Joseph brought three kitchen chairs into the bedroom.
The committee sat down and prayed for her quick recovery.
“Your husband said that you had a cold,” Douglas said, concerned that she might have something more serious, but he didn’t want to frighten her. He had tried to visit earlier, but Joseph had put him off, saying that Leah couldn’t manage having visitors. After nearly two months of Leah missing church, Douglas had insisted, and Joseph could no longer say no. The last time they spoke about the committee visiting, Douglas had sensed that Joseph might even welcome a little help. “How are you feeling?”
“Much better. I had some stomach problems which have gone away, but I’m so sleepy. And there’s been a lot of work at the store.”
Deaconess Jun nodded, understanding perfectly. She worked in a dry-cleaning store that her mother-in-law owned on the Upper West Side. She did the alterations when she wasn’t working as the cashier. With two little boys at school and work, she felt as though she never had enough sleep. If it wasn’t for her midum in Yesu Christo, she could hardly bear her angry mother-in-law and her feckless husband, who could never take her side.
“Have you seen a doctor?” Douglas asked.
“I told her to go, but. . . ,” Joseph interrupted. Douglas nodded and waited for Leah to add something.
“I really am much better,” Leah reassured them. She made her voice a bit stronger. “It was good of you to come by. But I really am okay. I hope to go to church next Sunday.”
“You’ve lost some weight,” Douglas remarked.
“Have I?”
“You didn’t have anything to lose. Aren’t you eating better now? After the stomach problems?”
Leah nodded. She wasn’t being truthful but couldn’t take any more of this attention.
She wasn’t really sick. At least, she didn’t think so. And lately, it had been getting better.
“I was worried that you had chicken pox,” he said with a smile, recalling their visit together to the choir director’s house. “But you’d said that you had it as a child.”
“Nothing so serious. Maybe I’m just tired because I’m getting older.” She smiled, pointing to her brilliant white hair.
“Don’t be silly,” Elder Kim chided. She couldn’t have been more than forty-five. The woman who sat up in bed in her pajamas had the face of a pretty girl from the country. The accountant felt sad for her. Many of the women at church labored sixty to seventy hours a week in small businesses without pay or breaks. When home, they faced chores and took care of their children besides. His wife helped him out at his office during tax season, but she stayed home mostly with their two sons.
“No doubt you’ve been working too hard,” Elder Kim said.
Joseph bit the inside of his cheek.
“Maybe it’s good that you rest on the Sabbath and miss those boring sermons.” Douglas winked. “I’m sure God would understand.”
Both Elder Kim and Deaconess Jun laughed. Today’s sermon on tithing and the necessity of sacrificial giving had felt unusually long.
“Are you anemic?” Douglas asked.
“No. When I was pregnant with Tina, the doctor did say something about eating more meat and spinach.”
She needed to get her bloodwork done, he said. He knew of an excellent internist not far from her store. Maybe she could walk over during her lunch break. Leah thanked him but said it would be all right. She’d been feeling well enough that she planned on going to church next week, she said. The committee clapped their hands at this. Deaconess Jun exclaimed, “Ah-men.” The elders and the deaconess got up from their chairs. They bowed their heads and prayed for her healing in the name of their savior and redeemer Yesu Christo.
After the hospitality committee left, Joseph went out to buy seasoned bulgogi meat from the Korean market. At home, he washed the rice, turned on the cooker, and heated the frying pan.
The garlicky smell of the meat frying soon filled the apartment. From the bedroom, Leah could smell the ginger and sesame oil of the marinade. She tried to get up, but the pull of her own weight fought her. She took a deep breath and willed herself out of bed, her bare feet thudding against the floor. In the kitchen, she saw Joseph’s squat back. He was putting out kimchi in a bowl. The kitchen table was already set with two place settings. He had done this. She pulled out a chair to sit, and at the noise, he turned to her, proud of the Sunday dinner he’d fixed.
The smell of the meat grew stronger; a cloud of steam wafted above the pan. Leah tried to get up to open the window. There was no air conditioner in the kitchen. It was as if she were submerged underwater wearing a heavy coat.