Thou Shalt Not Kill

Assignment part of a writing course:
Pick any book at home. Open page 124. Take the 4th line and make that the 1st line of your story.

““The Spirit of the LORD came upon” Otheniel (3:10)”. With tired eyes Jessica closed her Bible. The Willmington’s Bible Handbook was over 948 pages of hardback. Heavier than a two-pound dumbbell the book slipped and hit Jessica on her big right toe. She yelped in pain and bent down to massage her toe. “Jesus, this book will kill me someday”, she thought to her herself.

Just then the front door opened and Henry walked in carrying a red and blue Titleist golf bag. “’Noon Jess. You going out? That dress looks nice.”

Jessica looked at him and gave a weak smile. Her eyes not meeting his. She was wearing the same floral green dress that she wore yesterday at dinner. The main course of chicken curry made spicier by their nightly fight. He took off his shoes and walked towards the sagging leather sofa where she sat. He bent down and gave a peck on Jessica’s left cheek and sat next to her placing his hand over her thigh. Jessica shuffled in her seat.

“I had a terrible game. Missed all my putts.” Jessica moved an inch away and his hand slipped and fell on the sofa. “And guess what. I couldn’t find the Callaway 3-iron I had bought just last week at Suntec. Remember? That thing was bloody expensive. Imagine playing 18 holes with one less club. Have you seen it anywhere? He finally stopped speaking.

Jessica squinted her eyes. Henry was unusually talkative. “I’m going to take a shower now. Dear, could you put out some lunch for me. I hope you’ve eaten. Sorry I’m late. The boys insisted on going to the 19th green. I’m famished and tired and upset all at the same time. Or what you call hangry”. She looked at him with pity. He never did have a sense of humor.

It seemed the perennial Singapore sun had drained Henry’s energy. Jessica asked Cynthia to reheat the Char Kway Teow. Henry gobbled the stir-fried rice noodles after shower and went to his bedroom. He drew the curtains and switched on the air conditioner. “Wake me up at 3pm. Let’s go to Suntec for a coffee and I can buy another 3-iron” he said as he lay down.

Jessica picked up his sweaty golf clothes and shut the bedroom door. She was about to hand them to Cynthia when she noticed a red mark on the shirt collar.  She put the shirt to her nose. There was a mixed smell of sweat and women’s perfume. It was a familiar smell. She could never place what brand of perfume it was. She turned her head and looked at the shut bedroom door. Shrug her shoulders, turned around and walked to Cynthia who was cleaning the kitchen. “Cynthia after you clean the kitchen please put these into the wash. By the way how you feeling now? You’ve been looking rather weak last few days and skipping breakfast. All okay?”

“Yes madam. Just feeling a little funny in the stomach. Should be okay soon”.

Jessica walked to corner of the living room where a large cross of Jesus Christ hung. On both sides of the cross were framed posters of Christ. Under that was a wooden table with white crochet cover. On both ends of the table were candle stands with unlit candles. The wax hanging on the candle stick for dear life. In the center was the Willmington Bible open to page 124. She picked up the Bible and walked to the back of the kitchen. Cynthia was bent putting the clothes in the washing machine. Jessica swung the hardbound Bible and brought it down as hard as she could and hit the back of Cynthia’s head again and again. Cynthia’s body crumpled and crashed to the tiled floor. She didn’t get up. She lay there like a pile of discarded clothes.

Jessica stood there staring at Cynthia’s still body. Her hands twitching. Tears in her eyes. She felt her body shiver and legs weak. She held the washing machine for support. She gripped the Bible hard for strength. Her knuckles white. She looked at The Bible. The binding was torn. There was a small spot of red on it which had seeped into the cloth binding. She looked up and saw a framed poster hanging on the wall above where Cynthia lay. The Ten Commandments. He eyes moved down to the sixth line; Exodus (20:13) “Thou Shalt Not Kill”.

She forced her body erect, walked to the front door and picked up her handbag which she had placed on the console table earlier in the day. She put the Bible into the bag and walked to Church. She had been going to the Faith Community Baptists Church every day for the last 26 years. It was a 10 min walk.

As she turned the corner she saw Mrs. Pang who waved at her. Jessica walked over to her. “What a hot day yeah! You going for the Bible cremation ceremony too?”  asked Mrs. Pang. “Yes, Sam my Bible has become too old and I think it’s time for a new one. But one cannot just throw away a Bible. It’s the word of our Lord Jesus Christ. I am so thankful for the Church to be organizing this.” They walked in together to the courtyard. There was a small crowd of women standing around a lit pyre where Father Jacob was saying a prayer. Jessica joined the prayer group. Father Jacob said at last “Amen” and others joined in chorus. Then one by one with a silent prayer on their lips they gently tossed their Bibles into the pyre. Jessica went through the crowd to the front. When she was standing right next to the pyre she closed her eyes and said a prayer in her mind: “And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive them, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins” (Mark 11:25). She then tossed the heavy Willmington Bible Handbook into the pyre.

