Sequel: Fallen Embers ›
The Fire
Rebirth
Back in Oakland the next day, Sabrina was getting ready to go to the studio. The guys were already there, and she was late since they just got home from their romantic night at the Bed and Breakfast. Tre was changing his clothes since he was riding along with her to the studio. It was back to business as usual. Around noon before Tre and Sabrina showed up to work.
Around 3pm both bands stopped for their lunch/play break. They order pizza and salads from a local joint and were waiting for the food to arrive. The gate began to open and instead of the familiar pizza truck, a limo pulled into the parking lot. It pulled up to the side door and three suits got out. They were business men with their briefcases and sunglasses on. The looked around and one pointed to the group at the tables. They came over to where Sabrina was sitting next to Tre, Mike, and Emmett as they were playing cards. One of the men cleared their throat, but no one payed attention to them. Suddenly one spoke "Miss Sanders."
Sabrina ignored the looks that the others gave her as she continued playing. Tre nudged her and she shoved him back. "Miss Sanders, we need to speak to you."
Sabrina looked at the suits, "There is no Miss Sanders here." she said simply and went back to playing cards.
"Miz Wright," one on the men finally spoke, "We are from Reprise Records and we need to speak to you."
"Oh?"
"Yes, we need to have your master tapes so far. We want to listen to them and decide if the material is the direction we want this album to go."
Sabrina jumped up and went nose to nose with the men. If she was a dog you would have seen her hackles up and her teeth bared as she was ready to fight tooth and nail for survival. "Excuse me, I don't think I heard you correctly." she said with a deadly tone.
"We're here from Reprise and we want your master tapes so far. We need to hear if we like the direction the music is going in."
"EXCUSE ME? I don't think so." she spat out. "I am recording on my own label and that has NOTHING to do with Reprise."
The suit that had a briefcase in his hands came up and went nose to nose with the angry blonde woman. "Check your contract again, Miz Wright. Since you left Derringer, the rules have changed. You will not be using your married name professionally. It will stay Sabrina Sanders. And if we don't like what you are producing music wise, you will have to start all over."
Sabrina closed he eyes and took several deep breaths. She was clenching her fists and slightly shaking. Tre saw the warning signs that his wife was about to lose her cool, and went to stand next to her. Sabrina felt Tre's presence and nodded. "Excuse for a moment, gentlemen. I need to step away for a moment so no one gets hurt." She turned and walked away a few paces. She flipped open her phone and dialed a number. She quickly spoke into the phone and waited. Within a minute she had the answer to her question. She closed her phone with a click and walked back toward the suits. "You want my masters?" she asked. They nodded. "Just a minute and I'll go get them." she turned on her heel and walked into the side door to the studio.
The men looked at each other and smiled since she was cooperating. The bands looked confused because they would have never thought that Sabrina would lose control of her music again. Shortly Sabrina came back out with a bunch of tapes in her hands. She walked pass the suits and went to the grill and grabbed the bottle of lighter fluid. She walked out to the middle of the parking lot and dropped the tapes to the ground, and doused them with the fluid. She pulled out a book of matches and lit the whole book and with a calm hand dropped them to the liquid.
There was a loud 'poof' as the fluid caught fire and the tapes began to melt under the heat. Sabrina stood back a little bit and proceeded to empty the bottle into the flames. She tossed the now empty bottle into the mess of melting plastic and walked toward her truck. She got in, reversed the truck to face the burning pile. The engine roared as Sabrina gunned the gas pedal. Suddenly the truck leapt forward with a squeal of tires. She headed straight for the burning pile and scattered everything as she ran over it. She drove for the suits and slammed on the brakes as the truck skidded to a stop. Sabrina turned to look at them and without raising her sunglasses off her eyes she spoke.
"If I wanted to have my music be controlled than I would have never left Derringer. Fuck you and the limo you rode in with. I am owned by no man and will not be told what to do." She leaned over and pushed a button on her stereo and the song 'Platypus, I Hate You' began to play at an earsplitting volume. Without a word Sabrina gunned the truck and left the parking lot.
