Martoons

Cast of characters

Dame

Mr Go

Taxi driver

*

Quickly getting accustomed to the dark, Go stepped back and looked at his shadowy heap of comforter, and cracked an ear-to-ear smiled.

A little inert perhaps but it will have to do.

He tip-toed over a few more bodies including Dame’s, who was at the tail end of his Fred-is-leaving nightmare, and was now semi-conscious.

His squinting eyes involuntarily followed Go to the exit, but hardly even knew it was him.

At the door Go slid on his shoes and stepped out, quietly clicking the door shut.

He scurried down the hall, passing the front counter and window. The motel manager’s window was dark.

Outside, big wet snow flakes fluttered down, the sky had clouded over and it was milder now. But the cabby hadn’t arrived yet.

* Will he arrive soon? *

Go did a few leg stretches and lit up a smoke in front of E’s car on the yellow ‘No Parking’ zebra.

Several puffs later, out of the corner of his eye, a man with mussed-up hair stumbled through the parking lot with a big, goofy smile.

* Will E get in trouble for having parked there? *

“Ajasshi! Friend of Canada Ajasshi! Taxi! Taxi! I am here.”

“Oh!” Go flicked his hardly-smoked cigarette to the ground and it fizzled on the wet pavement. “Hello Sir! Where’s your cab?”

“Still parked up in the stand because I wanted to get in a little exercise before the drive back.” He didn’t mention that he was getting low on gas.

“So I walked down. As I told you, I know very well this beach and all the motels along here.”

He stepped back and observed the surroundings – namely, motel after motel right along the beach to the horizon. Dozens of them.

Sighing, “Boy, this area has changed a lot. It’s amazing how many people have cars now.”

“You know, when I started driving cabs and used to come up here, hardly anyone could afford a car. Just those old crappy Hyundai Ponies.”

He sunk into a negative mind frame, once again recalling his traumatic experience working for Hyundai years previously.

Go: “I was surprised to get your call a few minutes ago. Thought you would have gone back to Chinju hours ago.”

Cabby waved him off again. “I must collect the foreigner’s fare or my wife kill me.

“This morning is market day. She needs some cash for it and she goes early before everything gets picked over. So I really have to get back.

* Will the cab driver get back in time? *

“Anyway, where is your friend Canada Ajasshi?”

“Inside sleeping. I’ll be your passenger this morning. Let’s go!”

Cabby looked concerned and waved him off. “Of course you can hire me for the drive back to Chinju, but I have to get that fare from him for the trip out here.”

“And I’m not sure if he wants me to drive him back.”

“I want to make sure – it’s my personal policy for long drives like this. A Chinese tourist froze to death out here years ago.”

Go could feel the moments ticking away yet he appreciated the cabby’s concern for Dame. “Just a minute. I’ll go see if I can wake up Canada Ajasshi.”

“Yeah, yeah,” and the cabbie shoed him away in a go-do-your-thing fashion.

Go went back inside and scurried down the hall to the room and quietly entered. He was aware that Damion was a light sleeper.

The warm floor happened to be doing wonders to settle Dame’s stomach and he’d slipped back into a deeper sleep. In fact, he was snoring.

* Will Go still be able to wake Dame? *

“Meesta Damion,” Go whispered and nudged him. “Taxi, taxi. Let’s go Chinju now okay?

You want go? Hey, hey…”

Dame’s eyes reflexively cracked open but he was actually still sleeping. He suddenly saw a shadowy head shape close to his face and recoiled reflexively.

His forearm shot out instinctively and he poked Go in the eye.

“Ayeesh!” Go whimpered, writhing in excruciating pain.

Nearby, there was some rustling of comforters – Miss No semi-registered the minor incident. She was asleep but not deeply.

For most of the night she’d been unable to get her mind off worrying about Grandpa Kang poaching Fred from the beach.

* Is she going to wake up while Go is still there?! *

Go was recovering as quietly as humanly possible, holding his now-watering eye. Ruthlessly suppressing his desire to scream in agony, he heard Dame mumble:

“Fred! You’re not really going anywhere. This is just a stupid dream – my dream.”

The comforters nearby rustled again; No’s the most. Her breathing pattern had changed too.

Go could tell she was now on the outer edge of sleep, very close to waking, and likely vaguely aware that an actual person was several feet away hovering in Dame’s vicinity.

Instinctively she suddenly shot into a sitting position.

* Has she awoken?! *

*

Tomorrow: The rest of the party awakens.