One Man's Trash by Yolanda Allen

He’s my ex-boyfriend. But he became my ex when he cheated on me.”

“What now? He cheats on you and then he steals your music? What type of men are
you dealing with, Diamond?”

“I didn’t know he was trifling, Ryan. He did a whole 180 from when we first
started dating. Trust me, I feel stupid. I allowed myself to get played.”

“I’m sorry, girl. I didn’t mean to make you feel bad. I’m just surprised,
that’s all.”

She rubbed her temples. She had the same headache from last night. “Do you
think you can possibly talk to Ryder. I mean I know that he hasn’t talked to
you in a few years but is there any way you can convince him to talk to you
just to ask him one question?” Her chest ached. It would be a miracle if Ryder
had even listened to the song let alone still had the darn CD.

“He’s out,” he said.

She heard the smile in his voice. Diamond sat straight up. Her heart fluttered.
“Ryder’s out of jail? How? When? Why didn’t you tell me your brother was out of
jail?”

“I’ve been meaning to, there’s just so much going on right now, Diamond, I can
barely think straight. I was just as surprised as you are when I got the call
that he was being released from prison early.”

Diamond sat in disbelief. Ryder was out of prison. Her mind instantly went back
to the last day she’d seen him.

She paused in front of his bedroom door. It was cracked but she couldn’t see
him. Her hands trembled. Why was she so nervous? She’d been in his room
countless times with Ryan since they were young kids, and had talked to him
countless times even if it was just saying hello. She looked down at the CD in
her hand. It was now or never. She took a deep breath and rapped on the door.

A few seconds later, Ryder appeared, bare-chested, exposing the tattoo of a
lion on his chest. She stared at the lion, then down to his six pack abs, then
down to his pale bare feet. She looked back up when he cleared his throat.

“Hi,” she said, shyly. “I umm,” she swallowed hard, “I wanted to give you
something.” She held out the CD.

He took it from her hands slowly. She bit down on her bottom lip as he read the
front of the disc. To Ryder G. From Diamond aka DeeAye Undeniable Love was written in black Sharpie on
the case.He opened the cover and pulled out the yellow lined notebook
paper that had the lyrics to the song. She had gone over this moment countless
times in her head before showing up tonight. She would hand him the CD and walk
away before he read the words. But her feet were glued to the floor. Her legs
locked. She was literally paralyzed. The only thing that moved were her eyes as
she scanned his perfectly sculpted body that stood in front of her.

When her gaze reached his face again she noticed he was reading the piece of
paper. Oh shit. She wasn’t supposed to be around when he read the words. Why
didn’t she just stick to the plan? Why did he have to come to the door with no
freaking shirt on? It should definitely be against the law for someone with
Ryder’s body to walk around shirtless. It should be mandatory that he stayed
fully clothed at all times. Well at least in her presence. Even his darn feet
were cute for goodness sake.

Ryder folded the paper, put it back inside the case and closed it. He eyed her.
“You wrote this?”

She nodded. She didn’t trust herself to speak.

He tapped the CD against his hand. “Cool.” He stepped away from the door.

Diamond turned around to leave.

“Aye.”

She stopped in her tracks.

“Thanks.”

She looked back at him. A smile slid across her face. He smiled back and closed
his bedroom door. That was one of the happiest moments in her life. A few days
after that, she watched from the back of a courtroom as the judge sentenced him
to seven years in prison for aggravated battery.

“Diamond? You still there?” Ryan’s voice echoed in her ear.

“Yea. Yea, I’m still here.” She wet her lips.

“I was calling your name like fifty times,