Discombobulate

Chapter Forty-Eight

"I'm glad you decided to visit us today. Susan was friends with quite a few people here. Jennifer was great with the kids. I know she liked teaching Sunday School with her mom."

Denise nodded her head. Jennifer hadn't been an avid churchgoer. She didn't go every week. She usually attended once a month. She sometimes went with Susan to help out with the kids. She loved working with them.

"No Bible today?" Pastor Baker glanced down at her empty hands. "I remember you always used to carry a purple leather Bible."

Denise pulled her hands to her hips. She shoved her thumbs into her front pockets. "That Bible ended up falling apart since I used it so much. I haven't had one since then." She braced herself for a lecture.

"Don't worry about that, come on." Pastor Baker waved her towards him. "Let's go into my office and I'll give you one. Consider it a gift from me to you."

Denise followed him down the row of pews. She followed him into a room. A group of people sat around a large rectangular table with their Bibles open. They had been laughing until Pastor Baker and Denise walked in.

"Morning, Pastor Baker!" Someone called out from the crowd.

"Good morning, how is everyone doing today?" Pastor Baker responded.

A mumble of replies came from the table. Someone else spoke up. "Who's that behind you?"

Denise held her breath. She was afraid people weren't going to be happy if they found out who she was. She was afraid to make them mad.

"This is Susan Houghton's oldest daughter, Denise. Jennifer was her younger sister," Pastor Baker responded.

Denise could feel the mood in the room turn sour.

"I'm going to give her a Bible since she doesn't have one."

"That sounds like a great idea," someone else spoke up. The voice was filled with sarcasm.

"It's a wonderful idea." Pastor Baker ignored the person. "Come on Denise, let's go pick one out." He quickened his pace.

Denise hurried behind him. She was desperate to get out of the room. She could feel eyes on the back of her. It didn't take long before she was in a smaller room.

Pastor Baker closed the door behind them. A desk sat in the middle of the floor. Multiple bookcases full of religious books lined a wall. One row was filled with Bibles. He took one off the shelf and handed it to her.

Denise thanked him and grabbed it. They talked for a few more minutes until he glanced down at his watch. "I hate to interrupt our conversation, but service is going to begin in a few minutes."

"I should probably go find a seat." Denise took a step towards the door.

Pastor Baker stepped in front of her and led the way out of his office. "Are you coming to tonight's service too? I think you should, the sermons are going to connect."

"I've thought about it, but I haven't decided."

"You'll always be welcome here," Pastor Baker said. "I have to go back to my office to grab a few things. If you go out that door, you'll be back in the sanctuary."

Denise thanked him as he turned and left. The room that had been filled with people was now empty. She silently made her way through the empty room.

Her anxiety spiked up again. She grabbed a door's metal knob and turned it. Murmurings and mutterings could be heard behind it. She peered out behind the door to see multiple people in the pews. Nobody paid attention to her.

She exited and shut the door behind her. She hurried towards the back of the sanctuary. She didn't want to interact with people. She planned on sitting towards the back.

She couldn't stop herself from glancing around the room. Detective Mullen mentioned he and his wife would be there. She didn't spot a redhead in the crowd. Either they didn't come because they were too worried about the disappearance of their kid or Mullen felt bad about slapping her.

Denise made her way to the very back row of pews. There was a family in the second to last pew. There were five of them and they sat in the middle of the section. Two of them looked like toddlers.

She ignored them and sat towards the end of the last pew. She opened her new Bible and scanned through it. The pages were bright white and untouched. Some of the pages had spaces where you could write notes. She shifted her weight on the padded pew. Her foot tapped along the floor. She flipped through the Bible again.

When she was a kid, she memorized all the chapters of the Bible. It was a challenge for Vacation Bible School. If you could name all the chapters, you'd get a prize. It took her all week.

At age ten, she proudly marched up to the microphone. It was the last night of the program. The kids spent all week learning and performing dances to religious songs.
Parents and family members came to watch.

One of the teachers announced the books of the Bible challenge. If you could name them all, you'd get a prize. Most kids turned away from the challenge. They didn't think the prize would be good.

Denise had overheard her mom one day on the phone. The prize was a brand-new Atari. She couldn't pass it up. She spent hours trying to memorize the correct order of the old and new testaments.

When the teacher asked if anyone wanted to give it a shot, Denise's hand flew up. The teacher waved her towards the microphone and stepped back. Denise was more than ready to take on the challenge.

She stood in a jean dress with a bright pink shirt underneath. She opened her mouth and began with Genesis. Her hands were tucked behind her back. She had to get on her tiptoes to reach the microphone.

Susan pulled her blonde hair into pigtails. Bows made from pink ribbons were wrapped around them. Denise stood there for two minutes and recited the chapters perfectly. She ended with Revelation.

Everyone in the audience clapped. Her mom gave her a thumbs up and her dad whistled. Susan was still pregnant with Jennifer. She had only been a few days away from giving birth. 

Denise smiled and revealed a gap from her missing tooth. Nobody else bothered to go. The teacher went into a room and came back with the Atari.

During the exchange, someone snapped a picture. Another picture was taken when Denise was holding it. She had a huge grin and her pigtails were lopsided. Someone gave the photo to Susan after it was printed. It hung on their refrigerator door for years.

Tap. Tap. Tap.

The talking in the room died down. Denise glanced up to see Pastor Baker holding a microphone. He smiled at the crowd. "Good morning everyone. We're going to begin the service with a few songs. Please stand and turn to page ninety-eight."

Denise stood with the crowd and grabbed a hymn from the pew in front of her. A woman sat down at the piano up front. Her fingers moved over the keys. Sound belted across the room.

Denise struggled to turn the hymn book with her left arm still in a cast. People started to sing before she flipped to the page. She looked down at the words and tried to sing along the best she could.

It was going to be a long service.