by Shara Azod
Ebony only hoped she aged as well as her mother. At fifty-six years of age, her deep mahogany skin barely had a wrinkle and her short, naturally curly obsidian hair, which she wore in a classy style, only had a hint of gray.
Ebony could tell she was trying to lighten the mood at the table, and although it didn’t look as if Harrison wanted to chat, she knew him well enough to know he wouldn’t be rude.
“I’ve always been an athlete. I played a lot of sports throughout my life. I got hurt playing rugby in college, but I never lost my love of sports. ”
“Harrison worked at a sporting goods store all throughout high school,” his father added.
“Like Dad said, I worked at this place called Kendricks all throughout high school and then after college, I was looking for a job and Mr. Kendricks asked me to work at his store until I found something. It seemed like a good idea. It would put some money in my pocket and I would be doing what I loved most, interacting with athletes.”
Ebony listened with pride as he told them about how he saved up and eventually purchased Kendricks and turned it into a popular sporting goods chain. She’d heard the story before, but the way he lit up when talking about his business never got old.
Everyone at the table, with the exception of her sister, was smiling and engaged in his tale.
“I actually played a little football myself back in my high school days,” her dad said, which made her laugh.
“Not this story again, Dad.” Ebony groaned.
“Come on, let’s hear it,” Tom, Harrison’s father, said.
“I’m telling you now, if he gets started telling stories, we’ll be here all night. I don’t know about anybody else, but I’m tired. Playing around in the snow may look like fun, but I think I used muscles I never knew I had,” she said, rotating her shoulders with a grimace.
“I was like that the first time I really played in the snow. I still get stiff sometimes, even now, and we’ve been coming up here for decades. You should let Harrison give you a good deep tissue massage. He has a degree in sport medicine. When my back gets stiff, I don’t pay someone for a massage. I go to him,” Harrison’s mother crowed.
“Now you see why I don’t come home so much anymore,” Harrison joked before sipping his wine.
“Suck it up, son, consider it payback for all of that tuition we paid out,” his dad said.
“After Harrison finishes your back, you should get in the Jacuzzi a bit. You’ll feel like new in the morning,” his grandmother added.
Everyone nodded in agreement.
“You’re in Canada now, gotta start thinking like a Canadian,” his grandfather said, tapping his temple for emphasis.
She wanted to tell them that Harrison had been giving her deep tissue massages for several month, though not the kind they might think. The image of their faces if she said that aloud caused her to laugh inwardly.
Instead, she said, “I wouldn’t want to bother Harrison on his vacation. Maybe some other time.”
“It wouldn’t be a bother, would it, son?” his dad said, looking at him.
Ebony watched him, hoping he would decline. She wasn’t sure of his mood and didn’t want pour salt in an open wound.
“No, it wouldn’t be a bother. Just let me take care of a few things and I can come up to your room.”
The way he looked at her could have frozen ice. She was surprised at the sharp stab of guilt she felt. He’d never treated her like that before. It wasn’t mean, but it was way more formal than he ever had.
“Okay, thanks,” she said, giving him a smile to break some of the ice.
He turned back to his food and she sat, dismissed.
The conversation flowed a bit better from that point on. The only person she noted who was quiet at the table was her sister. Corrine hadn’t said much all throughout dinner. She hadn’t come down from her room until it was time to eat. Since the accident, she’d spent more time doing a bit of work on her laptop and with the girls than anything else. It was all her fault.
David had been wearing a fake smile on his face the entire time. She could tell it was fake, because it didn’t reach his eyes. So Corrine and David were fighting, and David was caught between his loyalty to his wife and his loyalty to his brother, and it was all because of a lie.
As a child, her mother had warned her of the mess that could be made by not telling the truth. She’d grown up in the church, she knew right from wrong, and what could happen if you let a lie fester. The Bible was full of stories like that.
Harrison was right. One of the main reasons Corrine disliked him was because of perception. Sure, her sister had always thought Harrison was a bit too fast and free with the ladies. That was an image he’d deliberately fostered. He was a bachelor, doing what bachelors did, and was unapologetic about it.
Ebony was a grown woman and still hid who she really was under a mask of being the “good girl”. The one too smart to be tricked into giving up the goods by a philanderer. The only problem was, she hadn’t been tricked. Harrison had been the same as he always was. In fact, he’d gotten better. He’d grown, and she was in danger of becoming the worst type of hypocrite.
After dinner, Ebony excused herself to prepare for her massage. The rest of the family decided to retire as well. Corrine was going to her room when Ebony stopped her.
“Corrine, are you okay?”
“Yeah, I’ll be fine.”
“I noticed you didn’t say very much at dinner. Are you and David okay?”
Corrine looked around them as if someone would hear them.
“Let’s go to the porch.”
They walked to the back of the house, pulled on jackets and went outside, shutting the door behind them. Corrine walked out to the railing and looked out towards the lake. The refection of the moon played on its surface but otherwise it was pitch black,
“I think I messed up,” she said with a sigh.
