Free A Lineage of Grace by Francine Rivers Page A

Did he really think she would allow him to treat her like a prostitute? She could hardly stand to look at him. “There’s only one thing I require of you, Onan, and you’ve spilled that on the ground!” She flung his discarded tunic at him.
    Slipping into it, Onan blushed, but his eyes remained calculating. “Er said you were stubborn. You could try to understand my situation.”
    She wasn’t a fool. She knew exactly what he was after. She had known Onan was covetous, but she’d never expected this abominable injustice. “You want Er’s double portion as well as your own!” Onan was filled with avarice.
    “Why shouldn’t I have it all? I’ve worked for it!”
    “You have your portion. You have no right to Er’s. It belongs to his son.”
    He smirked. “What son?”
    Her eyes pricked with angry tears. “You will not have your way in this, Onan. I am not a harlot to be used.”
    “Be reasonable, Tamar. Did Er ever care for the flocks as I have? Have I hit you or called you names? Did he ever show kindness toward you? Even once? All my brother ever did was cause you grief!”
    “It doesn’t matter how he treated me or anyone else! He is your father’s eldest son. Er was firstborn. You must fulfill your duty to your brother, or his line will die! Do you think Judah won’t grieve over what you’ve done tonight?”
    “Don’t tell him.”
    “I won’t join you in this sin. What future have I if you have your way?”
    “The future I give you.”
    “And I should trust a man who denies his brother an heir?”
    Onan stood, annoyed. “Er’s name should be wiped out! He deserved to die! We’re all better off without him!”
    Tamar was shocked by his hatred. “You mustn’t deny me my rights, Onan. If you do, you cheat your father’s entire household.”
    Jaw tight, Onan made a sound of disdain. “You don’t know what I suffered at my brother’s hands. Every time my mother looked the other way, Er was using his fists on me. I’m glad he’s dead. If you want to know the truth, I rejoiced when Er choked to death. It gave me pleasure to watch him die. I wanted to laugh and dance!” He smiled down at her mockingly. “As I’m sure you did.”
    “Don’t include me in your wickedness. Er’s portion doesn’t belong to you. It belongs to the son he might have had, the son you must give me.”
    Onan lay down again and propped himself up on one elbow. “And if I won’t?”
    “You can’t really mean to deny me, Onan. Would you have Er’s name go down into the dust with him?” It was as though he sought to murder his own brother.
    “That’s where his name belongs.”
    What Onan was doing was worse than murder! He was denying existence to all of Er’s descendants down through the ages. If he had his way, she would never bear children. What would become of her then?
    “Please, Onan. You mustn’t do this. Give thought to what you do!”
    “I have thought about it. It’s my name I care about, not his.”
    “What sort of man are you that you would destroy the household of your own brother?”
    “What brother? What household?” He laughed softly. He took the edge of her wrap and rubbed it between his fingers. “I’m a man who intends to hold on to what belongs to him.” He grinned. “I can make you happy. Would you like me to show you how?”
    Tamar yanked her wrap from him and withdrew even farther. She wanted to scream at Acsah to stop beating the drum and singing. This night was a mockery!
    Onan’s expression cooled. “Be satisfied with what I’m offering you.”
    His avarice sickened her. “I won’t keep silent.”
    “What can you do?” He mocked her just as Er had done.
    “I can speak to Judah.”
    Onan laughed. “Go ahead. Father won’t do anything. He never does anything. Besides, it will be your word against mine, and who will believe you, Tamar? My mother hates you with every breath she takes. Moreover, she’s convinced you cast a spell upon my brother and caused his