BEAUTY MARKS

10. NEW SONG

Dominque pulled up in the driveway of a pavilion house in the Parisian suburbs with an excessive number of window bays as if it were a greenhouse.

He turned off the music, and Khalid's voice faded on late at night we're crusin' from Eleven. Dominque looked at Kaede, "here we are."

"Is this your house?"

"It's my parents, actually," Dominque said as he unbuckled his seat belt.

They both stepped out of the car. Kaede scanned the building and its long grey rectangular bricks. The architecture was modern. Kaede estimated the building was less than ten years old; it contrasted with the surrounding houses.

"It's neat. I like the design. Is it where you grew up?"

"I grew up in Saint-Denis in a council flat. My parents brought this before moving to Puerto Rico; it's their vacation house."

Kaede frowned; it was challenging to imagine a house in Aubervilliers as a vacation location. Though many opted and moved to Paris outskirts, Aubervilliers like Saint-Denis were still classified as rough neighborhoods even if new futuristic constructions appeared in their landscapes.

"Want to come in for a short tournament?" Where most would offer coffee, Dominque picked a pretext the woman would go for without overthinking.

Kaede calculated, she started work at 2 pm. It left plenty of time for sleep if she went home at 1 am, also playing would wake her, "okay, sure."

Dominque bit his inner lip to hide his enthusiasm, "Cool," the man led the way and opened the door.

Kaede stepped in; the house was more significant than she expected. In cream and beige tones, the interior was sober, which gave the living room a cozy feel though there was almost no furniture. Photos of Dominque and Dyan as children filled the walls. The radiant smiles on field trips or holidays showed how happy they were.

His parents were probably adept at Feng Shui. Kaede noticed the giant aquarium with specific types of fish. A large bamboo tree whose branches almost touched the high ceiling. One felt appeased in the space where all was disposed in a particular way.

"So this is your parent's house?"

"Yeah, it's my father's pride. A testimony that he made it somewhere."

Dominque's father was the type of man who didn't want to die a penniless immigrant. He wished to leave an imprint. The man worked hard and tried any business venture until his efforts began to pay off. The boxing club was the first success, followed by a restaurant that financed Dyan's dance school.

The days where the Miguens ate plain soft bread for breakfast and had spaghetti and butter from the first day of the month to its end were far behind. Dominque's father forced him to invest the money he made when he got transferred to a football team in Paraguay's second division before his injury.

At age 21, with his father's help, Dominque brought a small apartment in Paris 16th arrondissement. He then went on to acquire a little duplex in Gennevillers, where he lived with Hye Ju. The man rented both out, leaving his parent's home as his only option to crash. They assured Dominque a revenue every month, in addition to his salary as a GIGN FI corps.

As for other expenses, the man, like many, knew people in places. There wasn't anything he paid total price as friends and acquaintances offered discounts or freebies. Dominque's parents left France in peace, knowing their children were in non-assistance-needed positions.

Kaede let her eyes roam around, and her mind revived the scrub theory where the man lived off his parents. Dominque, of course, did not think to fill her in on his actual situation. The living room was spacious, with the ceiling at least three meters high.