“And it’s all Harrison’s fault. I swear, that man is a pain in my ass. David thinks I was too hard on him and didn’t like how I talked to his brother. The brother that kissed and groped me because he was trying to pull one over on you. I swear, Ebony that could have easily been you. It really speaks to his character. He has everyone fooled with his Mr. Nice Guy routine, but I know better.”
Ebony cringed.
“I’m sure David would understand it was a prank.” Her voice sounded small, even to her own ears.
“No, he wouldn’t. I’m almost tempted to tell him what happened. Maybe I could finally get him to understand why I’m so hard on Harrison. He feels I was out of line and wants me to apologize. Can you even imagine? You could have been killed.”
“I’m fine. Also, you were a bit harsh that day. I was the one egging him to go faster. I was having fun.”
Corrine turned towards her.
“Not you, too! I was not out of line, I was standing up for you.”
“It wasn’t that serious, Corrine. What is this about, anyway? From the moment you started dating David, you’ve always told me bad things about his brother, but outside of dating a lot of women and perhaps being a bit promiscuous, I just don’t see how he’s any different from any other single guy.”
“That’s because you’ve never dated a man who’s said he loves you and all the while is sleeping with everything that has a pair of legs and boobs. Men like that are liars and manipulators, and they don’t even care what happens to the people they screw over. Men like Harrison.”
Corrine’s voice faltered, causing her to really look at her sister for the first time in a long time. She knew with a certainty that her sister wanted to tell her something, but was holding back. If she went down this rabbit hole, she wasn’t sure where it would lead her.
Was Corrine raped? Dear God, she hoped that wasn’t it. She wanted to change the subject so badly, but her sister was hurting and she couldn’t stand to see her ordinarily strong, tough-as-nails sister looking at her with so much pain in her eyes. She had to hear it.
“Men like Harrison what, Corrine. Tell me what happened.”
Corrine looked away from her tears in her eyes. Ebony grasped both of her arms lovingly and urged her to look at her.
“Men like Harrison…” She again encouraged her to go on with the story.
With one shaky breath, she finished her statement.
“Men like Harrison give women like me h-herpes, and then accuses us of giving it to them so they can l-leave.”
Ebony had been prepared for everything except for that. It all made sense now. It wasn’t Harrison, it was her past that she was mad with.
“Oh, Corrine,” she said remorsefully, wrapping her arms around her big sister. She held and rocked her as Corrine cried on her shoulder. It almost broke her. After a while, Corrine pulled back and wiped her eyes.
“It was a long time ago in college.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“I was too embarrassed. Too ashamed that I’d trusted a guy like that. I was so in love with him and he betrayed me, and then he moved on to the next woman.”
“Who was it?” Ebony demanded.
“No one you knew. We met at a club and were together for three months before I started to suspect something was wrong. By then, it was too late. I was young and too naive to know better. He looked so good, and all the girls flirted with him. I thought I was lucky when he chose me.” She laughed bitterly.
“Corrine, I hate this for you. I can’t imagine how awful it must have been. What did David say when you told him.”
Corrine gave a small smile.
“For the longest time I put him off. After I found out I had it, I didn’t want to…‘do it’. I was a real bitch to him. I didn’t think anyone would want to be with me after that. One day I just told him. I knew he would leave me alone once he knew, but he didn’t leave. He said he was in love with me, and that meant all of me.”
Ebony smiled, her heart swelling with pride and admiration for her brother-in-law. She’d always liked David, and now she truly loved him.
“It wasn’t your fault, Corrine, it was a mistake. You couldn’t have known, but I’m telling you, Harrison is not like that.”
Ebony knew she had to come clean, her lie coupled with her sisters past had built a toxic bomb of distrust and every time she refused to tell Corrine the truth, it was like lighting a match that up until the day of the accident had been blown out before the bomb could truly be lit. She knew this now.
“Corrine I need to tell you something.”
Now it was her turn to look away.
“That night, when Harrison came in the room. He was there to see me.”
“I know, he said he was going to play a joke on you. But it didn’t feel like a joke to me. We sent him and David up to your room to drop off your bags. The right thing to do would have been to return your extra key when he saw you later that night, but that asshole hung on to it so he could come into your room in the middle of the night. What if you’d been too drunk to fend him off? Hell, I wasn’t as coherent as I could have been.” Corrine gave her sister a look of distaste.
Seeing that her sister still didn’t fully understand, Ebony pressed on.
“No, you’re right, it wasn’t a joke. You see. Harrison and I had been flirting all night. I was attracted to him. I asked him to come up to my room. I wanted to have sex with him.”
“Wait…you what?”
“I wanted to have sex with him.” Ebony stated firmly.
“Ebony, the man was at the party with another woman.”
Ebony swallowed. She could lie. She could gloss over the truth as she’d been doing, but to what end. No, there could be no more lies. Harrison was right, had always been right. She needed to come clean about everything.
Her personal sexual life had never come into question before. She didn’t hide the fact that she’d done some pretty alternative things, but she didn’t advertise them, either. Now it was all going to come out.
“I know. They were both going to come up to my room. I told them to wait ten minutes and I gave them my other key. Harrison hadn’t hung on to it. He’d returned it to me.”
