Empty & Full

“Ding!”

The fridge opened with an eerie chime that reverberated through the air, notifying those in the audience that the show had started. Empty shelves housed ghostly outlines of the contents that were once there. The light in the top right corner glossed the shelves, displaying them in all their barren glory, longing to be filled with food that would nourish those who lived at 43 Hall Court.

On this day, two carrots, a pint of milk and half a bell pepper were the only characters making an appearance. That was it. Ivie counted the carrots four times and closed the fridge. Exhaling deeply, she counted to three and opened the fridge again hoping for a miraculous event.

It was going to be a long day.

“Ehi! Ofure! I hope you’ve got your shoes on, it’s time to go now! The bus is due in 4 minutes!” Ivie yelled.

Ivie gazed at her fractured reflection in the cracked mirror by the front door and pulled her black pleated skirt further down, past her knees as Mother would expect. She examined the intricate rip in her black tights and pulled them further up her thighs so they would be hidden from sight. Puffing her chest out to straighten out the creases in her school jumper, the embroidered gold gleam of the crest caught the light and she noticed her beloved journal on the floor in her reflection, partially hidden by the carpet samples which formed the flooring in the landing. One of the pages stuck out misshapen and bent, peering out from its soft, black leather-bound exterior. Ivie cautiously picked it up, inspected the page and held her journal close to her nose, inhaling its aged memories.

It was the last item she kept from Father. Moleskine of course. Father always commented on its elegant quality, and the cupboard under the stairs was home to a library of Moleskine notebooks, all etched lovingly with his hands. Mother had not been home all night as usual, but that was the reality of the night shifts at the care home where Mother worked.

Ivie opened the front door to the flat, inhaling the cold and crisp morning, she stepped out and looked over the courtyard in the centre of the estate from the third floor. Her stomach rumbled in discontent and she gripped her journal tightly in her sweaty palms. Ehi and Ofure whizzed past Ivie in a flurry, almost knocking her over and snapping her out of her trance. They raced to the bus stop to catch the 91 bus which would take them to school - hopefully, they would arrive on time.

As they approached, Ivie watched as the 91 pulled away from the bus stop, shrinking in the distance, becoming smaller and smaller.

“We’re gonna be late again,” snapped Ehi in breathless huffs, his red puffer jacket hung around his neck, like a child superhero.

“Let’s walk to school and look for pennies and maybe we’ll find enough for…” Ivie said.

“SWEETS!” they cried in unison.

They trudged along the pavement, skipping the cracks and avoided walking between the metal poles which signs were mounted on. They skipped and walked, and jogged and talked whilst inspecting the pavement for the familiar copper glint of pennies. They were almost past the Big Nice House, so they didn’t have too far to go.

Ofure did not try to follow. She was always so easily distracted. Ivie noticed her younger sister staring through the black metal bars of the fence around the perimeter of the Big Nice House. Domineering and grand, the Big Nice House was alien in this part of the neighbourhood with its red bricks. Unlike other days, the sash window on the ground floor facing the pavement was open.

Inside the house, they could see the wall closest to the window was cream coloured and the sash window was framed with creamy chiffon and thick navy drapes. Ivie always wondered what colour the walls were in the Big Nice House and she hummed along to the tunes pouring out of the open window. Father used to play this song in his car on long drives.

Ofure was pointing excitedly at something below the open window on the grassy ground. Ivie peered closely, her eyes focusing slowly as she was trying to understand her sister’s enthusiasm.

“It’s money!” Ofure exclaimed.

Ehi and Ivie joined Ofure, on either side, they looked longingly at the floppy note on the ground on the other side of the fence. They weren’t sure how much it was, but Ivie had seen Mother take this out of her purse at the market on Saturdays.

“We can get so many sweets with that,” Ehi said.

“So many sweets!” Ofure squealed.

They quickly assembled a human tower with Ehi at the top and Ivie on the bottom. He just about reached the top of the fence. He grabbed onto its cool exterior and shuddered with excitement at the thought of sour sherbet fizzing on his tongue in a sugar high.

Ehi did look like a superhero with his crimson jacket draped across his shoulders and back at the top of the fence. He leapt down onto the grass below with intent, dashing quickly to the open window and snatching the note with both hands.

Turning around, he held the note with both his hands above his head in victory staring at his sisters with glee. He ran excitedly over to his sisters and handed the note to Ivie through the fence. He peeped at the open window behind him, wondering if there could possibly be any more.

“Ehi, try and climb over the fence, we need to go,” Ivie whispered.

“There might be more notes inside Ivie, I didn’t see anyone at the window when I went over there. Think of how many sweets we can get and Capri-Sun and crisps and chocolate,” Ehi cried.

Ivie didn’t know what time it was, but she knew that they were already late for school. She thought longingly of what their fridge used to look like, and what it could possibly look like if they could get maybe another note or two.

“Okay fine, but be quick. Just take a look and come back. We need to go now!” Ivie said.

“Be fast Ehi,” Ofure said.

Ehi darted back towards the open window and lifted himself up onto the brick ledge, cool to touch. Inside the cream coloured room, he gawked down at the floor which was littered in notes that covered every inch - it was impossible to tell how much - 20,000 to be exact. His eyes expanded in thrilling delight as he toppled over the ledge and dropped onto the floor of the room.

He began scooping the notes and stuffing them in his tiny pockets with gusto, into his socks, into his hood and sleeves of his school jumper. He hummed quietly along to the song playing that was coming from the hallway and scrambled maniacally around the room, collecting as many notes as he could.

On the outside of the fence, Ivie gripped the metal bars tightly and worried deeply with a furrowed brow. Ehi hadn’t come out of the Big Nice House yet, and she knew that it was time to go. She cleared her throat loudly, hoping that Ehi would hear this and understand that they had to leave.

“I’m bored now Ivie, let’s go,” Ofure said.

“He’ll be out soon,” Ivie said.

The music stopped playing and the chiffon curtains were drawn swiftly, followed by the navy drapes.

Ivie called out to Ehi.

“Ehi!” Ivie yelled.

There was no reply.