Chapter 22 Bible study

 

Saturday night, the tight circle of women barely fit in Esther’s small living room. Kaulana took my left hand in hers, Coralee held my right. Eyes closed, murmurings of Thank you Jesus, Thank you Father, Praise your name, and Hallelujah rose from the group.

I cracked one eyelid. Everyone was there. Well, everyone but Arnie and Romy. Later I’d have to remember to ask Esther if Pearl had attended the Bible studies. Somehow I imagined she was more the type to go out dancing on a Saturday night than to pursue spiritual enavors.

The words of praise rose to a crescendo, finally fell to a whisper, and died away.

Esther said, “Kaulana, would you lead us in prayer?”

“Dear heavenly father,” Kaulana began. “Thank you for allowing us to come together once again in fellowship. We thank you for bringing our new sister Lillian into our midst.” She gave my hand a gentle squeeze. “Guide Esther as she leads us in the study of your word. I ask this in the name of our lord Jesus. Amen.”

There was a chorus of amens, and the women dropped hands.  Coralee, Tiare, and Violet sat on the sofa. Kaulana wedged herself into a tufted armchair. Mae, Sylvie, and I brought dining chairs from the kitchen. Francesca was the only one who sat on the floor, crossing her legs Indian-style, her Bible in her lap.

Esther reigned over all, queen-like, on her red velour recliner. “This week we are gonna start a new study,” she announced, holding up a paperback book. “Women of the Bible.”

There were nods and murmurs of assent around the room.

“Tonight, of course, we’re gonna to start at the beginning with Eve, the first woman God created. Everyone open your Bibles, and we will read Genesis chapter one, starting at verse twenty-six. Who would like to go first?”

Pages fluttered. Tiare began, ^“Then God said, ‘Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness. So that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground. So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.’”

She continued to the end of chapter one. Coralee began with chapter two. Mae, and then Violet, finished the chapter.

“Lillian, would you like to read the first part of chapter three?” Esther asked.

“Oh—sorry. I didn’t bring a bible.”

The women gaped at me. Who comes to a Bible study without a Bible? I had one somewhere among the books I’d shipped from New York. If I was going to continue coming to these weekly studies I’d better dig it out.

Sylvie set her bible on my lap.

“Thank you—let me find my glasses.” I rummaged in my purse, found my reading glasses. Chapter three told about the serpent tempting the woman to eat the forbidden fruit, and how she, in turn, gave some of the fruit to Adam. And he ate.

I passed the Bible back to Sylvie and she picked up where I’d left off.

While Francesca continued the reading in her thick accent, my thoughts began to stray, as they often do, of their own accord.

I’d been living at Kon Tiki eight days now. Already I’d discovered some of these women’s secrets. The police were treating Pearl’s death as a random killing, but what if it wasn’t? Was it possible one of these women knew more than they were saying?

Certainly not Kaulana, in her sweeping mu‘umu‘u, sweet-smelling flowers adorning her silver hair. She’d been off-island when Pearl was killed. And half-potted Sylvie? There was no telling what went on in that head of hers. There was the obvious ringleader, the elegant, aloof, and sometimes disdainful Tiare. The woman rolled up her boobs like a pair of socks, and I suspected she put Esther up to buying her Depends. What else was Tiare hiding? Francesca, the hardy German, roamed the complex during the wee hours in an Ambien trance, clutching a baby doll to her chest. Mae, whose girlish behavior was certainly compensating for something, entertained a male visitor in her condo. Coralee, the exercise fanatic who’d lost half her bodyweight, was rumored to give herself diarrhea to stay thin. Rumored, that is, by Violet who was a toxic gossip.

Even good-natured Esther, with her open smile and ready laugh, must have her secrets. We all do. There isn’t a person alive, no matter how honest, who doesn’t have something to hide. Every single one of us lies about something.

Esther set her Bible aside and opened the study book. She pulled out a page of handwritten notes and began a discourse on Eve, the first woman. Through Eve, sin entered the world, and she became the mother of us all.

A lively discussion on original sin ensued. After a while, Francesca rose stiffly and excused herself. She made her way across the living room, into the hall, and entered the bathroom. The door closed. Over the noise of conversation, I heard the toilet flush. Water ran in the sink.

The bathroom door opened and Francesca emerged. She paused to study a painting that hung in the hallway. She glanced quickly at the women in the living room. I averted my gaze, but could still see Francesca out of the corner of my eye. Apparently satisfied no one was watching, Francseca reached for the painting and tilted it, ever so slightly. She came back to the living room and resumed her seat on the floor.  

I remembered finding the painting behind my couch slightly tilted. It had to be Francesca’s doing. When had she done it—and why?

Esther’s voice broke through my musings. “Lillian?”

“Sorry—what?”

“Any thoughts on today’s Bible story?”

I hadn’t been paying attention to the discussion, and spoke on the fly. “Well, I do think it’s interesting that there seem to be two different stories in the Bible about the creation of woman.”

Esther’s forehead scrunched. “What do you mean?”

I borrowed Sylvie’s bible again. “You see here, in Genesis one, verse twenty-seven, on the sixth day of creation, it says God created them, two humans, male and female. Then on the seventh day he rested. Then, in chapter two, after creation was complete, God saw that Adam was alone and needed a companion. That’s when God put Adam into a deep sleep and created a woman from Adam’s rib. According to Jewish folklore, the woman God created in chapter one was Adam’s first wife, Lilith. Adam and Lilith were created at the same time, in the same way, from the earth. They were equals. Lilith refused to be subservient to Adam—really, tradition says she refused to have sex in the missionary position.” A glance around at the women told me I had their rapt attention. “Adam tried to force Lilith. She fought him, and fled the garden. It was after that, in chapter two, that God created another woman from Adam’s rib, so she would be submissive. It’s said that Lilith returned to the garden in the shape of a serpent, and tempted Adam’s second wife—her replacement—with the forbidden fruit.”

Every one of them gaped at me as if I’d grown horns. Esther squirmed, her mouth working silently. Too late, as usual, I snapped my mouth shut.

“That’s not in the Bible,” Mae said.

“No,” I said. “It isn’t. But it Lilith is an important literary figure—”

“We’re here to discuss the word of God,” Tiare interrupted. “Not literature.”

I nodded and mumbled, “I’m sorry.” Point taken.

The study was over. The women stood and made their way to the kitchen where Esther had a pot of hot water, tea bags, Starbucks instant coffee, cream, and sugar on the counter top. Kaulana uncovered a Bundt cake and set out disposable plates and forks.

No one looked my way as they got their refreshments and resumed their seats in the living room. Mortified, I took a slice of cake and sat on the edge of my hard chair. Quiet small talk broke out around me but I was not included. I tasted the cake. This one was lemon with poppy seeds. It was moist and delicious and melted in my mouth, but I barely noticed. Even Esther, the only friend I’d had among them, avoided eye contact with me.

Everyone behaved as if I’d committed blasphemy. In their minds, no doubt I had. I sensed I’d crossed a line tonight that I may never be able to uncross.