I DARE you to be NICE

”Up! Up! Get your lazy selves out of bed! ” Mrs Meredith shouted as she rolled the curtains open and allowed the rays of sunlight to hit the four girls who were sprawled across the room. Iris and Tina were on the bed, legs flying on top of one another, Susan and Natasha were on the thick duvet on the floor folded in two like trapped birds. The all girls night was a total bad idea for a Sunday night.

”You had better get out of bed or youll be woken with a splash on water on your faces! ” With arms akimbo, Mrs Meredith stood at the window staring at the girls and wondering how best to snap them out of their deep sleep. ”Thats what happens when you have a girls night on a Sunday before Monday. ” She murmured to herself and no one in particular as she walked over to the bed and squeezed Iris nose.

”Get up! Its Monday! ” She thundered.

Alarmed, Iris shot up with her eyes widened and heart thumping, she couldn have heard that right, ”Monday?! ”

Again as the realisation hit her like a sea wave she gasped and started to scramble out of bed. Dang! She had work to do, a job to look for and a store to take care of! What was she thinking when she agreed to a girls all night on a Sunday? Groaning, she got out of bed and walked past her mother, ”what use is it waking me up by this time? Im sure youve been up to pray since 5am, why didn you wake me then? ” She continued murmuring as she walked to her wardrobe to search for a dress to wear; urgh!.. another worrisome activity for a Monday morning. If only she had refused to do the all night with the girls, she would have had enough time on Sunday evening to pick out dresses for the week. With another sigh, she started sorting through her clothes, the purple top was too purple, the black gown was too dark, the red skirt was too long and… Whew! Nothing seemed right.

Scowling, Mrs Meredith walked over to the wardrobe where Iris was and pushed her head, ”thats a pleasant way of saying, mom thank you so much. ” She scoffed and started to walk out.

”Well, if you had woken me earlier instead of praying all through, I probably would have been grateful. ” Iris murmured under her breath so Mrs Meredith wouldn hear her.

”What did you say? ” Mrs Meredith said immediately and turned to face her.

”Nothing that concerns you. ” She replied with a scowl.

”Oh, but I heard you say something like I should have woken you earlier instead of praying all through the morning. ” Mrs Meredith paused for a second and sighed before continuing, ”darling, learning how to take the blame for your wrongs is also a part of responsibility, having a job alone does not make you responsible. ”

Iris scrunched her face and rolled her eyes before giving a loud scoff, ”yeah yeah whatever, like prayer makes you responsible. ” Her mother always had a way of getting under her skin and she hated it.

”Young lady, you would not talk to me that way and you would show some respect! ” Mrs Meredith thundered right back. It was like a switch whenever she did that, one second shes all normal and the next shes all bunkers, especially when it had to do with making light of some issues like God, prayers, church and the Holy Spirit.

”Yes mom. ” Iris replied and gave a fake sweet smile, not ready to deal with her mom that morning.

Agreeing with her was the fastest way to end any argument. One time she agreed that fasting must be done thrice every week by a strong believer to show stamina just to end a looming argument from her mother. Sighing, Iris thought that was the end of the discussion but Mrs Meredith was not finished so she continued, ”and it was the Holy Spirit who told me what you said under your breath too. ”

”Yes mom. ” Iris agreed again, even though she believed her mom only had good ears, nothing more. But her mom always gave the Holy Spirit credit for everything, so it was not a strange thing for her to say. Just leave already! Iris screamed inside, she had enough wardrobe problem to solve without adding mommy drama to it.

”Ah… Plus, you would meet a man today, hell help you with a lot of things, you would also get a job today. ” Mrs Meredith smiled to herself and heaved a sigh of relief like something heavy was lifted off her chest, ”the Holy Spirit said I must tell you that at least. ” With that, she saw herself out of the room leaving Iris to herself.

Natasha who had been listening to the mother-daughter conversation stood up and gave a small laugh, ”have I told you how much I love your mother? ”

Rolling her eyes, Iris went back to picking a dress for the day, ”you
e welcome to have her all to yourself, I don mind switching moms right now. ” She took one look at the orange shirt beside the white shirt and settled for it, the orange shirt was not so bad for a Monday morning, at the least something bright to lighten her somewhat dark day.

”No thank you, Im doing good with mine. ” She replied with a giggle as she stood before the mirror trying to arrange her hair, not one strand of hair was in its right place.

Still racing against time, Iris dashed to the bathroom with her towel in one hand and a shower cap over her head. She took one look at her shampoo and decided she wasn washing her hair that morning, she had to prepare for an interview at the clothes store and she had… Shoot! Thirty minutes!

