"Tassandra, ¡Levántate ahora! Tu quinceañera starts in an hour."
"Ugg mamá go away!" Taz shouted back while throwing a pillow at her mother.
"That's it Tassandra. I've had enough. I'm getting tu padre."
"No mamá I'm up. I'm up. Just don't bother papá. Okay?"
"Okay mi Tazita. Now báñate! I'll be back in ten minutes to help you with tu dress."
"Sí mamá."
And with that Taz's mom left smiling, as she was well aware that she had won.
"Ugh ¿Porqué? Why does she always do that?" Taz groaned to herself as she got in the shower. It's not that Taz was scared of her father, because she was certainly not afraid of anything. It was just… his injuries.
He had only arrived home from his service in the Robot Wars a month ago. All of his wounds were still fresh. Seeing him, with his right arm in a sling, his left leg completely gone from the knee down, his frail, scorched body sitting in a wheelchair, it gave Taz an emotion she refused to let in. Fear. That is why it was better to just avoid him over all.
While scrubbing her long, black hair, she considered the state of the war. For a while it had almost seemed like the war was coming to an end; that we would win. Then, out of nowhere the robots released a whole new swarm of recruits; overwhelming the small amount of rangers we had left. Now there was no way to tell which way the war would go. The most you could do was pray to dead God that Starship Rangers would get control over the situation, and fast.
A Starship Ranger; Taz would give anything to be one. She would love to avenge her father. To kill every last one of those damn robots that had threatened her world… her family.
"One day," she recalled saying to her mother as a small child, "I will kill every last robot in the world."
"Shh Tazita. Don't speak that way. Chicos will take care of the robots. We chicas must take care of nos casas."
"Pero mamá"-
"Now that's enough Tassandra. Tú eres una chica y I will listen to no more of this nonsense. Why can't you be more like tu Hermana Rosa? Ella es una chica perfecta. You'll understand soon hija, what it truly means to be a chica."
But that was the thing. Taz didn't want to understand. She didn't want to be like Rosa. All she wants is to be who she is; who she was born to be. A Starship Ranger; that was her destiny.
Just as Taz got out of the shower her mom came rushing in to the bathroom.
"Mamá! I'm not even dressed!" Taz said while trying to cover up her small figure.
"Oh now you stop that Tassandra. You forget too quickly who wiped tu culata."
"Mamá that was different. I was a baby then." Taz shot back as she grabbed a towel and wrapped herself in it.
"Well it's all the same to me. Now hurry up we've got to get you in this dress." Her mom replied, holding up a gorgeous red dress. It was so simple; with the way it was meant to follow the natural curves of your body, until it got to your waist where it flowed out slightly. The cup shoulders and low but appropriate cut seemed to add a little eloquence to the dress but in no way overdid it.
Taz could not understand how something so simplistic could look so, as much as she hated to admit it, beautiful. Yet with all its originality Taz couldn't shake the feeling that she had seen something so familiar before.
Then it hit her. She had seen it before. It was the same dress Rosa had worn at her quinceañera two years ago.
"Mamá that's Rosa's vestido. It will never fit. I'm too little"-
"Nonsense child," her mother said cutting her off. "I'll just make a few adjustments and you'll look great in it, just like Rosa did.'
"Mamá, when are you going to understand? I am not Rosa!"
"Tassandra I"- she started to yell back, but then stopped herself. "We are not doing this today Tassandra. Today you become a woman and women do not fight con sus madres. Do you understand me Tazita?"
Taz glared at the floor, refusing to answer someone who had infuriated her so much.
"Tassandra Maria Lopez I asked you a question!"
"Ugh sí mamá!" Taz yelled back while ripping the dress out of her mom's hands and storming out of the bathroom.
Muttering every offensive word, English and Spanish alike, about her mother, Taz yanked the dress over her slim body. Looking in the mirror she saw the dress hanging over her like a curtain. It wasn't that Rosa was fat because she wasn't. She was just tall, whereas Taz was only five feet and Rosa had curves, while Taz, although she had curves, they were much less defined.
In the mind of a typical man Rosa definitely would have had the more attractive body, but it didn't bother Taz. She had no interests in attracting any attention to herself, especially not romantic attention. Besides, Taz was grateful for all the advantages being small had given her. She could easily lift herself up onto anything, run faster than anyone she knew. Not to mention how easy it was for her to hide herself. All of which were perfect traits for a Starship Ranger… but no she had to be a chica.
"Oh Tazita, don't you look muy bonita." Her mom said, startling Taz as she walked into the room.
"No mamá. I'm drowning in this." She replied with as much bite as she could put in it.
"Now, now Tassandra I'm going to fix it..." and she did. It took her only thirty minutes to take in the dress and make it look like it was meant for Taz. After her makeup had been put on, her black hair tied back in an elegant ponytail, she put on her mom's diamond jewelry set. Then even Taz had to admit she looked beautiful.
"There mi Tazita you look so gorgeous. I've never been so proud to be tu madre. Now you are ready to become a woman." She paused to tuck a stray hair behind Taz's ear. "Feliz cumpleaños mi hija. I'll go get your father for your entrance." Her mom said with tears glistening in her eyes.
"Mamá don't cry. Go get papá. Okay?" Taz replied with as much patience as she could put in to it. In actuality she was disappointed that her mom was so happy with a look that was far from describing who her daughter truly was on the inside.
"Okay mi hija." And with that she left. As soon as the door shut behind her mom, Taz plopped down on her bed with a sigh of disbelief that her mother could be so narrow-minded that it blinded her from seeing the truth behind her daughter.