Martine - Part 4

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In case you missed the first part of Martine, click here to catch up.

When Martine walked into the living room, she found it was dimmed with only the lamp by the piano on. Sophie sat on the floor on her favourite pillow and Bianca sat on one of the armchairs. Alain sat at the piano and James sat on the coach. She placed the tray on the coffee table and doled out the mugs to her family, then she curled up next to James, sipping her coffee.

Seeing that everyone was settled and their attention was on him, Alain began to play a lively tune. "This was my favourite song to play when I was younger. It always made me feel happy when I felt sad and lonely," he said. It was so lively that Sophie started clapping in time.

When that song ended, they all applauded their dinner guest who started to play a new song. This song was a bit more somber and before long, James and Martine recognized it as "God Bless The Child" by Billie Holiday. Martine looked at her daughters and then at Alain who was staring at her as he played. "God bless all my children," she thought as she smiled at her son.

Martine - Part 3

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In case you missed the first part of Martine, start here to catch up.

On the other side of the front door, Sophie found a tall man with a fair complexion that reminded her of her best friend Joanne who had a black father and a white mother. The man had full lips and a straight nose and he looked very nervous.

"Hi! You must be Alain, Maman's student. I'm Sophie. Come in," she said moving to the side so Alain could enter the foyer.

As he crossed the threshold, a tall man with dark skin entered from a room on the left, an equally dark teenage girl came in from a room on the right.

Martine - Part 2

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 In case you missed the first part of Martine, click here to catch up.


"Who is this student? What is so special about him? You never invite students to dinner, Maman, so why did you invite this one? Where is he from? Was he born near here?...." Sophie went on and on, interrogating her mother as she ripped into a head lettuce. Bianca, brooding in the corner, rolled her eyes as she cut up some tomatoes.

They were in the kitchen helping their parents make dinner, or as they would put it, used as child labour to prepare a meal for their overlords. Martine checked on the pork chops in the oven while James, her husband, took out the dishes and utensils.

"I think that's enough lettuce and tomatoes for the salad, girls. Take these and set the table," James said. Ten year old Sophie jumped off the stool she was sitting on and grabbed the utensils, disappearing into the dining room. Her older sister, Bianca, was not as boisterous, took the plates and followed Sophie. James shook his head as he watched her departure, puberty had definitely changed his thirteen year old.

With the girls gone, he turned to his wife, "So why did you invite this particular student, Martine?"

Martine - Part 1

 

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It was the start of a new semester at Oakland Community College and Martine Carter was on her way to her first class of the new academic year. As a junior professor in the Foreign Language department, she had the pleasure of teaching college students her native tongue, French. Hopefully, this class of students would be as interested int the foreign language as her last class.

Upon entering room 305, she put on a bright smile and surveyed the room. As expected, the jocks were present, taking the mandatory Humanity course. The hopeful romantics, taking the course because French was supposed to be the language of love. There was also the "regular" students, probably taking the course so they can speak the language when the travel around Europe during the next summer break.

Only one student stuck out to Martine, a young man with a light complexion, but it was his features that caught her attention. They were so familiar, but she never saw this individual before. Why did he look so familiar?