He peered down at me like a bird. “Next week you’ll all be at my place to ride some horses.”
The class broke and we walked to the chapel to reunite with our families. The girl in the white dress swung her bag. I moved behind her and bumped her leg with my bible case. “Hey,” she said. “Why would you do that?” I didn’t answer. She frowned and turned away.
The chapel had two dozen red-padded rows in three sections. We opened a book to sing about Jesus’s life. A woman led the prayer on the pulpit in the front while we bowed our heads and said amen in agreement. A khaki-colored man stood up with some announcements. Sister Baker’s mother passed. “We’d like to welcome the newest member to our ward, Bradley Shoehorn. Last Wednesday, young Bradley was baptized.” A boy a few grades younger than me stood up to receive a plaque with his name in gold lettering. He shook the khaki man’s hand and then stepped down to join his family.
We sang about Jesus’s body. We delivered bread. Babies coughed and mothers whispered. Husbands and sons and daughters closed their eyes, as instructed, and thought about Jesus bleeding from every pore.
We passed out water, and I thought about how I looked standing at the edge of the rows. I re-tucked my shirt, sucked my gut, and straightened my tie knot in case any girls watched. I gave the water tray with little cups to a mother at the end of the pew, then looked around for crossed legs in a white dress. Near the back row, there she was, the girl from class, quelling three small children that kept breaking the sacrament silence. Complete serenity was hard to ask from a room full of young families. Babies cried during the time to think about Jesus crying, and mothers sighed during the time to think about Jesus’ suffering.
After the sacrament, we sat in more silence. Silence was like the cousin that hugged too long. My pants itched and my stomach growled because today was the first Sunday of the week, meaning we fasted 24 hours or two full meals. Members then donated what they would otherwise spend on a meal to a fund for the needy and unemployed, overseen by the bishop.