Martoons

Today:  Master Lee gives Fred an idea.

Cast of characters

Fred

Master Lee

*

*Fred Go Korea*

Ring. Ring. Ring. Click. “It’s Fred. Not home. Leave message.” Be-e-e-p.

Fred’s phone rang again for the fourth or fifth time as he did breakfast dishes.

He’d stopped answering it recently out of concern for his mental health.

He’d let the answering machine trigger so he could screen the caller.

This person wasn’t leaving any message, just hanging up and calling.

* Crank call to Fred’s answering machine? *

“Tell you what,” Fred said snidely to the phone, “if you call again and don’t leave anything, I’ll unplug the whole damn unit.”

This time they did leave a message.

He listened intently while wiping his cereal bowl dry.

He really hoped it wasn’t Donna.

He didn’t know what to tell her.

“Do you know where my dad is?” an elementary-school-aged girl’s voice said, with an adult prompting her in the background.

Fred was taken aback.

What the hell?

He lunged for the phone. “Are you Perky, Thomas’ daughter?”

It was.

“Your dad’s in Korea and from what he told me, you’re going there soon. Are you excited?”

Someone took the phone away from Perky and a hoarse, masculine-sounding woman spoke commandingly into the phone.

“Where the hell is Thomas Mapletree? He’s behind in his support payments. We haven’t heard a word from him in almost a month. We need to eat, you know.”

“Who are you?”

“His ex.”

“Ah yes, he told me about you.”

 * Has Fred lost personal accountability toward Thomas? *

“Then we don’t need to waste our time on small talk. You are responsible for Thomas. You hired him.”

“I’ve got your name and address. If we don’t get some cold hard cash soon, I’m going to file a missing person’s report and you’ll have the cops at your doorstep.”

“And that’s not all. My new boyfriend is a lawyer and we’re fully prepared to sue. You’ve got 24 hours to get me some results.”

Click.

Who pooped in her cornflakes?

Thomas’ ex was posturing, but Fred couldn’t ignore her threats.

His finances were dismal – in a couple of days rent was due; job-wise, already shit-canned by one security sweatshop and only had a glimmer of hope from another.

However, they’d told him not to expect anything for the time being and to just carry on with his life.

That was just it – Fred didn’t have a life.

Not without money.

It was imperative that he collect his thousand dollar recruiting fee for Thomas.

With the phone still smoking from Thomas’ ex, Fred picked it up and dialed Master Lee.

It was one of the few times Master wasn’t busy in his gym and happened to be in the office instead.

“It’s Fred. Can you help me? I’ve got big problems.”

Fred explained the hole he was in.

Lee sympathized and just as fast as he could do a Tae Kwon Do kick, offered a solution:

“Mr Fred why don’t you go Korea? You have stress now so you should take vacation. You could visit Thomas!”

* Is Fred’s nice and neat plan to visit Korea realistic? *

Just pick up and go to Korea?

The thought had never entered Fred’s mind.

But the suggestion jump-started his brain.

If he was to go there – even if just temporarily – he could visit Thomas’ owner face-to-face and collect his headhunting fee.

That seemed to be the key in dealing with Koreans – in person, in their face, up close.

Then, with the cash in his hot little hand, he could jump on the next plane out of there.

No muss, no fuss.

He’d get back to Canada and get on with life with a clean slate.

“Hello? Hello? Fred? Hello?” Master wondered if the phone had gone dead.

“Maybe I can go to Korea,” Fred said, “but how could I pay for the airfare? It’s over a thousand bucks!”

Master remained vague and continued his sales pitch. “Korea has very good sightseeing. And Korean lady – so beautiful! Number one! They treat you like king!”

Fred chuckled.

Master Lee had made him feel better.

Actually, he was starting to like Koreans; Master, his wife, the people at the Korean church.

They seemed to have a pleasant disposition.

They were intensely emotional, animated and direct but humble at the same time.

“Mr Fred,” Master said, “You can teachy Englishy in Korea. You can work with your friend Thomas.”

*

Tomorrow: Fred meets Miss No and makes a decision.