The suits looked at what was left of the master tapes melting all over the parking lot. One went to go see if anything was salvageable, but was stopped by the other two, They silently climbed back into the limo and disappeared from the parking lot.
The bands watched in silence at what had transpired in the space of less than 15 minutes. Tre reached for his phone and dialed Sabrina's phone. It rang but she never picked up. He frowned as he hung up and dialed Toby's number to let him know what was going on. Within 20 minutes Toby was on a plane heading toward Oakland.
Sabrina's band sat in silence at what happened. She burned the masters. Granted they hadn't really done too much, they were more into practicing than recording at the moment, but still it hurt to see their hard work melting in the sun. They looked to Tre for guidance. He looked worried about Sabrina, but no one knew what was going on.
It was about 9:30 that night and still no one had heard from Sabrina. They had all went to Tre's house and were sitting around the kitchen table waiting for some news that Sabrina was okay. Toby was typing into his blackberry, while Billie, Mike, tried to keep Tre calm. Toby had sent Sabrina's band home since they couldn't do anything. He promised that he would call as soon as he knew something.
Another 20 minutes later the group heard a door open and Sabrina came walking into the kitchen from the garage door. She went straight to the fridge and pulled out the bottle of Jack Daniels. She moved to grab a glass but with her hands wrapped around the glass, she shook her head and ended up abandoning the glass. She deftly unscrewed the cap and swung the bottle to her lips. She took a long swig and the amber liquor and swallowed. She put the bottle down and ran a hand through her hair. She turned to look at her friends and family waiting for her to speak. She walked over and placed her hands on the table.
"I have my catalog and my publishing rights. That's what important. I had to walk away from Sire records and all of my recordings, but I have my songs. She leaned over the table to look at everyone, and they waited til she spoke again. "I will continue, they will not beat me down. Sire is gone, my recordings are gone. Starting tomorrow the studio time is on my dime, so there is nothing Reprise can do. From now on, it's mine and they can't take it away." she paused before continuing.
"Yes, that was the masters I really burned. But from the ashes comes something else. From the ashes comes a 'Rebirth'."
Around 3pm both bands stopped for their lunch/play break. They order pizza and salads from a local joint and were waiting for the food to arrive. The gate began to open and instead of the familiar pizza truck, a limo pulled into the parking lot. It pulled up to the side door and three suits got out. They were business men with their briefcases and sunglasses on. The looked around and one pointed to the group at the tables. They came over to where Sabrina was sitting next to Tre, Mike, and Emmett as they were playing cards. One of the men cleared their throat, but no one payed attention to them. Suddenly one spoke "Miss Sanders."
Sabrina ignored the looks that the others gave her as she continued playing. Tre nudged her and she shoved him back. "Miss Sanders, we need to speak to you."
Sabrina looked at the suits, "There is no Miss Sanders here." she said simply and went back to playing cards.
"Miz Wright," one on the men finally spoke, "We are from Reprise Records and we need to speak to you."
"Oh?"
"Yes, we need to have your master tapes so far. We want to listen to them and decide if the material is the direction we want this album to go."
Sabrina jumped up and went nose to nose with the men. If she was a dog you would have seen her hackles up and her teeth bared as she was ready to fight tooth and nail for survival. "Excuse me, I don't think I heard you correctly." she said with a deadly tone.
"We're here from Reprise and we want your master tapes so far. We need to hear if we like the direction the music is going in."
"EXCUSE ME? I don't think so." she spat out. "I am recording on my own label and that has NOTHING to do with Reprise."
The suit that had a briefcase in his hands came up and went nose to nose with the angry blonde woman. "Check your contract again, Miz Wright. Since you left Derringer, the rules have changed. You will not be using your married name professionally. It will stay Sabrina Sanders. And if we don't like what you are producing music wise, you will have to start all over."
