Chapter 3
He Tore Our Sky In Two
Noodle sat at the kitchen table, her eyes closed and her body was lax. A crow cawed and she jolted awake and then groaned in pain. She had fallen asleep in that position at 5am and it was now 10am. Her neck was stiff, the bottom of her back hurt and her arse was numb.
She swore loudly in Japanese and then cried. 2D had clearly not come back. They had cancelled their rehearsal for the 2007 Grammies and it looked as if they wouldn't be performing El Manana after all.
She had left a bowl of butterscotch out on the table for 2D and it was still full. It was all her fault. 2D couldn't look after himself! He could be dead…
But wasn't that the attitude that had made him leave? He acted slow but perhaps he was truly smart? Or at least streetwise.
'2D-san, I am so sorry…' thought Noodle, burying her face into her hands.
A few minutes later a groggy Murdoc entered the kitchen, saw the butterscotch and ate it in three mouthfuls.
"NO!" cried Noodle just as he licked the spoon clean.
"Eh?"
"That was Stu's!"
"Who?"
"2D!" she said angrily. "Your friend!"
Murdoc chuckled and threw the spoon back into the bowl. "He wasn't here to enjoy it. You snooze you lose. Or in this case, you get chased away by teenagers then you lose."
Noodle's bottom lip wobbled dangerously.
Murdoc rolled his eyes. "Look love, he'll be back. He just needs to clear his head."
"Its all my fault, I'm a horrible horrible person," she said, her voice wavering.
Murdoc sat next to her, staring at the empty doorway.
"You just said the truth. He is several cards short of a deck."
"But he clearly doesn't think so! And now he think I think he is stupid. I don't think he is stupid, he just can't think as clearly. He has terrible migraines. Which are your fault!" she added.
Murdoc didn't retort, which was surprising.
"Sorry I snapping at you, Murdoc. That's in the past now…"
"Its alright. Don't take this so personally ok? 2D is a sensitive lad when it comes to his intelligence anyway. And lets face it, he is smart. Smarter than me anyway. He can write music like anybody's business and he often comes up with ideas…" Murdoc trailed off and coughed.
Noodle stared at him with a confused look on her little face.
"Murdoc, you're being nice to him. That's odd for you."
Murdoc shrugged and then smiled despite himself.
"I like you when you're like this, Murdoc-san," said Noodle in a small voice.
"Yeah, well make the most of it. Soppy Murdoc will die in five minutes."
Noodle moved her chair over and kept staring at him, causing him to look away.
"We been friends for over five years and we've never connected like this before. Do you find that sad?" she asked him.
Murdoc turned his gaze back to her. "Yes, I find it very sad…"
Noodle sighed. She wanted to tell him more, like how she thought he was a good guy but he had to put on this bad man act… But she had already upset one person with her views. Instead she lent her head on his shoulder. When he didn't budge or shout, she closed her eyes and tried not to imagine a cold 2D curled up at the side of a road.
However, 2D was even more comfortable than his fellow band mates. He lay on a silk bed, stretched out and with an attractive, half naked Japanese girl laying on his bare chest. He was staring at her green ceiling thoughtfully. He could miss the Grammies. They were over rated anyway. And did he truly want to return to Kong? Where he often got beaten up, was always being shouted at and received a pittance…
"Better on my own…" he whispered to himself. He blew a piece of blue hair away from his face and closed his eyes. 'Yeah…on my own…no Murdoc to hit me, no Russel to tell me off. No Noodle…no Noodle…I'd miss Noodle, but she'd have Russel."
"I've phoned the police," stated Russel.
2D had been missing for two days and it was enough to make even Murdoc worry slightly.
"He's like a kid, he don't even have his switchblade!" Murdoc told Russel for the fourth time.
"Listen man, I know this. We'll go out in the Geep, it's the only thing we can do!"
"Fuck that, you take Noodle and I'll go on my 'ped. We'll find him quicker."