“But…” Ebony raced on, not sure if she’d be able to tell it all if her sister stopped her.
“When you knocked on my door and came in saying you felt sick and your AC wasn’t working, I panicked. I was trying to get rid of you, but you’d been drinking and basically wouldn’t leave. When you laid down on the bed, I knew things weren’t going to work out. I told you I was going downstairs to get someone to fix your AC but I really left the room to let them know our plans had changed. We must have passed each other because when I got down to the lobby, I only saw Star; his date, coming from the dining room. She’d left her purse and sent him ahead to the room while she went back to get it. I told her the night was off and raced up to the room. When I got there, you were screaming and…well, you know the rest.”
Her sister was looking at her in shock. She started backing away from Ebony, who started to follow:
“So you mean to tell me you’re gay?”
This was exactly the conversation she hadn’t wanted to have. Out of everything she’d just told her sister, this was the first question Corrine chose to ask and it frustrated her. However, this was her sister, and she owed it to her to be patient and explain.
“No, I love men, but if a woman is attractive, I’ve been known to switch up. Star and Harrison were not dating, she was just his date. He was flirting and she didn’t mind. We are all consenting adults.”
“What type of freak are you? You didn’t get that from our family!”
Ebony’s shame in her lie started to melt into irritation. She needed to bring things back to the real issue. Her sex life would not be up for debate or scrutiny.
“Look, what I’m trying to tell you is that I shouldn’t have lied to you about why Harrison was there. When I walked in and saw the two of you together. I knew what happened, I just didn’t know how much you knew.”
Corrine laughed bitterly.
“So that’s why you separated us. You sent him outside and you started asking me about what happened, pretending to be all caring and concerned when in fact you were just pumping me for information, doing damage control. You went out into the hall and concocted this lie with Harrison which you then came back and spoon fed me. You knew the last thing I would want to do was accuse my soon to be brother-in-law of groping me the night before my wedding so you downplayed it and made it seem like it was no big deal. Is that how it happened?”
Ebony remained silent. There was no longer any need to deny the truth.
“Bravo, sis. You had me fooled.”
“Corrine, what I’m trying to say is that my lie, coupled with your past, had you angry with Harrison, and it wasn’t his fault. I wanted him. I still want him. He wanted me to come clean about everything, and I should have listened. Now you and David are fighting, and Harrison is pissed at me, and it’s all because of a lie.”
“Come clean about everything? What else are you hiding?” Corrine put her hands on her hip and looked at her as if she didn’t know what to believe. It was clear shit had hit the fan; no need in drawing it out.
“We’ve been lovers since your wedding. He’s been flying down for business and I’ve been meeting him.”
“Are you serious? That was, like, a year ago. You’ve been sleeping with Harrison for a year and didn’t say anything. What? Was Star a part of this little fuckfest, too? You’re just sleeping with everything. I don’t even know who the fuck you are. I thought we were closer than that,” she hissed.
“Listen, I’m not ashamed of my sexual preferences. I knew how you felt about Harrison before that night. You always talked about him like a dog. I knew you wouldn’t understand my attraction to him. And for the record, no, Star hasn’t been with us. She’s not in the picture at all. That’s not what this was about. And just like you couldn’t tell me about your herpes, I couldn’t tell you about Harrison.”
“That�
��s different. I got a sexually transmitted disease. You’re into some messed-up stuff. Harrison is obviously not the asshole I thought he was. He seems to be just as much a victim as I was. I guess you’re the one I should have been watching.”
Ebony blinked back tears of frustration as her sister’s words cut deep.
“Corrine, it’s not like that. Don’t be like this; not you, too. Harrison is already pissed at me. I can’t take you being mad at me, too.”
“Save it. I swear, I’ll be glad when this Christmas is over and done with.”
She turned and walked away, leaving Ebony standing in the cold Canadian evening alone.
Ebony sighed, looking up at the stars. Why couldn’t she be up there where nothing could touch her, where there was no fear of living up to other’s expectations, no hurting each other?
She inhaled to calm her nerves before going back inside. Needing a drink to calm her nerves, she stopped by the kitchen, picked up a bottle of wine and poured a glass. Downing the first immediately, she poured another glass which she took with her before making her way to her room.
Chapter Five
Harrison moved into the hallway with a jar containing a special blend of cream he used on sore muscles. He was still pissed at Ebony, but he couldn’t let her go to bed with sore muscles. He’d been surprised that he had never given her a massage before. He guessed they had been so busy doing other things that he never got around to it. He included some candles and oils, wrapped in a large towel and went to her room.
He would just give her the massage and leave. He’d finally realized that she wasn’t ready. He loved her, but she couldn’t accept all of the beautiful things that made her who she was. If she couldn’t own-up to her uniqueness, there really was no hope for them. They would always be at the mercy of other people’s opinions and standards. He didn’t give a damn about what other people thought but it seemed she always would. He would back off completely and give her some space. That didn’t mean he’d stop loving her; it just meant that in order for him to survive, he had to let her go.