The Maroon Dress

Shupikayi sighed as she looked up at the stone castle and took a sip of her rooibos tea. It was a decent place to live in, Shupikayi wouldn’t deny that. After all, she had a fairly big bedroom, as did her siblings. She had a good view of The Little Wood from her bedroom window. However, even if a prison was made of gold, it was still a prison. The palace would have been even more decent if she could go in and out without worrying about getting caught escaping.

She considered climbing up the castle’s wall to her bedroom window, but it was daylight now. She didn’t want her parents to catch her in the act. So, she snuck through the castle’s postern gates, which hid behind large shrubbery.

She tiptoed up the stone stairs to the wooden palace door. By the door was a spare pair of house shoes. She put them on, not wanting to risk tracking in dirt for the servants to clean, or for her mother to see the dirty bottoms of her feet. She slowly, silently opened the door. Once inside, she gently closed it. She continued down the hall as if she hadn’t been out all that morning, and as if she belonged in the castle.

On the walls were paintings of their ancestors, men and women dressed in blue and gold attire. They all held their scepter and wore their golden crowns. Some were scowling, like they were trying way too hard to be serious. Other paintings, which were more recent, had leaders who were smiling like all was right with the world.

She turned a corner and saw a couple of servants sweeping the floors and dusting the stone bird statues standing on either side of the hall. “Morning Chiamaka. Morning Hava.”

“Good morning, Your Highness,” Chiamaka and Hava said.

Shupikayi went to the foyer and sipped her cup of tea as she walked up the stairs. She placed her open hand on the smooth wooden handlebar. Halfway up the stairs, her ears twitched as the sound of nervous foot-tapping berated her. She stopped dead in her tracks. Queen Makanaka, her mother, was upstairs. Strangely enough, it sounded like she wasn’t in the master bedroom, which was the room closest to the staircase. Her footsteps were too distant.

Almost as distant as…

“Oh, for goodness sake!” Queen Makanaka said. “Where is that girl?”

Shupikayi shook her head. Yep. She was right. Her mother was definitely in her bedroom, which was the room furthest away from the staircase. That didn’t stop her from being able to hear her mother’s voice.

She turned around and tip toed back down the stairs.

“No, no. Not that one,” Queen Makanaka said. “Perhaps this one. Show me the others.” 

Shupikayi stopped. What was she asking the servants to do? What were they doing in her room? Was she looking through her stuff? Was there anything she had left in her room that her mother would throw away or scold her about? No, I couldn’t have, Shupikayi thought. I moved the most important stuff out a long time ago. I don’t have my plants in there, and I definitely don’t have my diary in there. So, what’s Mama doing?

Curious, and suspicious, Shupikayi scurried up the stairs, finished her tea, and stuffed her cup into her satchel. She lightly walked down the long hallway, which had a sky-blue runner rug. On the walls of the hallway were turquoise banners with a golden eagle on it. Its wings were spread out in flight. That bird was the royal emblem.

When Shupikayi drew nearer to her bedroom door, which was wide open, she stopped to lean against the wall. She didn’t want to rush in immediately. She would try to assess the situation from a safe distance first. With any luck, she wouldn’t need to speak to her Mama to figure out what was going on.

“This will do nicely,” Queen Makanaka said. “Put the other ones in the wardrobe.”

Shupikayi groaned inwardly. Was her mother trying to pick out her clothes again? She was sixteen, and she was going to be seventeen in a few more weeks. She was not a baby! She could already guess the color scheme too: turquoise and gold. Her mother always wanted them to wear the royal family colors and to have matching outfits on her birthday. That wouldn’t be such a problem if Shupikayi liked turquoise. But after being forced to wear it every single birthday and special event, Shupikayi had grown to loathe it for many reasons.

It appeared she would have to confront her mother after all.

She took a deep breath and slipped into her room.

The two servants there, Unopa and Vimbo, were putting away the dresses the queen had taken out of Shupikayi’s wardrobe.

Her mother was holding up a turquoise dress with the royal emblem–a golden eagle with its wings spread out in flight–stitched on the front. Her back was turned to Shupikayi, and she was admiring the dress. “Shupikayi will look perfect in this at the party. But where is–?”

“Morning, Mama.”

Queen Makanaka jumped and spun around. “Shupikayi! What did I tell you about sneaking up on me?!”

Shupikayi glanced at the dress. “Sorry. I don’t do it on purpose…most of the time.” She gave a nod to the servants “Morning, Unopa, Vimbo.”

“Good morning, Your Highness,” Vimbo and Unopa said quietly. They turned to the queen.

“Is there anything else you need, Your Majesty?” Unopa asked.

“What on earth are you wearing?” Queen Makanaka asked Shupikayi.

Shupikayi furrowed her brow and looked at her myrtle green tunic and brown pants. “My outdoor clothes? I wear them all the time.”

Queen Makanaka sighed and pulled at Shupikayi’s sleeve. “Why do you insist on wearing this kind of garb? This is not how a princess should dress. Since you’re finally here, you can try this dress on.” She handed it to her. “You’ll look gorgeous in it.” She put her hand in Shupikayi’s big afro and examined it. “Isn’t it beautiful?”

Shupikayi looked at it and nodded. “It is beautiful. However, I’d rather wear something else for my birthday.”