"Why are you so worried, Muds? I thought you hated him," said Russel, frowning. His piercing gaze made Murdoc look away.
"He's our singer. Without him we're just another band," said Murdoc quickly.
Russel frowned deeper. "Sure man, whatever. Lets get going."
"'Well I'd tear the sky in two, no one will ever know",' sang 2D as he walked along the street with Leigh.
"What are you singing, Stu?" she asked him. Stu or Stuart was what she called him. Whether this made her feel more special or she just didn't like the name 2D, he didn't know, but he didn't mind. She was pretty and made him laugh, that was enough.
"Er…no idea actually," he admitted. Leigh laughed.
"2D! Oi, Tusspot!"
2D did a double take, was that Murdoc? He spun around to see the mad bassist come driving towards him on his black moped.
"No…NO!" yelled 2D, and he began running in the opposite direction.
"Stu? Stu!" cried Leigh, attempting to run after him but her legs were too short.
"DULLARD! Where you running?" yelled Murdoc. He clambered off his moped and ran after him, chasing him into an alley.
2D soon found it was a dead-end and started trying to scramble up the wall.
"Oi, you fucking idiot, what are you doing?" snapped Murdoc, grabbing his shoulder and turning him around.
2D stared at him and Murdoc shook him.
"We were worried sick – well Noodle and Russ were, and here you are with some Japanese girl!"
"I'm not going back, Muds, its nicer here," said 2D, glad his voice was calm.
"Here?" repeated Murdoc.
"Yeah, with Leigh."
"What about Noodle and Russ, eh? What about Gorillaz?" demanded Murdoc, tightening his grip on 2D's shoulder. "Hey 2D?"
2D's face hardened. "My name is Stuart Tusspot."
Murdoc frowned. "Are you leaving us, is that it?" When 2D didn't reply, Murdoc shoved him against the wall. "Hey? Is that it?"
"I don't like being in Gorillaz anymore," said 2D, stony faced. It was only partially true, but in his anger he ignored the happy moments.
Murdoc growled and made to hit 2D, but 2D got there first. He thrust his head forward and head butted Murdoc straight in the nose. Murdoc released his grip on 2D, leaving him free to run. And run he did. He ran all the way back to Murdoc's moped and drove it straight to Kong. This was it. He was going to get his important stuff and move out.
But his decision wavered when he entered his room. He gazed at all his prized keyboards.
"Yeah but when I get more money I can buy more," he said to himself, suddenly happier. So he only took his favourite clavinet. He grabbed some clothes, mostly his collection of Converse All Stars and a number of other items and left in his Toyota.
"He came back on my moped," explained Murdoc. He was leaning back on a chair, holding a bloody hanky to his nose.
"Did he break it, Murdoc-san?" asked Noodle.
Murdoc shook his head. "Wouldn't make any difference anyway, I'm still gonna wring his neck when I find him."
"He is so angry. 2D is never angry. I made him angry…" Noodle burst into tears and ran out of the room.
Murdoc sighed. "He's a selfish little cunt. I wish he could see what he was doing to her."
Russel muttered something incoherent. Murdoc narrowed his eyes at the drummer but then looked away. He knew what Russel was thinking.
Murdoc roared suddenly and thumped the table.
"How can he do this to us, eh? We're nothing without him! Its his fucking voice, his fucking screeching and fucking…grrrr!" Murdoc stood up and hit the wall furiously. "Noodle's fine, she's a one off. A teenager who can play the guitar better than fucking Hendrix, but what about us, hey?"
Russel frowned deeply. "It would be harder for us to start afresh. But D will come back, he'll realise. We are his real brothers and sister."
Murdoc cracked his knuckle and grumbled. "He'd better. With the tour coming up…fuck's sake…" He rubbed his forehead. "Need some bloody aspirin…"
I really hate it when people make 2D really pathetic and make him cry all the time. He's a grown up with brain damage, not a kid with a headache. And he's going to be a bit tough, trust me, if you grew up in Sussex, you learn to defend yourself.
