'Til Death Do Us Part

Episode Four: Doughnuts

When the rest of the congregation moves on to hymnals, Judith takes advantage of her isolation in the back of the room to shut her eyes for a while. She’s never felt particularly safe in church, but this is not her hometown, and she’s reasonably confident she won’t be attacked with an entire congregation in the room.

It’s not until she hears the shuffling of feet that she’s roused from a mercifully dreamless sleep. She hops to her feet as quick as her body will allow her, the world spinning when she stands too quickly. The service is drawing to a close, and that means exactly one thing to her.

Doughnuts.

She doesn’t waste any time following the flow of traffic into a large side room, where people mill about, mingling among each other just the same as they always did when she was a kid. Fortunately, this gives her a clear path to a table full of delicious looking doughnuts, supplied apparently by the local bakery.

Good, she thinks as she reaches for a doughnut. She’d always been good at baking, maybe she can get a job there. She’s got a habit of baking to relieve stress, and stress is something she’s got in spades at present.

A positively rapturous sensation ripples through her body when her teeth crack into the doughnut’s sweet glaze. She almost feels high when she swallows her first bite, finally abbating the sting of near starvation, and she can’t imagine anything she wouldn’t trade away just to extend the moment a little longer. Where’s The Devil when she needs him? She’s not using her soul much these days anyway.

As if the devil himself had taken heed, Judith is startled by a firm hand suddenly resting on her shoulder. “Coming home, or passing through?”

The warm twang of the priest’s speaking voice catches her off guard after the fervor with which he preached, and the subtle amusement in his features tells her that he’s glad of it. Something deep and primal within her screams for her to start running and not look back, but he’s the exact person she came in here to talk to, for better or worse.

“New arrival,” she admits cautiously, her tongue darting out after some stray icing that found its way into the corner of her lips. “Hoping to stay, actually.”

“Is that so?” She really isn’t sure she likes the way he smiles at that. “I myself only arrived here recently, about a week ago.”

Makes sense; he certainly didn’t pick up that drawl this far above the Mason-Dixon line.

He watches her take another bite of her doughnut before continuing. “I’ve got to say, it’s a pleasure to meet another outsider who plans on callin’ this…quaint little town…home.”

“Quaint is exactly what I’m looking for,” she asserts, fidgeting nervously as she does her damndest to maintain eye contact. “I’ve spent most of my life in the city, and I’ve seen enough.”

She can’t help but feel scrutinized under his gaze, like he’s studying her, searching for something he knows she won’t say out loud. “You seem awfully nervous in a House of God.”

“It’s uh…It’s been a long time since I’ve set foot in a church,” she confesses, eyeing him cautiously; she never knows exactly what to expect from the godly types…not that he feels particularly saintly. “I’m really only here because I need help, and this seemed like the best place to start looking.”

“The Church is always happy to bring a lost sheep back into the fold.” He smiles, and she’s embarrassed by the way the simple phrase turns her blood to ice.

“Ah, no, I um…” She trails off, eyes cast anywhere but him. “I meant more tangible help, like, where I can start looking for shelter, a job; that kind of thing.”

“Yes, of course.” He lets out a curt sigh. “The Church, such that it is, can aid you with those things…Confessional, however, is always open for matters of the soul.”

“I don’t think God can help me with my demons,” she jokes, immediately regretting it. “But I’d appreciate you pointing me in the right direction.”

“To be perfectly honest, I’m not too sure who’s hiring; I’m new in town myself, remember,” he admits. “You’ll probably have the most luck taking a stroll through town and asking around; people are friendly here.”

“Thanks, I’ll do that.” She nods, turning to go as she takes another bite of her doughnut.

He catches her at the wrist however, and unnerves her with an easy smile. “You just come back here if you have any trouble finding a job,” he insists. “I could always put you to work cleaning the church, and there’s a folding cot in the storage room you’re welcome to sleep on until a more permanent arrangement can be made.”

“Wow.” She’s completely stunned; too few people have ever been so accommodating to her; least of all complete strangers. “You’re a lot more helpful than I expected anyone to be.”

“Just doing what I think is right.” He chuckles modestly, offering her a charming smile. “It’s a scary world for a pretty young lady to be out on her own.”

She’s flattered, and thoroughly embarrassed by the heat she feels rush to her cheeks at the compliment, but she can’t shake the utter wrongness bubbling in her gut.

Of course, it could just be because she hadn’t eaten in a week.

Maybe she’s just not used to people being kind to her. Life has never given her a reason to be particularly trusting, but maybe now it’s time to start.