Gold, Fire & Refinement

Chapter Forty

"Fire is the test of gold; adversity, of strong men." ~Martha Graham

It was just after eight when Thurgood left that morning. Once he was gone, Zarah closed the door and leaned against it, crying. Minutes later, knowing she had to pull herself together, she took a deep breath and wiped away her tears with her hands. She went to her master bedroom and sat on the bed next to Harvey. When he opened his eyes, he reached his hand out toward her, but she just sat still. He sat up in bed when he realized she was upset. He pulled her into his arms. "He did it again," she said. "Now he has an X-rated video of me. Because you trusted him. You gave him the key to my house ... and he stole a video ... of me and Carter."

Wiping sleep from his eyes, Harvey released her from his embrace. "What? Who has a video of you with Carter? When were you with Carter?"

"Before we met," she said. "Way before."

"What kind of video?"

She looked at him. "A bedroom video. Thurgood found it. I think it was on top of that highboy, in my old camcorder. I guess Carter left it in the video, years ago. I never use that camcorder. Then you let Thurgood come in here to get my clothes ... when I was in Clarksdale. He said he found a video Carter made of us. Together. Now he's threatening to use it against me."

"Threatening to do what? Oh, no. T would never,"

"If I hear you say that one more time, I'm leaving you for good. Harvey. You need to see your cousin for who he really is. He thinks you two are still sharing women. Like you used to do.  I need you to wake up now baby, or grow up, in a hurry. Because now? I need a man. Not a boy."

"Honey, calm down."

"He was here! At my front door! He doesn't know we're back together and I didn't tell him. He threatened me ... and he left this." She put the box down on the bed.

"What's this?"

"It's the video and a card key to a room at the Paradise Inn. Where Carter and I always stayed. If I'm not in that room with him at eight o'clock tonight, if I don't sleep with him, he said he'll send it to the media in the morning."

"The Paradise Inn? On Ellis?"

"Did you hear me? He's sending this to the media, tomorrow morning, and he's not joking. I told him the other day I knew he was behind that video of you and Dinah. And this proves he did it—just like I thought. He denied it, but this proves it. It was him. He'll never get over the fact that you and Clariece slept together before they got married ... and he intends to sleep with me."

"Clariece wasn't engaged to him when I slept with her, and I've never forced her or any woman to sleep with me."

"He said I'll be better off with him. That if I marry you, black people will hate me and whites will too. No one will ever accept us ... as a couple. He said leaking the video will be win-win for him and THN because his ratings will go up again. He's money crazy and you know it. He'll do it. He'll blast it everywhere, and I'll be ashamed to show my face anywhere. My family will see it, my mother, my sisters and brothers." Tears started streaming down her face again. "I begged Carter to destroy that video and he didn't. Now? Now what am I going to do?"

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Harvey felt like a big fool. He hadn't listened when she tried to warn him. What she just told him was something he knew his cousin had always believed: that it was hard for women who looked like Clariece and Zarah to fit in. And now, even though she was fuming mad at Thurgood, she was even angrier with him. 

"First, let's calm down." He reached out for her hand, but she didn't reach for his. "You have to know, darling. I won't let T or anyone else do anything to harm you. Please tell me you know that."