HURDLES

Chapter Five

Claire basked in her newly found freedom. She stood in the middle of their room staring at the cloth hanger. She has never felt this free. She never dared to dream of it. And even though it had lasted two weeks, she still felt like it was all a dream. She didn't want to wake up if it really was though. Infact, she prayed it wasn't. 

She stared at the cloth hanger like it was a foreign object. To her it was. She was still trying to wrap her mind around it all. She stared happily at the clothes imagining herself in each of them. The clothes at her own side of the hanger had been swapped and replaced by new clothings. The side that remained unchanged was her little sister's side.

She snapped out of her reverie and proceeded to strip off her clothes for a bath. With a towel tied around her slender body, she strutted out of the room into the hallway and started towards the bathroom in her characteristic catwalk whistling Joeboy's Celebration.

Ten minutes later, she was back to the bedroom in a haste trying to meet up with her appointment. She dried off her body before sitting at her reading table to apply face powder and a nude lipstick completely ignoring her sister who was sprawled on the bed watching her every step like a hawk. She threw on a pair of black high-waist trousers and was getting a green tank top to go with it when she heard Mmesoma's voice.

"Didn't dad say we should wear long blouses with trousers?"

"I thought you had turned mute sis," Claire replied inspecting the top.

"That's not the point," Mimi said with a frown.

"That's what I want to wear," Claire answered her question from earlier. Mimi's frown deepened.

"Dad wouldn't have approved of that," she said as Claire started to put the top on. Claire didn't respond as she pulled down the tank top and buckled a black sandal she took out under the bed. 

"Then just maybe there is that tiny little bit of me that is happy he is no more." Mimi grimaced at that and sat up. "Don't get me wrong Mimi," Claire rushed when she saw Mimi's expression, "I'm definitely not happy that dad's dead but things happen for a reason. If he was here what would we be doing?" she asked rhetorically. "We would be studying. We wouldn't have time to bond as siblings like we are doing right now. So yes, there's that tiny part of me that's a little relieved that he's dead because sometimes following his so-called routine was suffocating."

"I didn't see it that way," Mimi protested.

"Maybe for you it wasn't. To me it was suffocating as hell most times." Mimi flipped onto her stomach and continued watching as Claire picked a small brown handbag from a nail beside the cloth hanger. 

"At least tell me where you are going so mum won't panic when she gets home."

"I'm going to see some friends," Claire answered as she picked up a phone on the desk. "And in case I don't come back early, mum can call me with dad's number," she said waving the phone around before sending it into her bag.

Mimi gave a nod and continued watching Claire as she shuffled round the room picking lipstick, an earpiece and a biro which she shoved into the bag. 

"I'm off," she offered, turning to face Mimi. "I will make sure to come back before dark," she added, beating invisible dust away from the trousers.

"Won't you go for the Wednesday fellowship?" Mimi sat up, "it's by five o'clock. You have to be back in two hours." Claire scoffed. 

"No thank you. Enjoy with mum this time," she replied heading for the door.

"Dad won't approve of you missing the fellowship either," Mimi continued to protest. Claire rolled her eyes before stepping into the hallway closing the door behind her.