Storytelling Week 5: Hell in High Heels

The Ordeal of Queen Draupadi, from Wikipedia

"What do you mean you bet me? Like, you bet on me?"

"Well, not--not exactly, but everyone else was gone and-"

"What? Everyone? You said everyone, not everything. Tell me you didn't gamble people."

"I didn't mean to, it happened so fast, they told me I could and-"

"You're kidding me. Who is they? You're telling me you literally gambled everything you had? And that after you did that, that you thought you'd put the boys and me up next?"

"No, I swear, it isn't that bad, I-"

"Save it. This isn't binding, right? It's a game. They can't actually do anything."

"I think I signed something, I don't know, I had a few drinks, it's just-"

"Drinks? You've been drinking? And you signed something?"

"I'm sorry, I'm so-"

Draupadi hung up the phone. Five husbands, and they were all idiots. The oldest brother, the one who was this big popular guy, with a good head on his shoulders, and he gambles everything away. She knew he had a problem, but did she know it was this bad? How could she have? Who thinks that their husband is going to gamble away his money, his family, and then his wife?

It's not like Yudhisthira wasn't smart, he just had weaknesses. Everything had been effortless for him in life to this point. Class president in high school, followed by prom king, then a star quarterback in college, and now quickly leading an underdog team to certain victory in the professional league. and his brothers were all the same. Leaders in their chosen fields, they were a brilliant band of brothers.

That didn't mean that they didn't occasionally make truly dumb decisions.

Yudhisthira had a gambling problem. Never really got to him until he got out of college, but once he landed a multi-million dollar contract, there it was. Couldn't resist the dice, or the cards, or the roulette wheel, or--frankly, there had yet to be a high stakes game that Yudhisthira hadn't fallen in love with. 

Draupadi was their rock--sensible, fiery, and sometimes said to be the true brains of the family. There was a reason she was married to the five most powerful men in the country, and it was only partly that she was easily the most beautiful woman of her time. While Yudhisthira was crowned for his physical achievements in school, Draupadi was sailing through dual math and business degrees. Thus, she managed the family finances, and only gave Yudhisthira what was needed to satisfy both parties--enough for him to lose a fair sum of money, but too little to make a dent in the family's wealth. 

It didn't take long for Draupadi to realize who had put Yudhisthira up to this. Yudhisthira's backwoods cousins, Duryodhana and company, were jealous of the Pandava's success, and had always wanted a piece of it for their own. Truly, it was Duryodhana leading the fight. He was similar in age to Yudhisthira, and having grown up together, Duryodhana was constantly in Yudhisthira's shadow. He too had a brilliant mind, but in a culture that values attractiveness and charm, he never had a chance. Duryodhana was too sharp, too grating for people to really get along with, and so he was always mediocre in comparison to the other side of the family.

A knock came at the door, and Draupadi, still fuming, shot a look at the door, and took her time walking to it. The bangs on the door were faster and louder now, and when she threw it open the two meatheads at the door were so surprised it had opened at all that they were briefly rendered speechless.

"Don't talk. I'm not in the mood and I really don't have the time." Draupadi paused for a moment, waiting to see if it would stick. Typical--it didn't.

"Ma'am, we're here to collect on-"

"Excuse me, I wasn't finished. I suspect that you're here to take me back to the run-down shack my husband has lost me at, and get paid for delivering me to whatever scumbag tricked him into the whole thing?"

"Uh-" Both men were unsure of what to do. They were told she'd put up a fight, but they weren't smart enough to realize it would be verbal. If either one had thought to they probably could have thrown her over a shoulder and been done with it, but they were too dumbfounded to act.

"Rhetorical question. I'd appreciate it if you didn't answer."

The two men were silent. Finally.

"So here's my problem. I don't really feel like leaving the house tonight. I've got a nice glass of wine waiting for me and a date with the last Harry Potter book, and truth be told I don't think I'm going to find that wherever you're planning on taking me. Instead, you're both going to go back to where you came from, put my drunk husbands in a car, and bring them back here. After that, you'll find yourselves a fine promotion at--well, I'll figure out what your day jobs are. Understood?"

Seeing that both men had started to realize there weren't any repercussions in the deal as it stood, she spoke again.

"Oh-- I suppose if the both of you decide against doing what I've told you... You'll be on the streets in a heartbeat. Penniless, nameless... Hopeless. Have my men home within the hour."

*****

Author's Note: Well this ended up longer than I expected. The background music for the story can be found here, a song called The Wire by Haim. The song inspired Draupadi's firey attitude and her resistance towards the men coming to take her away. The game of dice was my favorite story during this week's reading, but I wanted to retell it in an unexpected way. The past couple of my writings had been pretty sad/sappy, and I really wanted to write something that had more punch, so after an hour of writer's block, I thought a modern-day family of pretty, brilliant billionaires would fit pretty well. When I was reading, I thought that there was no way that Yudhisthira would be the real king--anyone who can be tricked into gambling their family away twice can't be smart enough to sit on the throne. That's when I decided that in my story, Draupadi would be the head of the family, in kind of a matriarch sort of way. Hope you enjoyed reading! 

The Mahabharata, by R. K. Narayan (1978). Web Source: Reading Guide.