Martoons

Cast of characters

Dame

Mr Go

Taxi driver

*

Instantaneously Dame snaps to full waking consciousness on his warm patch of floor in the Beach Boys’ Motel, early New Year’s Day morning.

Something physical and external has jarred his sleep and wakened him up.

* What had done it? *

He gets a distinct sense the room door has just closed and he feels a waft of fresh, chilly air. Also he notices that Mr Go’s snoring has stopped.

Dame gives his head a shake and props himself up on one arm, stretching his neck muscles and peering over to where Go had been.

All that remains is an abandoned, crumpled heap of comforter.

Hmm. Must have gone out for a smoke or something. Dame stretches. I must have been sleeping and dreaming for a while – ten or fifteen minutes? An hour?

The dream is still fresh before his mind’s eye. Fred. The taxi… Dame sits up abruptly and, panicky, peers around the room.

Fred – he’s there over in the corner. It’s not too late.

* What is Dame going to do to help keep Fred in Korea? *

*

Go Goes    

What happened to Mr Go?

Five minutes earlier he’d completed a full sleep cycle and found himself wide awake on his little patch of floor.

Keeping his wrist under the comforter so the light off his watch wouldn’t be noticed, he checked the time:

03:03 A.M.  

His mind’s alarm clock had come through again.

He elevated himself from the warm linoleum surface and tip-toed into the washroom half asleep, trying to keep his balance while freshening up.

Okay, time to commence my plan and get back to Chinju. This is it. Fred’s last chance.

* What is Go’s ‘last chance’ plan for Fred? *

As he washed his hands under the ice cold water (this was an older motel – no hot), he considered the option of hitchhiking but doubted there’d be any cars driving past at this hour.

He could jog to the outskirts of Ulsan city about ten clicks away and likely hail a cab from there; he’d jogged brutally long distances during his army days, and that kind of endurance was something you never lost.

So, he did some stretches in the tiny washroom and then inadvertently spotted his cell phone on the sink ledge.

Must have left it here before I turned in. How convenient and lucky to find it.

Its display revealed several recent calls from the same number. Who? Out of sheer curiosity he cautiously dialed.

* Who do you think had been calling? *

 A loud, gruff voice instantly answered as if the speaker had been anxiously waiting: “Ajasshi!? Canada Ajasshi!? This is your taxi.”

“I’m waiting up at the taxi stand. Pay fare please! I must go Chinju. Pali pali!”

Go turned the sink tap on so that the running water noise would drown out his replying voice: “I am not Canada Ajasshi. I am his friend. By the way, how did you get my number?”

“Canada Ajasshi borrow my phone and call you earlier, when he first arrive at beach. I drove him here from Chinju …” The cabby chuckled.

“Guess I nodded off. When I came to a few minutes ago, I noticed my phone had come back so I suppose I missed him. I knew I could trust him, though.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Go confirmed.

“He and I walked up there last night and he also had your fare at that time but wanted to make sure you got it in person, so he only slipped the phone back to you through the window.”

“Yeah, yeah, understandable. Anyway, where is that Canada ajasshi? You guys still at the beach I hope?”

“Beachy Boyza Motel. You know?”

“Ah yeah! I know all these motels. I’ve made a lot of trips up here over the years. OK, so I’ll come down there now, okay? “

“I must go back right away because my wife wait for me and need drive somewhere. See you guys in a few minutes…” He hung up.

Go smiled. Perfect – my ride back. This is my lucky day, and it’s only five minutes old!

* Will Go’s day remain lucky? *

He scooted out of the washroom, carefully stepped over some unconscious bodies and grabbed his jacket from his sleeping space. So far so good – nobody had stirred.

Anticipating obvious problems when Miss No would wake in the morning and find him gone, he craftily fluffed-up his motel-issue comforter.

Back when they’d cohabitated (ever so briefly!) No had complained about him being a messy sleeper – tossing and turning, snoring on and off, and talking (and occasionally singing!) in his sleep.

He was also hard to rouse in the morning, reflexively and repeatedly pushing the snooze button but never actually getting up.

It got to the point where No just gave up and didn’t bother.

Go would now use all that history to his advantage. Hopefully, in a few hours when No got up with the others, she’d see the pile of blankets, think it was him, and just leave him.

* Do you think she will? *

*

Tomorrow: Go tries to leave but apparently needs Dame in order to do so…