Shupikayi sat at her table in her greenhouse sipping a cup of Rooibos tea. The sun was shining, the birds were singing, and bees and flies were buzzing as they flew from one flower to the other. She had a collection of odd looking and smelly plants along the west wall, from the Giant Carrion Flowers to her Bell Stapelia flowers, which a few flies seemed to like.
She took a deep breath. It was a beautiful, peaceful day. She was wearing her favorite black pants with purple stripes at the bottom and her black tunic, her comfiest clothes. She had a delicious cup of tea in her hands, and she was all by herself in one of her favorite places. It can’t get better than this.
She leaned back in her chair and closed her eyes, but right when her mind began to wander into wonderful gardens hidden atop mountains far away, her ears started to burn.
She sighed, opened her eyes, and sat up. Perhaps it was the Holy Spirit, but something told her something was going to happen any second now.
Suddenly, her greenhouse door swung open, and her parents came rushing in like a whirlwind. Her mama, Queen Makanaka, wore a royal blue dress with large gold birds embroidered on the hem. Her baba, King Takunda, wore royal blue pants and a tunic. The tunic had one larger gold bird embroidered on one side. Both the king and queen wore a golden crown on their heads.
Her mama and baba looked stressed and angry, which wasn’t completely unusual whenever they decided to remember her existence.
Looks like things can’t be better, only worse. Shupikayi looked up at her parents. “What happened this time?”
Queen Makanaka folded her arms. “I was talking to your Aunt Yevedzo last night, and she told me you bought a wagon three weeks ago!”
Shupikayi plucked at her dark violet pants and looked at her mother quizzically. “Okay…so?”
“And she told me you were driving it around selling tea, and that you were the talk of the town!”
“And that’s a problem, because…?”
The King pinched the bridge of his nose. “The problem is that you never told us about this! Last night, everyone at the family gathering was discussing your tea shop wagon, and we had no idea what they were talking about! Aunt Yevedzo had to explain everything to us. Do you have any idea how awkward that was to be out of the loop this whole time?”
Shupikayi sipped the rest of her tea. “I can see how it can be embarrassing to not realize when your own child succeeds in life, but I fail to see how that’s my problem. I already told you guys I was going to have my own tea shop soon, but you always brushed me off. You guys never cared about my interests, so why would I bother telling you anything regarding them?”
“Because I’m your mother!” Queen Makanaka said. She pointed to her husband. “And because he’s your father! We need to know these things!”
“...Okay.” Shupikayi poured herself another cup of tea. “Well, now you know.” She sat back in her chair.
Queen Makanaka groaned. “Don’t you care about how you’re making us feel?!”
Shupikayi shrugged.
“Oh for the love of–why can’t you be more like your sister! She always tells us things and she actually cares! And what on earth is that horrid smell!”
Shupikayi sipped her tea and looked at her Giant Carrion Flowers.
Her mother and father followed her gaze.
“You have a Carrion Flower?” Her father asked. Then he sighed. “What am I saying? Of course you have one of those.”
“Why do you have to get the plants that smell awful?” Queen Makanaka asked. “We paid a good amount of money to have this greenhouse built, and now you’re stinking it up with these Carrion Flowers. You have beautiful, sweet smelling plants in this greenhouse, and your Carrion Flowers are ruining the aesthetic.”
Shupikayi rolled her eyes. This wasn’t the first time her mother had complained about her preference in flowers.
She was probably about seven when she had grown her very first flower. The flower’s two large petals looked like elephant ears, and it had long whiskers, and it did smell a little like rotten eggs, but it was a nice sunset orange color.
She had sat it on her desk beside her Homely Herbal Book. After she had flipped through the book, and read the plant’s description and herbal uses, her mama had opened the door.
“Shupikayi,” her mother had said, her eyes looking a little red as if she had been crying. “Anatswanashe said you got another weird plant again. What trouble are you up to now?”
Shupikayi smiled and held up her plant. “I grew my new flower all by myself. Isn’t it pretty?”
Queen Makanaka scrunched up her nose at the flower. “Firstly, it’s not a flower, it’s a weed. Secondly, it stinks. You need to get rid of it.”
Shupikayi frowned. “But I want to make tea with it, Mama.” She held up her Homely Herbal Book. “In the Homely Herbal, it says that it can help relieve anxiety if made into tea.”
“Well, I’m anxious right now, and it sure isn’t helping me!” She reached for the plant. “If you won’t get rid of it, then I will.”
Shupikayi hugged her potted plant and backed away. “No! It’s my flower!”
“I don’t care! It’s smelly, it’s hideous, and it’s not a flower, it’s a weed!” She walked towards her. “Now give it to me.”
“But I’m going to plant it outside, not in here.”
“You are not planting that outside where it can spread its seeds into my garden!”
Shupikayi took a few steps back and stood by the study window. “One more step, and I’ll jump!”
Her mother stopped in her tracks. “What?!”
“You heard me.”
Queen Makanaka folded her arms. “Shupikayi Ambeyi, step away from the window.”
