Martoons

Today: Fred experiences the rush of Korean driving.

Cast of characters

Fred

Miss No

Mr Go

*

*Lucky 13*

No paused awkwardly. “Thomas?”

Go frantically re-entered the car, lit a cigarette, and turned the ignition on. “We must meet your homestay mom soon.”

He was catching his breath. “We are late.”

He got back on the road and drove like a madman.

“You are right Miss No – Mr Go is a very … good driver,” Fred said nervously.

“Can you drive?” she asked. “Do you have an international driving license?”

* Fred is back on edge again *

He couldn’t answer, distracted because Go was tailgating the driver in front of him, and this was being repeated by successive drivers on up as far as the eye could see.

And they were all maxing out the speed limit.

Fred peered into the rear-view mirror and saw the same thing happening behind, back to the horizon.

“Usually in my country we don’t follow so closely.” He tried to say it as non-judgmentally as possible.

Suddenly Go cut into another lane.

“And,” Fred said, “When we change lanes, we use our signals, then check our mirror first.”

Now he was sounding like some kind of driving instructor.

“Driving in Korea is different than your country,” No said matter-of-factly.

“Koreans are very busy so they drive very fast. We don’t have time to signal like you suggest.

“If Mr Go signaled, the driver behind would move up and not allow him to enter the next lane. We could not change lanes and would be stuck on the highway all day!”

*  Do all Koreans drive like Mr Go? *

Go sped up even more but Fred was quickly numbing to the hazards.

The scenery whizzed by and it was getting dark.

He nodded off and the next thing he knew, they were racing through downtown Chinju with Go adeptly weaving his car up a small alley.

He impressively managed to avoid a procession of pedestrians on either side, who didn’t seem to notice the rocket brushing by them at high speed.

Go was simultaneously making a call on his cell phone, and had a cigarette pinched between two fingers of his other hand, which was also steering.

He then made a sudden, sharp right turn on to a busy street and picked up speed for about 30 seconds.

“Here, here,” Miss No said.

Go stopped suddenly, directly in front of a bedding store.

No got out and went inside.

Traffic quickly built up behind and some cars started politely honking.

Go calmly and decisively pulled the car right up on the sidewalk at the bedding shop.

Fred chuckled mildly.

The car was completely obstructing the path of pedestrians, who then had to walk into the busy street to get around.

Go left the engine running and disembarked the vehicle.

* Strange behaviour from Mr Go – again *

“Just a moment,” he said to Fred. “Today – so much driving. I have headache. I will go in corner store to get something for it.”

Now that No was not present, Fred noted that’s Go’s English was noticeably better.

Go glanced over toward a corner store and Fred followed his sight line.

A coffee machine was stationed outside the quick mart.

“Fred, do you drink coffee?”

Fred was buzzing from fatigue and didn’t think coffee would do much.

He was looking forward to getting wherever they were going and dropping off to sleep.

“No thanks, Mr Go. I’m not much of a coffee guy at night.”

He was just being honest but sensed his refusal had hurt Go’s feelings.

Go walked purposefully to the corner store with one hand on his forehead, the other compulsively inserting and withdrawing his cigarette from his lips.

Fred’s legs had gone dead from being cooped-up in the car.

He was dying to get out for a breath of air and a leg stretch.

There was no sign of Miss No so he got out and stood beside the car.

The air was thick with humidity, car exhaust, and a fishy smell.

He stood on his little spot and did some waist rotations and upper body stretches.

This part of the sidewalk was quiet.

Half a block down a man was standing facing a restaurant and staring inside it as if in a daze.

Was he waiting for someone inside?

He was sipping a small paper cup and smoking.

Fred took a second look at the man.

Was that … ?

He took a few careful steps forward and looked closer.

It was.

Mr Go.

*

Tomorrow: Mr Go becomes transfixed by . . . fish ? ? ?