Part 3: Gorillaz
Sighing, Ess set the picture down and glanced over at her cellphone. For only a slight moment, she considered calling her mom, who was over in the U.S. Ess was completely separated from the rest of her family.
Ess had been born in Estonia on January 24, 1980. She was born with a minor case of albinism; her hair a very faded reddish-brown color and her eyes a pale-yellow. Her father, Byron Kidwell, had always had odd likings like dead animals or just death, that begun as a child after discovering road kill. By the time Ess was two years old, his odd signs began to grow worse. He became more and more maniacal. Byron grew to be a loud and seemingly friendly man, who loved to talk. Seemingly, normal. Although he lacked in good manners and could snap any given moment. Unlike her father, as a child, Ess was quiet and well mannered, with a well-controlled temper. This was because of her mother, Ellen Kidwell's brilliant teachings.
During her teen years, they moved over to Wales in the United Kingdom. Soon, Ess became more and more aware of her father's extremely peculiar behavior, and thus drifted into addictive behaviorisms, anxiety and even depression. Her first obsession had begun with water and oceans in her early teens. There even was an incident when she was 12, when she nearly drowned in Llyn Brenig. Ellen always feared Ess's addictive behavior, but luckily with heavy lecturing, Ess never slipped into anything too unspeakable. When Ess was 15, is when Byron cracked and nearly killed his wife and only child after getting frustrated at them. It was only because they had come home late from being out at the fair. It wasn't the first time he snapped for a sorry reason. But it was the first time he went to such great lengths. So they fled to north America. Ess missed the U.K., and when her old friend Phoebe offered her to live with her in Essex when she was 17, she took up the offer.
The reason Ess considered calling was that, she wondered if she should go back to the United States. Although, she hated it so much there, she was sure she couldn't. There was no way she could pay for the apartment without a job. Not that she didn't want one. A few months back, she had tried looking around, applying at a few places. But no one ever called her back. She was going to have to start looking around again. Sick of trapping herself up in Phoebe's room, Ess headed outside to get a bit of fresh air, and look around for a job.
Proceeding along, she stopped at a cafe, clothing store and a dainty little restaurant. Then, she entered a music store to try applying there.
After filling out the forms, Ess took a moment to scan around the walls all lined with CDs and DVDs. She took a look at a few albums from bands she liked, then stopped to take a look at one called "Gorillaz", which she was not familiar with. The people on the cover were all piled in a Jeep. Ess sneered at the sight of one certain man in the picture, with blue spiked hair and black eyes. He looked chilling, with those bottomless eyes. Placing the CD down, she proceeded outside, deciding that was enough applying for one day. All she could hope for now was a all back.
4 Days Later
For the past few days, Ess was not in the best of moods. She hadn't gotten one call back from the job entries. And "Space Invaders" just didn't seem to be so much fun anymore. Going out on the town seemed a better thing to go about this day.
Luckily, Ess had some cash on her. It reminded her of Phoebe, since that's who had given it to her. Ess pushed the thoughts a side. It won't get me anywhere if I continue to mourn... She would always tell herself. Exiting the apartments, she made her way to town to go stop at a restaurant.
Being alone was somewhat appealing to Ess, but it was making her more and more miserable. As she waited for her order, something caught her eye. A large African-American man sat with a young Asian girl. They looked oddly familiar. Shrugging it off, she continued to stare at the wooden table in front of herself, that familiar numb feeling beginning to surface within her. Soon her meal and water were brought to her. All the people around her, speaking and laughing, it all seemed so vacant to her as she ate slowly. In the midst of eating her meal, someone stumbled by, knocking over her drink with their elbow, nudging Ess back into reality. "Waahh!" They uttered. "So sorry!" Her accent was a bit heavy. Ess peered up at the girl, and then it hit her. That was the same girl on the "Gorillaz" album. The girl snatched up a wad of napkins, cleaning up the spill frantically as if the water were actually acid. "Sorry, sorry," she repeated, but Ess didn't seem too phased by the spill. She was more interested in talking to the famous girl.
"Hey," Ess said, the girl glancing up at her. Her hair covered her eyes a lot and she looked a little older than on the picture Ess saw. Ess wasn't even sure if it really was her. Perhaps a look-a-like? "Aren't you a part of uhm..." Ess pondered the album name. "Gorillaz?" The girls face lit up as she moved her hair out of her eyes a bit.
"Ah, yes! You have uh... heard of us?"
"Well, I haven't heard your music. I just recently came across a CD with you on it, actually." The girl laughed, as if saying 'Ah, I see.'
"Noodle!" Someone called. "Whatchoo doin'?" They turned to see a large African-American man—the same one as on the album as well. So it really was them.
"Oh, sorry!" Noodle called. Noodle was certainly an interesting name, Ess thought to herself. Noodle turned back to Ess. "That's Russel, our drummer. Do you want to meet him too?"
"Uhm," Ess said, worried she might be a nuisance. "Sure." With that, the two headed over to the man. Strangely, his eyes where entirely white. It was weird, but somehow not as creepy as the blue-haired man on the cover. Now that's someone Ess probably wouldn't want to meet. The man perked up as they headed over.
"You make a friend?" He asked, crumbs dotted around his mouth, fork and spoon in either hand.
"Hai," Noodle replied. Ess laughed a bit, recalling their meeting.
"She spilled my drink and we hit it off from there." The man laughed at Ess's remark.
"Well, I'm Russel Hobbs," he stuck his large hand out for Ess to shake.
"I'm Ess."
"So, you heard our music, have yuh?"
"No, actually," Ess snickered a bit, taking a seat. "I only looked at your album cover, is all."
"Ohhh," Russel had a thoughtful look, then smiled. "Well, you gotta listen to it sometime." There was now that awkward silence that usually happens when you meet someone new.
"Are you from around here?" Noodle asked suddenly, gnawing on her chicken strip. Ess just remembered she'd left her food alone. Oh, well. She had gotten a bit full any who.
"I was born in Estonia, but I moved here when I was 17." Ess explained. Noodle nodded and smiled.
"Can you uh..." Ess took notice of how Noodle at times had to stop and think about what to say next. Perhaps because she was still learning how to speak English. "Play the instruments?"
"Oh, yeah," Ess replied. "It's been some time, but I can play piano. Started out when I was six, actually." Russel and Noodle beamed just then, looking at each other.
"Ay, you should play somethin' for us sometime." Russel suggested. Ess scratched her head nervously, snickering.
"It's been a while, and I haven't got a key board or anything on me. Couldn't afford it." Russel shrugged.
"No biggy," he stated. "Maybe we could meet up some other time, and 'D could bring his keyboard so you can show us." Ess would have questioned who "'D" was, but she was more caught up in his offer. They were in a band. Was there a chance that he was considering letting her join in? Because if so, she'd have to sharpen her skills again. She wasn't even sure if she could do it. All that truly seemed to matter at the moment was that she was establishing friends. And at the moment, it all made the current bulk on Ess disappear like it was nothing. So she agreed.
"Sure, of course," Ess smiled. "When shall we meet, then?"
The plan was that they would all meet at Ess's apartment the following day at noon. For quite some time, they all sat there in the bistro and discussed a ton of things; Gorillaz's older albums, the new one they were currently working on, got into details on Ess's current situation, laughed and joked even. Talking to them was somehow so just so casual. It was one of those rare instances, when you meet someone and it feels as though you've known them forever. Like when Ess met Phoebe when they were kids. The connection made Ess feel so at ease, so much better, not so alone after all. It was nice to finally have some truly wondrous company.