Sabrina closed he eyes and took several deep breaths. She was clenching her fists and slightly shaking. Tre saw the warning signs that his wife was about to lose her cool, and went to stand next to her. Sabrina felt Tre's presence and nodded. "Excuse for a moment, gentlemen. I need to step away for a moment so no one gets hurt." She turned and walked away a few paces. She flipped open her phone and dialed a number. She quickly spoke into the phone and waited. Within a minute she had the answer to her question. She closed her phone with a click and walked back toward the suits. "You want my masters?" she asked. They nodded. "Just a minute and I'll go get them." she turned on her heel and walked into the side door to the studio.
The men looked at each other and smiled since she was cooperating. The bands looked confused because they would have never thought that Sabrina would lose control of her music again. Shortly Sabrina came back out with a bunch of tapes in her hands. She walked pass the suits and went to the grill and grabbed the bottle of lighter fluid. She walked out to the middle of the parking lot and dropped the tapes to the ground, and doused them with the fluid. She pulled out a book of matches and lit the whole book and with a calm hand dropped them to the liquid.
There was a loud 'poof' as the fluid caught fire and the tapes began to melt under the heat. Sabrina stood back a little bit and proceeded to empty the bottle into the flames. She tossed the now empty bottle into the mess of melting plastic and walked toward her truck. She got in, reversed the truck to face the burning pile. The engine roared as Sabrina gunned the gas pedal. Suddenly the truck leapt forward with a squeal of tires. She headed straight for the burning pile and scattered everything as she ran over it. She drove for the suits and slammed on the brakes as the truck skidded to a stop. Sabrina turned to look at them and without raising her sunglasses off her eyes she spoke.
"If I wanted to have my music be controlled than I would have never left Derringer. Fuck you and the limo you rode in with. I am owned by no man and will not be told what to do." She leaned over and pushed a button on her stereo and the song 'Platypus, I Hate You' began to play at an earsplitting volume. Without a word Sabrina gunned the truck and left the parking lot.
The suits looked at what was left of the master tapes melting all over the parking lot. One went to go see if anything was salvageable, but was stopped by the other two, They silently climbed back into the limo and disappeared from the parking lot.
The bands watched in silence at what had transpired in the space of less than 15 minutes. Tre reached for his phone and dialed Sabrina's phone. It rang but she never picked up. He frowned as he hung up and dialed Toby's number to let him know what was going on. Within 20 minutes Toby was on a plane heading toward Oakland.
Sabrina's band sat in silence at what happened. She burned the masters. Granted they hadn't really done too much, they were more into practicing than recording at the moment, but still it hurt to see their hard work melting in the sun. They looked to Tre for guidance. He looked worried about Sabrina, but no one knew what was going on.
It was about 9:30 that night and still no one had heard from Sabrina. They had all went to Tre's house and were sitting around the kitchen table waiting for some news that Sabrina was okay. Toby was typing into his blackberry, while Billie, Mike, tried to keep Tre calm. Toby had sent Sabrina's band home since they couldn't do anything. He promised that he would call as soon as he knew something.
Another 20 minutes later the group heard a door open and Sabrina came walking into the kitchen from the garage door. She went straight to the fridge and pulled out the bottle of Jack Daniels. She moved to grab a glass but with her hands wrapped around the glass, she shook her head and ended up abandoning the glass. She deftly unscrewed the cap and swung the bottle to her lips. She took a long swig and the amber liquor and swallowed. She put the bottle down and ran a hand through her hair. She turned to look at her friends and family waiting for her to speak. She walked over and placed her hands on the table.
"I have my catalog and my publishing rights. That's what important. I had to walk away from Sire records and all of my recordings, but I have my songs. She leaned over the table to look at everyone, and they waited til she spoke again. "I will continue, they will not beat me down. Sire is gone, my recordings are gone. Starting tomorrow the studio time is on my dime, so there is nothing Reprise can do. From now on, it's mine and they can't take it away." she paused before continuing.
"Yes, that was the masters I really burned. But from the ashes comes something else. From the ashes comes a 'Rebirth'."