She lathered her soap all over her body, wishing she could just bath herself with a snap of her fingers, if only the holy spirit could do that much for her in such dire time of need, she would probably believe He exists, wait… Was he a he? Or was she a he? Or was she a she? Whatever. Religion was always against women, why wonder at all? She most certainly… He most certainly was a HE.

Thinking about that, she remembered the girls all night with the girls and what Natasha had told her. They were all christians, church girls as some would like to call them so they didn try anything stupid, not even a drop of booze – just coke, popcorn, a karaoke night with Chandler Moores songs (especially the Jireh song) and ah… Natasha and her famous talk about the Holy Spirit. Natasha had talked all night about her relationship with the Holy Spirit, she talked so intimately about Him that Iris started to think they were lovers. Not just that, she talked about her walk with him and how awesome it had been. The night ended with bursts of worship songs from all four of them since they were all in the choir, oh how she wished Peter – the choir master were around to see them sing so beautifully, contrary to what always happens at rehearsals. Now that she thought about it, she was certain she felt a presence last night but it didn matter as long as she didn see anything. Music has a way of giving you goosebumps and making you feel things, that didn mean those things were real, or so she always said to herself.

Natasha also said something about her meeting a guy the next day – today. How did she put it, ”my senior partner said you would meet a guy today, he would help you with a lot of things and you would get a job too. ” When Iris heard that, part of her wanted to believe it but she shook it off, it was pure psychology. Of course she was bound to meet a guy or two every day, and they knew she was going for an interview at a clothe store and it was very certain she would get a job. They were mere predictions based on psychology, nothing more.

Her mom had said the same thing that morning too, could it be true? Iris scoffed as she dabbed her wet face with the small towel hung in the bathroom. ”As if, ” she said to herself and wrapped her towel round her chest. She probably overheard them the night before or was making some psychological predictions.

”What took you so long?! ” Tina bellowed at her as soon as she stepped out of the bathroom. Whatever she took the day before was doing some mighty work in her bowels so she had to do a five minutes leg dance while waiting for Iris to come out.

”And why did you have to wait? This is my bathroom. ” Iris retorted.

”Because mom is washing the second one and its only you that gets to have a room with a personal bathroom, so stop being a cocky, selfish, irate being and get out of the way! ”

Tina screamed back and rushed into bathroom.

Rolling her eyes, Iris groaned wondering how in the world she ended up with her family. As the firstborn, she had to be responsible for a blockhead and…oh Susan was responsible, unlike Tina! Yikes!

”Sorry about that. Shes cranky some times. ” Susan apologised and gave Iris a sweet smile; that smile – that was it – the undoing of everyone. She had a cute face with deepened dimples and innocent eyes, one look at her and she would get a dismissal without trial for any crime. She looked too sweet to be bad, from her sweet smile to her pleasant voice, to her soft skin and full brown hair.

”Tch! You don need to give excuses for her, she doesn deserve your apologies, shes just rude. ” Iris replied with a smile, Susan was the sensitive one so everyone was careful with words around her, not just that she was mommas pet, one single frown from her and Mrs Meredith was ready to tear down terror.

”Why are you apologising for me? I did nothing wrong. She should apologise instead for being inconsiderate. ” Tina claimed as she walked out of the bathroom adjusting her oversized pink pyjamas.

”Being inconsiderate? ”

”Exactly! You know there are only two bathrooms in this house yet you
e busy monopolizing one of them simply because its in your room! ” With that, Tina scoffed and walked out of the room like someone that had a deep seated grudge against Iris waiting for the perfect time to burst out.

Iris started, ”This is… ” then cut off midway and swallowed the rest. She would not allow Tinas pigheadedness get to her this morning! She tore her eyes away from Tina and focused on dressing her hair, giving Tina a piece of her mind would take her time, that could wait until she got the job.

Determined, she brushed her hair down in one stroke and squinted her eyes like a ready hunter waiting for a prey. Her black shiny hair set her apart from her two sisters so distinctly that people sometimes questioned if she was a distant cousin.

”Don worry, youll get the job. ” Susan reassured with a smile.

”Of course I would, its me, I get whatever I want when I put my mind to it. ” The two sisters chuckled briefly as if celebrating her declaration of confidence.

”What about Natasha? Has she gone already? ”

”Yes, she left already. She has to take care of her mother at home, she said to have a nice day and not be late for rehearsals by 6pm. ” Susan said as she stood on her feet, ready to leave.

One last look at the mirror had Iris grinning to herself, she was not just seeing what the mirror was showing her, she was staring at a mental picture she had created in her head – a part timer at a clothes store with access to as many good deals on clothes as she wanted. Yaaaay! At least the Holy Spirit had sent two people to tell her that… No, no. She was sure she would get the job, whether the holy spirit had said it or not. Reading the Bible was enough for her and she knew that she could do all things through Christ her strength. Yes, that was it – through Christ her strength.