Dial Drunk - Post Malone

1

"This industry is going to shit," Leo says as he walks into the back room at Austin's last show of his 8-month tour. Both Austin and Dre look up and frown at him. What does that mean? Austin would ask but frankly, he is fucking tired. Tired from his long-ass tour and even more so, he is tired of Leo. He hates Leo with a passion that grows with every passing day. "I have been in this industry for thirty years. Gone are the days you can just fuck around and everyone thinks you are cool. Now you have to do it behind closed doors while promoting that you are 'woke' and love 'inclusivity'. I miss the days when you could just be a rockstar and be loved for your lacklustre view of the world," Leo says. Austin does not think Leo has ever been a rockstar, he is just a promoter who works for Austin's record label and unfortunately assigned to Austin. "What the fuck are you wearing anyway?" Leo asks grabbing a handful of peanuts and throwing them one by one into his mouth, he grabs a beer too.

Austin looks down at his clothes. What's wrong with what he is wearing? "Plain black T, jeans, and boots...what's wrong with it?" he asks adjusting his trucker cap, he usually has a Stetson on but switches it up from time to time. "Where is the leather? Ripped jeans? Your hair is OK. Well...as well as it can be for a mullet," Leo says scanning the room for something. Austin's hand goes to the back of his head, grabbing the small clump of slightly longer hair on his nape. "It's a baby mullet, and I am not a rockstar. I am a country singer," he mumbles, and you are a dick, he adds in his head. "Still a mullet....where are the drugs?" Leo asks still scanning the room. Austin's hair is by accident. His best friend got inventive after one too many beers, convinced Austin could pull off a mullet like his. He was pretty proud of his handy work when they sobered up the next morning. Austin has kept it because he likes it. Besides, his hair is just not on his list of priorities. He's a bit too busy trying to get into and stay in the music scene. He wants to make something of himself. What's Leo's problem?

"I have weed..." Austin says pulling out a bag of weed from his bag. Leo looks offended but he snatches the bag from Austin. "If you are going to make it in this industry you need to learn to party hard. Drugs and alcohol. Half-naked woman and a bunch of bad choices - that's what's going to get people talking. That's what's going to get you in the headlines," Leo says opening the bag of weed and taking a big sniff." Well, I do drink...a little...and I was hoping my music would do that for me," Austin says his annoyance with Leo rising with every passing second. He fucking hates him.

Leo snorts and eats a handful of weed. That is not what you are supposed to do with that, Austin knows, he has a best friend at home who is a professional weed smoker. But, last week he saw a musician inject Vodka - they do things differently out here in LA. "You came from Texas with the hopes of being a country star, but ain't no one listening to you," Leo says taking another handful of weed and shoving it into his pocket. "Well, that's not what the thousands of people who are waiting by the stage think. The kid is versatile and very talented. He has a unique voice and people are listening," Dre says trying to defend Austin. "No one cares. It's about the performance you put on. It's about how hyped you can get the crowd. You are an ugly fucker Austin and you are chubby. There are singers out there that have abs on their abs and their jawlines were chizzled by Greek gods. You better come up with something unique that gets you noticed because if you don't get women's viginas wet you will be a one-hit wonder and forgotten by next week," Leo says sitting down on the couch and stretching his arms out like he owns the place. Technically, he does and he owns Austin too.

"Leo, thank you for the pep talk, but is there something you need? Austin has to go on in an hour and I want him to get his head right," Dre says, clearly annoyed too. He does not like Leo much either. They have dubbed him Satan. But, it's not like record labels are beating down his front door so they had to sign with whoever was willing to take him. He has released one album that got a lot of traction, but one album does not a country music career make. He has been struggling to write new songs, and his nerves and anxiety from the expectation of the public is getting to him. They have been on his back too which is just making matters worse. But, that is where the record label and, unfortunately, Leo come in. He needs their backing, he needs their name and funding on his album if he wants to establish his career in the long run.