 “Uh huh.” Queen Makanaka plucked a leaf out of her hair. “Tsk, tsk, my child, what is this? Leaves? In your hair? I taught you better than this. And–no.” She snatched a tiny twig out of her hair. “A twig?!” She tugged at Shupikayi’s sleeve. “And you’ve got mud on your sleeve! How long have you been prancing around like–like some dirty woodland nymph? What would people think of me if they saw you with leaves and twigs in your hair and mud all over you? Do you want everyone to think that I’m raising a pig?”

Shupikayi took a step back so her mother would stop messing with her hair. “I do not look like a pig. Besides, a little dirt never killed anyone. It can build immunity.” 

“Don’t talk back to me, young lady. You’ll have to wash up.”

“I can go prepare a bath, Your Majesty,” Vimbo said.

The Queen waved her hand. “Yes, yes, do that.”

“Great!” Vimbo quickly left the room.

“I shall assist her, Your Majesty,” Unopa said, and she followed her out.

Shupikayi would roll her eyes, but her mother was there. She huffed and plopped the turquoise dress on her bed. She walked to her wardrobe. “I’m going to wear a different dress.”

Queen Makanaka uncreased the turquoise dress. “Like the other turquoise dresses in your wardrobe?”

Shupikayi looked in her wardrobe. Inside were several turquoise and gold dresses, each a little different from the rest. But three of those dresses were not turquoise at all. One was violet, another was maroon, and another was brown and gold. “I mean the maroon dress.”

Queen Makanaka sighed. “Shupikayi Ambeyi, we talked about this. Your birthday is on Founding Day, the very day of our kingdom’s creation. We honor that day by wearing turquoise and gold, our sacred colors. Maroon is not one of our royal colors. You must wear a turquoise and gold outfit that represents our tradition and lineage.”

Shupikayi took out her maroon dress and walked over to her full-length mirror that was propped beside her window. “But it’s not my fault my birthday is on that date. And I don’t like wearing turquoise all the time on all of my birthdays.” She held up her dress in front of her to see how it looked. “What will it matter if I wear a different color? No one cares.”

Queen Makanaka stood behind her and folded her arms. “I care, and so does the rest of our family.”

“Don’t remind me,” Shupikayi muttered.

“Besides, Founding Day is one of the few days I get to coordinate everyone’s outfits.” The queen grabbed the maroon dress’s sleeve. “So no maroon.”

Shupikayi yanked the dress out of her mother’s grasp and stepped back. “Mama, I love you, but I’m not a baby anymore,” she said coldly. “I’m sixteen, and I’m going to be seventeen soon. It’s my birthday, and I can wear what I like. I need you to respect that. You’ve chosen my birthday outfit for the past fifteen years. Now it’s my turn.”

Queen Makanaka stared at her, and her face reddened. “Why you–you little troublemaker!” She grabbed the dress and yanked at it, but Shupikayi wouldn’t let go. “Give it to me! I’m not going to let you wear that ridiculous thing!”

Shupikayi glared at her and pulled on the dress. “Let go! It’s my dress! You can’t take it!”

“I can and I will! You can’t talk to me like that! You don’t even look good in red!” Queen Makanaka’s hair started to smoke and spark.

Shupikayi gripped the dress like her life depended on it. Was this a hill she wanted to die on? Absolutely! She was sick of her mother trying to control everything on her birthday. She would not let her mother continue this anymore. “You have no right to take it. I bought it with my own money!”

Queen Makanaka’s hair ignited in orange and gold flames. “I am your mother, I have every right! Especially when  you disrespect me!” 

Shupikayi’s eyes widened. “Mama, stop! You’re catching fire again! Let go!”

“You let go!” Queen Makanaka’s hands combusted in flames, and–

Fwoof!

The dress caught on fire!

Shupikayi immediately let go before she could be burned. She gawked at her dress. “Nooo!”

The dress shriveled like a raisin as it burned in the flames.

Queen Makanaka’s eyes widened. She let go of the dress and snapped her fingers, extinguishing the flames she had caused.

But it was too late. The maroon dress was reduced to gray and black ashes on the floor.

Shupikayi stared at the ashes. She couldn’t believe it. Her mother had burned her favorite dress. Her right eye twitched. Every single time her mother got upset at her for the most ridiculous reasons, she lost control over her fire powers. Why couldn’t she simply leave her alone?

Queen Makanaka stared at the mess. “Oh…” She looked at Shupikayi and cleared her throat. “Well…Now there’s nothing to argue about. You’ll simply have to wear the turquoise dress. Besides, it looks better on you anyway.”

Shupikayi looked at her as if she were insane. She opened her mouth to say something, then closed it. She stormed out of her bedroom.

“Shupikayi, wait! I–”

Shupikayi slammed the door behind her. She marched down the stairs, placing one hand on the handlebar and clutching her satchel strap with the other.

She was done.

She was done with her mother, with Founding Day, with her birthday party, everything! If her mother wouldn’t let her dress the way she wanted at her party, she simply wouldn’t attend.

She would celebrate her birthday by herself. She would buy herself a cake and buy a brand-new maroon dress. She would have the dress tailored as she wished. She would go to the market square in Tamala Town and get everything she needed from the Sungurans.

She didn’t need her family to have a good time. She would have a better time all alone.