Drillmington: Wild

“Hi, I’m your favorite neighborhood drill rapper, TSL. I wanted to talk about gun safety—” then a shot rang out. The production staff all ducked. TSL sought cover and clutched his pistol. He looked around to discern where the fire originated.

“Jesus! I can’t even have a commercial shoot on the safety functions without someone shooting. Is everyone alright?” he asked.

“We’ll find a different location. I’m sorry for this,” director Anna Gwen said.

“It’s not your fault.” TSL looked at the producer and rest of the crew who were visibly shaken.

“It’s alright,” he returned his firearm to its holster.

The crew wrapped up all of the equipment and returned them to the trucks. Entirely, the advertisement was supposed to take place in Wilmington, but with recent events, the product moved southward.

TSL piled into his Starlight. Julisia was in the back as well.

“I told you.”

“You told me what?”

“I said that this shoot was going to involve gunplay,” she voiced evenly.

“Well, this happens to be our home. This is the place where we rest. I love Newark, but Wilmington has a a whole other vibe to it.”

The Goulding started and Aranado drove off in the direction of the trucks and cars involved in the commercial.

Once they reached Newark, the sunlight had gone. They scrapped the shoot and scheduled it for next week.

“I told you,” Julisia remarked.

“Here we go….” TSL snickered at himself.

“I said if we’re going to do this, then we should do this at the county jail. It will be secure and continue to be a source of protection for everyone involved. Who listens to Julisia?”

“I hear and Listen to you, Ju’. There’s definitely a breakdown in communication, though,” TSL observed.

“What?”

“Exactly.”

“No, seriously. We have to be on the same page all the time. If communication fails, we fail.”

“C’mon, Ju. What we’re doing is righteous. I’m not out here shooting commercials. I’m doing the opposite. I’m showing the kids and the grown folks how to properly handle firearms.”

“Yes. I know that.”

“So, why are you saying that I listen to you? We can have these disagreements only because it’s healthy.”

“Really?”

“Sure. We’ve never been physical. I bark on you and I give you barking rights to address me.”

Julisia looked even more seductive in her moodiness. Her blue-gray eyes seemed to glow with an intensity of a welder’s torch. She smirked slyly.

“All we have to do is shoot this commercial, collect our deposits, and continue on with the tour. There’s nothing to worry about. I don’t make promises, but I commit.”

“There are gun and pawn shops who can handle a shoot more than these knuckleheads,” Julisia commented bitterly.

“Wow, tell them how you really feel. What is it about Letoi you don’t like?”

“I never said I didn’t like her. I don’t respect her decisions.”

“Alright so don’t regard her. What is it to you?”

“I’m your manager, remember. I kind of have to ensure that you’re supposed to be in a position of winning at all times….”

“And I’m not?”

“ Not with her at the helm.”

TSL let out a hearty laugh. It was an innocent, clean laugh without mockery or derision.

“That’s wild. The one director who knows how to show what it means to be professional and timely and true, it’s Letoi. She is someone who knows what she's doing. Wait, you’re not—”

“Don’t say it.”

TSL brought a hand to his face and chuckled.

“Look at you, considering your man. I appreciate it but this is strictly a business arrangement.”