As Jessica turned the corner she saw a crowd and two police cars. She paused and then continued towards her house. She tapped the back of a blue uniformed police officer. “Excuse me. What has happened. I live here. Can I please go in?”

“Are you Mrs Tan?”

“Yes”

“Ma’am, please enter. Officer Hsu is right there in the living room. He will share the details with you.”

“Ah! Mrs Tan I am Officer Hsu. I am sorry to say that your helper Ms. Cynthia is dead.”

“What! How? Why? When? This is horrible”. Her legs gave way and Officer Hsu held her and brought a chair for her to sit. He gave her a glass of cold water from the refrigerator.

“Mrs. Tan, if you are feeling better do you mind if we ask you a few questions?”

“Yes, please go ahead.”

“What we know so far is this. Your husband claims he was asleep and when he woke up you were gone and he saw Ms. Cynthia lying dead. He says he thought maybe she had a stroke and called the hospital. The ambulance attendant upon examining her body called us in. Mrs. Tan where have you been between 1pm and 2:30pm?”

“I was at the Church all this while with Mrs Pang. I’ve just come back from the service. How could this happen. Cynthia was feeling funny in her stomach in the morning. But how could she die suddenly.”

“Mrs Tan, Cynthia did not die from a stroke as your husband thought. She died from a hit to the back of her head. The only person in the house was your husband. We have looked and find no evidence that Cynthia slipped and hit some sharp corner. This was a deliberate hit with some blunt object. We are yet to find any object with blood stains on it?”

“Jesus! No, no, no! This cannot be. Henry was asleep as he was tired from his game of golf in the morning. He cannot have done this. Why would he? You are wrong to suspect him Officer. My Lord. My Christ. Help me. Help Henry. Where is Henry?”

“Mrs. Tan, we have checked with the Marina Bay Golf club. Yes, he had a tee time at 6:30am but he never showed up. Also, his 3-iron in his golf bag is missing. He says he had lost it on the golf course this morning. Now when he never even went to the golf course how could he have lost it? Mrs. Tan can you tell us about your relationship with your husband?”

“Our relationship is just fine Officer Hsu. We have fights like any married couple but that’s not unique! Henry is a good man. Please, I am sure he didn’t do anything. Please! I want to meet Henry now!”

“Mrs Tan, the medical examiner has made a preliminary examination of Cynthia. It looks like she was pregnant. Was your husband having an affair with your maid?”

Jessica covered her ears with her hands and shouted “No!” so loudly that everyone turned to look at her.

“Where is Henry? I need to see him.”

“He has been taken into custody. A police car take you to the Station for your statement and you can meet him there.”

“Henry, how are you doing? I cannot believe what they are saying about you. You and Cynthia. No, it cannot be. It cannot be.”

“Jess, help me! I didn’t do anything. Tell them I was asleep when you left for Church. I had nothing to do with Cynthia. I never had any affair with her. I have no idea how she got pregnant. You have to help me my love.”

“Henry!” Jessica shouting, probably the first time in her life, at her husband. Her lips quivering and spit creeping down the side of her left cheek. “THOU…SHALT…NOT…COMMIT…ADULTERY”. She spoke each word of the commandment haltingly with increasing crescendo. “Every morning I read the Ten Commandments out loud as a prayer and every day you went out and broke the one commandment that a man and woman hold sacred between them. I know you did not kill Cynthia. You don’t have the nerve.”

The morning sunlight filtered through the trees and hit the Straits Times front page at an angle. Mrs. Tan looked at the bottom of page 4 and read a headline, “Imprisonment for Life for cheating husband in Cynthia Vedasco murder case.”

There was a knock on the door. Jessica folded the newspaper and got up. Mrs Pang was standing with a bouquet of flowers and a handbag. She entered and gave a hug to Jessica.

“How are you doing Jess. It’s been a year now and I haven’t seen you at Church. The Lord needs his flock as I know the flock need their saviour.”

She took a seat at the leather sofa that had wear of many years. Her left palm grazing the top of the sofa feeling the cracks. She looked around. A fine layer of dust settled on top of the walnut coffee table. The house, like Jessica, looked like it had seen better days.

“Would you like some coffee or tea?” said Jessica as she placed the flowers into a vase.

“No, no. Don’t bother. I don’t want to create more work for you Jess.  I just came by to give you a Bible. I remember you had cremated the old one that fateful day. I think this will give you strength.”

“Ah it’s okay Sam. When you go through such a heart-breaking experience you question your faith. I no longer wish to study the Bible. I am now a converted atheist. Thank you for thinking of me. As it says in Psalm 10, “There is no God. God has forgotten, he has hidden his face, he will never see it”.