Martoons

Cast of characters

Fred

Mr Go

*

Thawing the Ajumma chill           

Suddenly paranoia consumed Fred.

Whatever his intentions had been on that muggy night as he’d strolled innocently into the Chinju Rotary, not everyone had agreed with his resulting actions.

There I was trying to help someone and now I’m in trouble for it.

If the incident did end up going to the police, did he have a chance of fairness and justice?

* Do you think he has that chance? *

It was one of those unfortunate situations where he could get screwed because he was the lone guy versus this ‘Mr Lee’ and his witness Rose.

She might be the wild card.

Go seemed convinced that she’d side with Lee, but what about the jovial conversation Fred had with Rose at the restaurant several nights ago?

She’d sided with Fred completely.

* Whose side is Rose actually on? *

He now speculated that she might have put up the front of agreeing with Lee at the incident only because he was her client; but later Fred had seen her true side on this.

Then again, if the whole thing went to court would she back down?

* Would she? *

First things first. Fred felt he could possibly defuse the whole issue at the meeting.

Perhaps this was his best chance to save himself and his tenure in Korea.

He stopped at Go’s office door threshold and did a good-bye bow to the ex-boss.

“Where will you go now?” Go wondered.

“Take a walk – and get ready for the meeting.”

“Ah, yeah…”

As Fred left, he half-expected Go to call down the hall if he wanted a ride but this time he didn’t.

With an hour to go until meeting time, Fred hailed a cab to the Rotary. He had an idea to write his confession at the underground food court tables.

Arriving there swiftly, he had a vivid, head-spinning thought: Thomas had been the brunt of a twisted chain of events during his truncated, tumultuous time in Chinju.

Was Fred now caught in the middle of something eerily similar?

Thomas’s advice again sprang to mind: “You just never know in this place. It comes at you from all sides. Worry only about yourself.”

And even though only moments ago Fred had scoffed at the girls over at Central for their rumour that he was leaving Korea, now he was fighting for his survival.

Shaken, he pulled out a pocket notebook and flipped it open. Yet, as he looked at the blank page he wondered:

Am I dreaming this whole thing? I still can’t believe this is for real.

I was merely coming to Rose’s rescue.

Yet as the seconds passed, the physical truth sank in. For the first time, Fred could clearly picture himself at the airport leaving the country.

So if worse came to worst, he’d pull a midnight run.

He’d have to.

Spending time behind bars in Korea was not an option. If he did end up flying out of here at the crack of some future dawn, where would he go?

His mind flashed over the long, dreadfully monotonous security shifts he’d left behind back home.

Those skuzzy parkades; ejecting sleeping bums from stairwells that smelled of urine. And the cigarette butts – everywhere the cigarette butts…

He commenced composing his confession.

First, he stated the facts as he saw them, obviously different from Mr Lee’s piqued perspective as told by Mr Go moments ago.

Then Fred concluded with an apology of panicky prose:“I am very sorry this happened. I am ashamed to have disgraced all foreigners in this country.

“I am prepared to leave Korea as a result of my actions, effective immediately. I trust this satisfactorily responds to your concerns.”

As Fred proofed his confession statement, had he gone too far? Leave Korea? He shrugged.

To add a touch to the document, he signed it at the bottom in red ink with a Korean name stamp that Mrs Won had given him.

He carried it with him in his backpack as a good luck charm and oddly this was the first time he’d actually used it.

Time check: Twenty-three minutes to meeting time.

* Will the meeting go well? *

*

Tomorrow: Fred heads back to the Institute feeling optimistic about his meeting.