Martoons

Cast of characters

Fred

Thomas

*

“Thomas, I have to let you in on something. Miss No’s hatching a plan back in Chinju that you should know about.”

Thomas seemed pre-occupied and didn’t seem to hear Fred. He sat back down at the table and stared into space.

“Yeah, Chinju. When I recall all my problems there, I get the chills. It’s haunting.

“But everything happens for a reason, eh? I met Coffee Lady and when I think about her I still get all warm and fuzzy. Hope we can stay together.”

He sunk into a melancholy daze and only came-to when Fred snapped his fingers in front of his eyes.

“Thomas, I gotta go real soon so listen for a minute…”

Thomas snapped-to and got up again. “I’ll head out with you down to the street. You’re taking a cab right? Say what you gotta say on the way down the stairs.”

He headed out with Fred in tow. As they passed through the lobby, Thomas turned his head back. “Hope this is nothing serious?”

“Yeah, Miss No…” Fred started to say, but there was a call for Thomas at the front desk and he took the receiver from the receptionist.

Judging from his body language it wasn’t good.

* What is going on? *

“What the…” Thomas said. “Are you kidding me? Little troublemaker…” and he handed the phone back to Miss Ping.

“Fred, Perky’s in all sorts of shit over at the babysitter’s. She does this sometimes if she’s away from me for too many hours.”

“Starts breaking things. This time it’s a window.”

“Apparently there’s shards of glass and blood everywhere. The poor babysitter’s … hysterical.”

* Is Perky okay? *

He raced out the front door and down the stairs.

*

Back to Reality     

Fred followed after him in a panic. “Thomas, wait a minute. Miss No…”

“Oh yeah,” he said descending the stairs two at a time and getting out to the street. “Here, we can flag down cabs here.”

“So, what little drama is Her Highness embroiled in this time?”

As two taxis pulled up, Fred was compelled to boil his disclosure down to a 30 second voice bite.

“Basically, Mr Go botched your paperwork when he transferred you here. Technically – legally – you are only allowed to work in Chinju.

“Miss No’s going to get Immigration on your case and deport you.”

Thomas didn’t flinch.

* Why does Thomas not seem worried? *

Fred concluded: “I think underneath it all she just wants to screw over Mr Kang and you’re going to be caught in the crossfire.”

“Anyway, the shit storm is going to be unleashed as soon as the holiday’s over.”

At first Fred wondered if Thomas had even heard him but then the Golden God shook his head slightly and waved Fred off. “The woman’s lost it,” he said nonchalantly.

“She couldn’t get me out of here if her life depended on it. I’m in demand. I’ve got allies here.” He climbed in the cab and rolled down the window.

“Don’t underestimate her,” Fred advised. “She’s got a lot of power. She’s at war with Mr Kang. She won’t think twice about deporting you.”

Thomas shrugged. “When I first got here, the word ‘deport’ spooked me. But not anymore.

“You get screwed over; you survive it and get smarter. I’m a quick read. I’ve evolved.”

He turned and told the cabbie his destination and then turned back to Fred. “Miss No underestimates Kang. Her evil little scheme could never happen.

“She’d need local officials here on her side. Kang knows all those guys – in fact, I think the Immigration head honcho is his cousin or something.”

“I’m not exaggerating when I say he’s got that whole Immigration office in his back pocket.”

“He lubricates ‘em regularly. Takes ‘em out for dinner and drinks. I’ve given them English lessons a few times – taught them a few dirty jokes, that sort of thing.”

His cabbie started to pull out. “Like I said, Fred, don’t worry about me. Worry about yourself. This place comes at you from all sides.”

He saluted good-bye to Fred. “Miss No’s out of my life now. She can’t touch me.”

* Do you think this is true? Is Thomas really safe from Miss No? *

The cab found its break in traffic and sped off.

*

Tomorrow: Mrs Won is confronted.