to next?"
"Home. Y'know how he gets."
Her eyes shined with rebellion before deciding it was best not to press the issue.
Genesis G
