Princess for a Day

The sun disappeared that night only to return again in the morning, shining as brightly as ever. Today, after all, was a day for good sunshine, and Junie’s Fiesta Quinceanera.
She woke early and went straight to the shower. Meanwhile, her mother and Aunt made preparations, too.
Aunt Angelina laid out Junie’s clothes. Sra. Vasquez made bolilos. She fried beans and pulled pork before rolling them in dough and baking the sandwich pockets in the oven.
When Junie emerged from the shower, she dressed casually to eat a quick and light breakfast. She ate the bolilo in just a few bites and chugged the entire glass of orange juice. She took her dirty dishes to the sink as soon as she finished.
“Are you ready, Auntie?”
“Not quite, but I can take it with me.”
Angelina followed Junie to her bedroom. After a quick nibble of her bolilo, Angelina lathered her hands with conditioner. She massaged it through Junie’s hair. Afterward, she combed Junie’s long, black hair until every last tangle was gone. Then, she flipped a curling brush through Junie’s hair as she dried it with a hair dryer.
“Can I have curls?”
Angelina opened a small crate. There were hair curlers of all sizes. She rolled Junie’s hair into the curlers until there was none left. After she blow dried Junie’s hair, she undid every curler. She quickly rubbed hair gel into the curls to keep them in place. Now, Junie’s hair was filled with long curls.
“Are you ready to be made up?” asked her Aunt.
Junie nodded excitedly. She had never been allowed to wear makeup before. She hadn’t even been allowed to style her hair with anything more than a simple hairbrush, either.
“Let’s start with the easy parts. Hold your breath and puff out your cheeks.”
Angelina coated a small brush with blush and drew it over Junie’s cheeks.
“Better. Now I’ll let you apply the lipstick.”
“How do I do that?”
“Just like a crayon.”
Junie carefully drew the lipstick over her lips. She thought it felt waxy and weird. When she was finished, the lipstick was smudged unevenly across her lips.
“Oh, Junie,” said Angelina, “press your lips closed like this.”
Aunt Angelina carefully wiped the excess lipstick with a napkin. She carefully reapplied the lipstick, making it smooth and straight. She drew in a bit of lip liner to accentuate Junie’s lips.
“Close your eyes. Here comes the hard part.”
Angelina massaged a cleanser into Junie’s face. Afterwards, she blew gently across Junie’s nose and cheeks.
“What are you doing?” Junie said with a giggle.
“It has to dry before I do the next step.”
Angelina dug through a pile of brushes and make-up before applying the foundation.
Next, she spread gloss over Junie’s eyelids. When it dried, she blended several different colors of eye shadow over the lids until they were smoky brown. She blended a lighter color of shadow into Junie’s eyelids, working it until it went from light to dark.
“This is the hard part.”
Angelina held Junie’s eye’s open as she drew eye liner around the eyes.
“It’s really scary.”
“Just one more moment and then we’re finished.”
Junie fluttered her eyes as Angelina pulled away. She then began to apply mascara.
“I thought you said we were finished.”
“Just with that part. There is still much to do.”
In fact, it was as if Aunt Angelina was working a masterpiece, filling in the color of Junie’s lashes and brows. After that, she worked the color of the cheeks, adding blush and blending the shades with a large fan brush.
“And now the lips again.”
Angelina carefully re-glossed the lips and touched up the lip liner.
“Now, I’m finished.”
Junie looked in the mirror. She hardly recognized herself. Lips were pretty in a pink. Her eyelids were dark brown, which brought out all of her Mexican traits. Junie smiled.
“Now it’s time to put on your fancy dress.”
By the time the girls emerged from the bedroom, Sr. Vasquez and Miguel rose from bed and took their showers. They were downstairs, eating bolilios.
“¡Que Bonita, mi princessa!” said father, “Now that you no longer have a tilde, what will I call you?”
“Don’t worry, daddy. You can always call me tilde.”
Sr. Vasquez hugged his little girl. Señora Vasquez came out from the kitchen. She wanted to see Junie, too.
“¡Que Bonita!” said mother.
“That’s the second time we’ve heard that, so it must be true.”
“How do you think your sister looks, Miguel?”
“I like her better in t-shirt and jeans.”
“Meego!” said Junie.
“I do.”
“You’ll have to get used to a more grown-up look from now on,” said Junie.
Miguel sighed.
“What’s important now is the Fiesta,” replied father, “We’d better hurry before we’re late.”
All five Vasquez’s, Aunt Angelina included, loaded into the family car. Junie sat in front next to her father while Miguel was squished between his Aunt and Mother.
When they arrived at the Cathedral, the parking lot was filled with cars. A handful of other families had a Quinceanera, too. The parents and godparents were dressed as well. That included the Vasquez family’s next door neighbors, Sr. and Sra. Rivera, who were Junie’s godparents.
“We’ve been looking for you everywhere,” said Sra. Rivera.
“We had lots to do.”
“But you look absolutely stunning!”
“Que Bonita!” boasted Miguel.
Sra. Vasquez patted him on the head.
“Let’s go inside,” she said.
The church looked no different than an ordinary Sunday Mass, except the ‘Quinces’ dressed in various shades of white and pink. Even the altar boys with their incense and the priest with his scepter looked the same as any other day at the Cathedral.
The priest led a Quinceanera Mass, saying usual prayers before talking about the girls and their rite of passage. He asked the girls to stand in front of the pews. He then invited each one’s Godparents.
The Riveras stood behind Junie, each with a hand on her shoulder. The priest said a prayer. Then, the girls turned around. Sra. Rivera presented Junie with a small necklace. As Junie opened the locket, an ivory carving of the Virgin Mary praying was inside. She fastened the locket as Sra. Rivera hung it about her neck.
The priest cleared his throat.
“Now, your responsibilities to family and community have widened, just like the new rewards of being a young woman. My wish for you is to join your families as I give a final prayer.”
Juneta returned to her seat with the Riveras. She sat between her mother and father, showing them her new locket.
Afterwards, they returned home. In the short time she had been gone, friends and family, including her Uncles and some of the Bomberos, helped set up a tent, table, and chairs. They also brought out large platters of food as everyone arrived.
“Junie!” said Uncle Juan, “You look beautiful.”
That was the common statement of everyone at the Fiesta. Although Juneta liked her fancy dress, it itched and was not very practical for eating a buffet.
“Mother?”
“Yes, dear?”
“Is there any way I can change back into t-shirt and jeans?”
Her mother let out a heavy sight.
“I want to get pictures of you with all your family first. Do we have a deal?”
Juneta nodded.
“Fair enough. Let me get the camera.”
After pictures with everyone in the neighborhood – whether it was Juneta’s parents, godparents, uncles, aunts, cousins, the neighbor’s goat, the old lady down the block, or even her little brother, Juneta was finally free.
She ran upstairs and changed out of her Quinceanera dress. However, she kept her tiara, locket, and make-up. She did, however, bring a hair-tie around her curls, bringing it into a very fancy topknot.
“Junie!” gasped her Aunt, “I worked on that all morning!”
“I know, but I think I still like my tilde better.”
Aunt Angelina rolled her eyes before she kissed her niece on the cheek.
“I guess the time to be a woman will come soon enough.”
Tilde sat next to Meego. As they ate their feast, he whispered in her ear.
“Mas Bonita.”
That meant “more beautiful”, because Miguel would be happiest if his big sister never grew up.