BEAUTY MARKS

+FACE B: DANCE+

Everyone has potential and at least one gift. Kaede did not know how the leaflet she received before entering Chatelet station would change her life.

If playing games on her PlayStation appeased her mind dancing a relaxed her body. The woman no longer had Joseph for guidance daily. Kaede walked alone; the last time she saw him after her dispute with Dominque, Joseph asked her if she had a plan B, as usual, she did not seize the meaning. At this instant, all Kaede planned to do was master the routine Dyan taught her.

"Alright, guys, take it from the top."

The Floor was where Kaede went twice a week instead of going to the gym. She sweated just as much in a more inviting environment. In this course, no one cared whether you wore the latest Nike outfit, how toned your arms, or how bubbly your jelly was. What mattered to Dyan, the instructor, was how one moved and embraced the music.

Dyan was the best dancer Kaede ever met. She comforted the class by saying that dance was a universal language where individuals reunited. Even the stiffer bodies could dance if they had a love for music.

Kaede was of the stiff lot with no coordination. Some even joked about how it was the first time of their existence; they met a black woman with no rhythm. Kaede didn't give up, she rehearsed relentlessly, and a year later, she was one of the best.

"Will, stop the music, please. Alright, as you know, I'm seven months pregnant, and I'm getting tired. Now I didn't want the course to stop, so I found a replacement who I am excited to introduce to you tonight. He's extremely talented, he's someone who practiced a lot of sports at a professional level, and he danced, popped, and locked. He went contemporary, he tangoed, and then he danced back to hip hop. He is my mentor."

The room buzzed. Everyone wondered who could replace Dyan and if the person had her level. Dyan was on a pedestal, so high no one saw a ladder long enough to reach her.

A quick knock on the door interrupted the agitation.

"Come in."

Kaede almost choked on her water she drank as she watched Dominque walk inside.

"Okay, let me present to you my big brother, Dominque. Before you ask, we have the same mom and dad, and no, none had a side dish."

Used to having people gasp about the fact she looked mixed, and her brother appeared to be a hundred percent caucasian, Dyan went ahead of eventual rumors.

"This guy taught me almost everything about music and dance. I'm happy to know that you are all in his care. He is your progress guaranteed."

Kaede wanted to find a hole to hibernate. She ducked her head and went to hide behind Nathan's stock-built body.

Dominique clapped, "okay, I imagine Dyan went through everything. So I won't talk a lot. I'll demonstrate my moves and after you can show me yours. It seems like a good compromise."

Kaede poked her head out from Nathan's back. Dominque's words piqued her interest.

He turned his head in Will's direction, who switched on the music. Young Joc's voice echoed with It's Going Down.

Dominque licked his lips, tugged on his sweatpants hem, and began. After a minute, whistles replaced the skeptical whispers. Half of the audience died when he lifted his t-shirt in a moment that exposed hard-knock honey tanned abs and the tats that coated them.

"I think I'm going to have a nose bleed," Kaede heard someone say.

"I think I just wet myself," another replied.

Kaede wondered when did women become so thirsty?

In books, women were always innocent until a man came to enlighten them for better or worse. In life, they all nourished fantasies. The rich man reigned on top of the fantasy stats, but the bad boy still trended.