Martoons

Cast of characters

Fred

Miss No

Hot Sauce

*

Rumours Fly          

Back in her perch moments later with the cup of caffeine comfort doing wonders to restore her ego, No could hear someone coming up the stairs.

The voice was gruff but not Mr Go’s.

There were two people. Turns out they were police.

* Why are the police there? *

A foreigner in the area was considering laying a criminal charge against another foreigner. There had apparently been an assault.

The cops had their note pads flipped open and needed information.

“Why come here?” Miss No asked them. “I’m a busy woman and I have a business to run. You’re cutting into my schedule.”

“You think I know what foreigners do in this city? Why should I care?”

“One of the foreigners – the guy being charged – works for you,” said the young pimply-faced cop who couldn’t have been older than 20.

No was skeptical.

As she got her mind around the information, she found herself inadvertently staring at the disgusting specks of red hot chili pepper powder between the young cop’s teeth.

Ayeesh! The face of the law and he didn’t even brush his teeth! Who raised these slobs? Nevertheless, she forced herself to co-operate.

At about the same time across town, Fred Pineridge rolled into Central Institute with a recharged spring in his step.

His weekend had had a great cleansing effect – the hike with Mr Go followed by the sauna; the dinner out with Max and his cohorts; and then the visit to Thomas in Ulsan.

The hectic holiday hiatus had given him a new lease on his life in Korea. He was feeling good about all this.

* How long will his good feeling last? *

As he reached the top of the stairs of the aged building, Hot Sauce and a friend approached him as if they’d been waiting.

“Fred Teacher, we heard rumour,” Hot Sauce said.

“We?” Fred queried.

“Me and my friend Caffeine. Do you remember her from the game room?”

Fred nodded. “So,” he scoffed, “what’s this … rumour?”

“We heard maybe you will leave Korea,” Caffeine said.

Fred was baffled and a bit put off. “Oh really?”

What else am I going to do that I don’t know about? 

“Why would I leave Korea? I mean, really, I just got here not all that long ago.”

And I’m actually starting to like the place.

He waved them off. “You must have the wrong person.”

He was all set to dismiss it and walk away when Hot Sauce lowered her voice furtively. “We heard you were fighting. Maybe you assaulted somebody?

“A little while ago police came here with Mr Go. They were looking for you.”

Fred felt a thud in the pit of his stomach.

“Will you go back to Canada?” Caffeine sounded excited and had a dreamy look in her eyes at the prospect of traveling to such a far-off land.

Fred lost his patience and cast off the niceties. “Hey guys, I live here – in Korea. I just got here, mind you, but for now this is my home, okay?

“I don’t know where you’re getting this information.” Off he went, perturbed but doing his best to hide it.

The whole thing was silly, he thought. He was beginning to see misunderstanding as a staple of daily life for waygooks in Korea.

Yet moments later he overheard Korean staff also mumbling amongst each other – he kept hearing the words “Canada” and “Fred.”

Instead of freaking out though, he kept his cool and decided to investigate what the hell was going on.

When Donna showed up a few minutes later, he cornered her privately.

* Will Donna know more about what’s going on? *

*

Tomorrow: Donna plays her cards carefully regarding the rumours about Fred . . .