Martoons

Cast of characters

Dame

Miss No

Fred

Mr E

*

For No, the motionless heap on the floor was an unpleasant flashback to her days living with the lazy, slumbering Go.

* Does she not realize that he is not there anymore? *

She inadvertently looked about the room to see if anyone had left anything and went to the window to close it.

The acrid smell of Ulsan’s nearby notorious and beastly industrial park presently flooded in the window and filled her nostrils.

“Aigo! Ulsan,” she muttered, struggling to close the stiff window. “We’re – what – a 30-minute drive from that dirty, stinky city and the smell is still nauseating way out here.”

She couldn’t get the window closed yet instead of fighting it, took a minute to peer out at the sea-side and beach-side view.

She vividly remembered the revulsion of her meeting with Mr Kang in Ulsan months earlier, which had forever tarnished her view of Ulsan.

And now the spectre of Grandpa Kang.

A chill rippled up No’s spine, tingling both shoulders and terminating at her temples, and inducing another bout of healthy paranoia.

Grandpa Kang has to be out there watching us.

The long row of densely-packed beach motels was off to the left of her viewpoint and she craned her neck to take a closer look at their frontages.

Fortunately, no figures could be seen lurking in any windows; no beady eyes honing in on her.

Another waft of chemical stench re-filled her nostrils and she quickly jumped to her feet and tried the window again. This time it easily slid shut.

 Goodbye stinky city. And good riddance Grandpa Kang.

“Time to go”, she called out. “Pali, pali! The first sunrise will be soon!” The pre-morning sky had partially cleared, meaning the temperature had plummeted again.

Promptly mustering outside, the group gravitated swiftly toward E’s car on the yellow zebra.

No cupped her fingers under the passenger door handle but it was still locked.

“Mr E! Hurry up! It’s cold out here!”

E scurried around to the driver’s side, fumbled with his electronic door-opening device and got in. Dame – who’d miraculously come back to life and was now scheming crazily – hesitated to get in the back beside Donna.

* What sort of scheme is he coming up with?! *

He was overcome with a sense of urgency – almost panic – and had a sudden need to talk to Fred one-on-one.

“Freddy,” he turned and asked in a hushed voice, “that little walk last night did wonders for my health and I slept like a rock.”

“You feel like walking again?”

He pointed to the parking lot entrance, prompting Fred to look that way.

Dozens of cars were exiting the nearby motel lots all at once, causing a bottleneck at the main road – and a thick, wavy exhaust haze hovering at eye level.

Fred was agreeable so Dame tapped on Miss No’s window. She rolled it down, looking startled.

“Fred and me will walk,” Dame announced. “How about we meet you in a few minutes on the beach, okay?”

No looked concerned and got an immediate sense Dame was up to something.

“Hey!” Dame said, sensing her resistance. It was almost palpable.

“We’ll get to the viewing area faster than you guys. See you over by that stage – near that men’s washroom; like last night.”

He walked away without waiting for her to answer.

No’s worrying intensified.

Images were popping into her head in a vivid, furious collage: Grandpa Kang’s distinctly wavy beard; the notorious men’s washroom; the housewives …

No went rigid; catatonic. The housewives… She’d caught them in the act late last night, talking to Go around the bonfire.

The whole thing hadn’t looked right. Under-handed. Dirty. Scheming. Why did they try to flee as soon as she’d spotted them?

Ah ha! They are involved with Grandpa Kang’s sandy subterfuge to raid Fred.

* Will No try and contact them again? *

Her mind shifted to Mr Go. Definitely best to leave him asleep back in that motel room – until the rest of us are well on our way back to Chinju.

*

Tomorrow: Dame tries to warn Fred.