“Only if you promise not to touch my plant!”
“I am not negotiating with you. You give me that plant right now!”
Shupikayi shook her head. “It’s mine! I found it fair and square!”
Queen Makanaka took one more step.
Shupikayi’s face scrunched up and she glared at her.
Queen Makanaka furrowed her brow. “Don’t. You. Dare.”
Shupikayi took a deep breath and jumped…in place. “See! I warned you!”
Queen Makanaka blinked. She shook her head. “You’re a mess.” She yanked the plant out of Shupikayi’s hands. “Now don’t ever bring those weeds in here again, understand? I’ve got enough problems as it is right now.” Her mother left the bedroom, slamming the door behind her.
Shupikayi stared at the door. It wasn’t fair! She had spent weeks growing that plant all by herself, waited for it to bloom, and within seconds it had been taken away from her.
She couldn’t remember all the details after her mother had stolen her plant. She couldn’t remember if she had cried or simply stood there in shock.
She knew her mother had thrown it away. She knew that after that incident, she never brought her flowers inside the palace, but always hid them in the garden shed. Eventually, she took her plants to Ms. Malfeasance’s garden where they would be safe. She could remember her mother complaining that she rarely spent time with her or the rest of the family anymore, probably a month after that event.
When she was ten, her parents made her a greenhouse within the palace walls so that she wouldn’t feel the need to leave so often and “be closer to the family.” And even after getting the greenhouse, she couldn’t get many of the unique flowers she wanted without her parents giving their unwanted opinion.
In her dream garden, she could have all the plants she wanted in a nice big field, but she was restricted to the greenhouse, which wasn’t extremely big. Her garden was supposed to be her sanctuary, but it was anything but that.
Now, as her mother and father went on a tangent about how Shupikayi should stop collecting strange plants and be more like her older sister, Anatswanashe, who collected “normal” ones, Shupikayi had the urge to scream at her parents to shut up.
But that wouldn’t end well.
So, she simply finished her tea, stuffed her teacup and teapot into her big satchel, and walked to the greenhouse’s front door.
“Where do you think you’re going?” her father asked.
“To a place where I won’t be disturbed!” Shupikayi walked out and slammed the door behind her.
Even though her parents had made the greenhouse for her, it didn’t feel like it was hers. Every now and then, her parents would burst in to complain about something she did or didn’t do, and then they’d complain about her gardening choices. If her parents wouldn’t let her relax in her greenhouse in peace, she’d go relax somewhere else. She’d go outside the palace walls. Perhaps even outside the capital.
She went to the stables and got her mare, Dagga. After putting the saddle on Dagga and mounting her, she rode to the palace walls’ front gate. She gave a nod to the doorkeeper on her way out, and had Dagga trot down the big hill towards Nuru City, which was in the plains.
I need to plant a new dream garden further away from the palace, Shupikayi thought. This isn’t going to work. But where would she even put her garden? It would have to be somewhere very discreet, so that no one would bother her. There weren’t many places she went to that her parents didn’t know about.
But there was one place that many people did not dare to venture in…the Wandering Wetlands.
In the wetlands, there were many plants that were not very pleasant to smell or look at. The trees were safe, for the most part, but the flowers could be troublesome. Some of the flowers smelled like skunks, others spat out strange goop, and others smelled fairly good, but their blossom’s petals had edges so sharp, it could be used as a bread knife.
As if the strange, stinky, and even dangerous plants and trees in the wetlands weren’t enough, there were crocodiles that wouldn’t hesitate to eat an unsuspecting human if they felt like it. Needless to say, the Wandering Wetlands were dangerous.
However, Shupikayi had sailed through the wetlands to get herbs once, despite being told not to go there. Actually, she had been there more than once. Probably five times. Or was it six?
Anyway, during her foraging expeditions into the wetlands, she had seen a few islands that were large enough for a small garden, and perhaps a couple were even stable enough to make a little hut. She could plant a few herbs that would thrive in that habitat without being disturbed by her parents.
Sure, that could mean running into a crocodile, but honestly, after living with her family for seventeen years, she’d rather deal with a crocodile than them. After all, if a crocodile caused problems, she could always splash some Nightshade Tea on him. She couldn’t do that to her annoying relatives.
She probably couldn’t have a garden as organized as the one in her palace greenhouse, and her dream garden wouldn’t look exactly how she had pictured it in her head. But as long as she was able to plant a decent amount of the flowers and herbs she wanted, she would be fine.
She shook her head and tightened her grip on the reins. This was a risky idea. Perhaps the riskiest idea she ever had. But she had to at least give it a shot.
Once she reached the city, she urged her steed to trot a little faster and kept her gaze straight ahead, as if she had urgent business to do. She didn’t want any passerby or anyone sitting on their front porch to try to have small talk or gossip with her. She hated small talk and gossip, especially since she was the main topic of discussion whenever she wasn’t around.
“Come on, Dagga,” she said to her horse. “Let’s go to Ms. Malfeasance’s house. Maybe she has Carrion Flower seeds that I can plant in my dream garden.”
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