Page 48 of So in Love
“Maybe.”Crystal made a face.“I don’t know!”She took a deep breath.“Let me start at the beginning.Last summer, I started helping a few friends research a small town up in Oregon—where Alaina lives now.”
“Something Ridge, right?”
“Ribbon Ridge, yeah.It was founded in the mid-nineteenth century—it has a great pioneer cemetery.They—my friends—found a brick with the year 1879 and the letters BNR.It was buried near the foundation of a house that was demolished on a vineyard.That house was mid-twentieth century, but the date on the brick didn’t match that.We spent countless hours trying to figure out what BNR meant.Turns out the vineyard was once a farm called the Bird’s Nest Ranch.A young couple owned it, but the husband died, leaving the wife in a bad place.I sort of became obsessed with finding out what happened to her.”
Kim had been listening intently and now cocked her head to the side.“Why’s that?”
Crystal had thought about that and wasn’t sure she had a good answer.“I don’t know exactly.Something about her spoke to me.Maybe because she was an underdog—a woman on her own in the Wild West.”She shrugged.“Anyway, we learned that she turned the farmhouse into a brothel.”Kim widened her eyes, and Crystal nodded toward her.“The brothel burned down in 1902, and Dorinda—that was her name—died.”
Kim sucked in a breath.“That’s terrible.”
“I know.I was pretty upset about it.I’d barely begun to learn about her—I really want to know what led her to open a brothel.”
“You don’t know?”
Crystal shook her head.“My best guess is that a financial crisis drove her to it.I know things were bleak when her husband died.We’re still doing research to try to fill in the holes.We wanted to know more about the fire but had a hard time finding mention of it in any newspapers.Then my research buddy—a guy at the county historical society—found something ugly.And this is where things get really upsetting.He found a letter at another county’s historical society.It was written in 1902 from a guy to the former mayor of Ribbon Ridge who was also a Grand Cyclops in the KKK.”
Kim held up her hand.“Whoa.The KKK?”
Crystal nodded.
“That is some serious shit.”
“I know.It makes me nervous.Especially since they burned the brothel down.”
Kim swore under her breath.“The hell they did.Were there black women at that brothel?Or black men soliciting it?”
“We don’t know.The only woman’s identity we know is Dorinda, and she was white—I saw a photo of her and her husband in front of Bird’s Nest Ranch.I have no idea what sort of clientele they had.”Crystal scooted her empty cup to the side of the table and clasped her hands on the wood.“I wanted to talk to you about this project because of our friendship—if I’m going to try to sell a screenplay to someone, I want you to handle it.But your opinion—as a black woman—is also really important to me.I donotwant to screw this up.”
Kim looked at her for a minute, clearly processing.She sat back and folded her arms over her chest.“Let me ask you—what’s the story you want to tell?”
“It’s Dorinda’s story in my mind.At least that’s what drew me to it.But when we found the KKK link… I don’t know.I’m not entirely sure where the research will take us.”
“Damn, controversial is right.”
“There’s also an underlying story.Oregon was founded on some pretty racist principles.I’m pretty sure most people don’t realize that.When people think of white supremacy they don’t normally think of the West Coast.”
“I’d agree with that assessment.So you’d want to tie that into the overall story?You want to say something important with this?”
Crystal nodded slowly.“I would.I think I have a responsibility to.The KKK has been a poison in our Society for well over a hundred years.It rises, it fades, and it rises again.If I could do something to help obliterate it for good, I’m all in.”
Kim uncrossed her arms and reached across the table, laying her hand over Crystal’s.“Me too.”She straightened and adopted a businesslike posture.“Okay, so you’re still researching?”
Crystal squeezed her hands together.“Yes.Darryl’s on the case while I’m here in LA.I’ll be going back up there in about ten days or so—a week from Friday.”
“Have you started writing anything?”Kim asked.
“Nothing that resembles a screenplay, just notes.Lots of notes.”
“But it sounds like you have some holes to fill.”
“Yes, but I’m also preparing myself for not finding all the answers.Darryl and I have talked about that and agree that it’s unlikely we’ll learn everything.I’ll have to take some dramatic license, but I figure I’d have to do that anyway.ThisisHollywood.”
Kim snorted.“That it is.This is what I want you to do.As soon as you think you have a story in mind, dramatic license and all, I want you to write up a treatment for me.I can pitch that on its own, especially coming from you.”
Crystal blinked at her.“Really?Why am I special?”
Kim laughed.“You are so hard on yourself!You’re Alaina Pierce’s assistant and best friend!You have an eye for scripts.Even before Alaina was Alaina, you got your hands on premium material.Hell, I’d argue AlainaisAlaina because of you.”
