Martoons

Cast of characters

Fred

Mrs Won

Donna

Miss No

Mrs Park

*

Nobody was home in the apartment. When Fred washed up and tried to crash he could only drift in and out of sleep.

Mrs Won finally returned about three a.m., entering quietly but Fred woke instantly and listened carefully.

* Why did she come home so late? *

It seemed she was alone.

Where was Hot Sauce? Or Mr Kim?

Come morning, everything was hush-hush. Fred was itching with curiosity but didn’t feel it was appropriate to ask directly.

“You came home very late last night Mrs Won,” he said tentatively.

She didn’t make eye contact. “I was very busy.”

“Oh … Has Hot Sauce left already this morning? So early!”

“She’s not here,” Won said dryly. “She’ll be staying at Cleaning Lady’s from now until the end of winter vacation.”

She said nothing about Mr Kim and hastily got ready to go out.

“Now I must go to countryside and visit my relatives or they would never forgive me. The long weekend is almost over! Fred, do you have a plan for today?” 

He sensed she was just asking to be polite yet probably would have taken him to the countryside if he’d so wanted.

Fred detected some unexplainable tension, and the thought of sitting in another car for hours abhorred him anyway.

“Yes, Mrs Won,” he white-lied for convenience. “I have an appointment today. But … thanks.”

She departed. Suddenly, Fred felt strangely exiled.

* How come? *

Today was Sunday and usually they’d go somewhere – maybe a temple, restaurant, art gallery or cultural event. She’d pick him up after church.

There’d always been a comfortable feeling between them. Now he felt like an outsider.

Was he imagining it?

He gave his head a shake. The apartment was so quiet you could have heard a chopstick drop.

And he now faced the prospect of having to creatively kill off the rest of the weekend – two full days.

What on earth could he do? A phone call saved him from sinking into depression. It was Donna and she sounded rushed.

“Have you talked to Thomas lately?”

“No. Why?”

“When did you talk to him last?”

Fred felt pushed. “Not since he visited here about a month ago.”

“What did you talk about?”

Fred chuckled, trying to lighten the conversation. “Not much. We didn’t have much time. He was flirtin’ with that Coffee Lady of his…”

Donna cut in. “You need to talk to him right away.” She stopped talking and collected herself.

“I just over overheard Miss No on the phone before she left work for the holiday…”

* What did Donna overhear? *

No had spent most of the long weekend so far in her office.

It was considered heresy not to go the countryside and see ancestors but she’d discovered yet another massive amount of money had disappeared from the business – Go’s handiwork obviously.

As she poured through papers, unexpectedly her phone rang. It was Mrs Park (the Orange Ajumma with the binoculars from Jiri Mountain).

* Why is she calling? *

Miss No disliked the very liberal ajumma’s cocky attitude and her easy-going style with foreigners; No was particularly jealous of Park’s apparent ‘tango’ with Thomas days after he’d arrived here.

With Max’s ‘evidence’ (the Hollywood Inn guest register), No had done her best to neuter Park since that time.

In fact, Park had overcompensated by consistently (and annoyingly) going out of her way to patronize Miss No to skirt any possible future blackmailing.

No didn’t particularly like being sucked-up-to but sometimes such situations arose and she just rode the wave and milked it for what it was worth.

“Ah!” Park said over the phone from her apartment, where she could actually see the institute from her kitchen window.

“So I called to wish you all the best for the holiday…”

“What’s left of it!” No chirped in, her shoulders shuddering as she wondered what was really behind this call.

“Why do you call at this odd time?”

*

Tomorrow: Mrs Park relays to Miss No what she saw at Jiri Mountain and paranoia abounds.