Inseparable
Disclaimer: I do not own the Gorillaz or any aspect of the Gorillaz, which belongs to their creators Jamie Hewlett and Damon Albarn.
We were separated when those bullets crashed through the windows of the SUV and plunged into the bodies; that shooting had taken away my friends physically… but we were still together spiritually. I guess you could say that it was different than most situations that occur every day. When a person says good-bye at a funeral, they say good-bye to the being that had existed alongside them and had helped them; when I gave my farewells, I hadn't given up the grip I had placed on my friends. They had helped me… and in a way I had helped them too.
But there was one person out of them all who hadn't left me spiritually, my brother Del. It was strange, how he had made friends with the Gorillaz when we first came together to form a band. Del had gotten along with Noodle and with 2D, maybe even Murdoc even though the bass player would never admit it. Best of all, he was forever with me. Even in death we were inseparable.
X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X
It changed though when the Gorillaz went through a phase where we were always at each others' throat, ready to murder if we got angry enough. Everyone had gone their separate directions and I was left behind to fend for myself. I think that's when it all changed for not only me but Del as well. He had kept me company while the streets moved under my feet like a slow moving conveyor belt, as though it was a treadmill disguised as the world that I belonged in; he would always talk about the days where he was alive and how things happened for a reason. He never directly said that, but he implied that was the case… he had implied a lot of things toward the time where the Gorillaz separated.
The concrete sidewalk had transformed to the side of an abandoned road; the dirt had clung onto the white sneakers as though they were trying to consume me into the deserted scenery. Aside from the few vehicles that passed by me and the change from day to night I wouldn't have guessed the time existed here or that anything did.
It was the night before the true separation occurred that Del had appeared looking at me with a look that was thoughtful.
"Russ, you okay?"
I had been elsewhere in my lonesome train of thought and was instantly snapped out of it when I heard his voice. I nodded, "Yeah. I'm just tired."
Del had taken a seat in front of me on the dusty roadside and just looked at me with his white eyes. He took off his hat and started to fidget with it as though he was nervous about something. He was never the person to worry about something, so it was only natural that I was curious about this.
"How about you Del? Are you okay?"
My ghost companion just sighed and looked down.
"Do you remember the day I was killed?"
"How could I forget? The bullets came out of nowhere and just left me scared out of my mind."
"I forgot… what were we doing that day?" Del questioned.
I raised an eyebrow as I replied, "We were just talking about anything really. Being inseparable, friendship, music we were working on, where we wanted to be in the next five years and so forth."
Del looked sad for some reason, as though a wave of melancholy had taken over and he was now at its mercy.
"What's bothering you Del?"
"If something were to happen, would you remember me?"
This particular question made me think for a moment; if something were to happen to Del? What else could possibly happen to Del? He was dead. At the time that's all I thought of when I contemplated the answer in my tired mind. I smiled at Del.
"Del you're like a brother, of course I ain't going to forget you. I haven't forgotten that day so there's no way I'd forget you," I had said reassuringly. The ghost rapper just smiled.
"Thanks man."
X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X
Day had broken through the sky and it was probably sometime in the early afternoon hours that the RV had stopped and from the vehicle came a little girl. There was no doubt in my mind that it was a fan of the Gorillaz because she looked up at me with hopeful eyes.
"Russel Hobbs right? Can I get your picture please?"
I just nodded, "Sure."
The girl giggled happily as she stood next to me and her friend adjusted the camera so it would be a perfect picture.
"Say cheese guys!" the friend had called out excitedly.
The girl beside me smiled with no problem, but I had felt a presence behind me; it was spiritual and it wasn't Del. I know I didn't smile when the picture was taken because the next thing I knew the fan girl handed me a picture and just waved good-bye from the window of the RV. I glanced at the picture and realized how freaked out I looked… then I noticed the figure behind me. The Grim Reaper! Death!
Slowly I felt the atmosphere around me alter from the lonely feel in the air to a darker, more sinister vibe; I saw the clouds turn dark as though a storm was coming and that's when I noticed the figure in a black cloak. His face was shrouded in shadows… just like that day when the shootings took place. But what he carried with him this time wasn't a gun, instead it was a scythe. There was a feeling of anxiety and fear that pulsed through me as though the blood in my veins had been replaced by this fear, this hidden phobia. Even when I was scared I don't remember screaming when the scythe was swung at me.
I opened my eyes expecting to be dead, thinking that Death was after me, that my time was up; all I saw on the dusty ground was some sort of shape made with something liquid. Ectoplasm was what it was, or so I later discovered. Then I saw Del standing in the ectoplasm with a very painful look on his face.
"Looks like he found me," Del whispered, regret and remorse in his voice as he spoke slowly and carefully. His white eyes found me standing in shock and he said, "Sorry Russ but I gotta go. You can't hide from Death forever."
Death approached Del as though he was just another human being that he wanted to meet, only both of us knew that greetings wouldn't be exchanged and that he'd be gone with Del. I wanted to say something to Del before he was taken away for good, there was something that I needed to tell him… but it was caught in my throat. Death wrapped Del in his cloak and the next thing I knew they were gone.
X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X
Hours must've passed before I could say what I wanted to say, but it would only be to the ectoplasm remains of the person that even in death was inseparable from me.
"Don't worry, I ain't gonna forget you. We're inseparable Del…"
Tada! I was looking at the Russel Hobbs section of the Gorillaz category and I was shocked. There aren't many stories with Russel as the main character so I decided I would help. This is told in Russel's point of view about Del and how they were inseparable and the day that the Grim Reaper took Del. So what do you think? Any comments are appreciated and thank you for reading!
