Manny Rivera passes through the rusting, overgrown iron gate entrance of the Miracle City Public Cemetary with a bouquet of poinsettias tucked under his arm. Although his jacket sticks tightly to his skin in the humidity, and his jeans catch every burr from every patch of untrimmed grass he must tread through, he does not stop until he reaches the welcoming shade of a familiar gnarled Jacaranda tree. Beneath the tree are two gravestones, in the space between which he squats to set down the bouquet.
"Mother, father. So much has happened since we last spoke." Manny says, bowing his head as if avoiding looking directly at the gravestones. Truth be told, he felt something close to shame. "I haven't visited you in a while. For that, I am sorry."
He reaches into his back pocket and pulls out a slightly dampened cigarette.
"It's been raining so much lately that I wonder if this will even light." He says, casting his parents a quick smile. With his other hand, Manny grips his lighter and tries it once, twice, three times before he can get it lit. "I've been so busy these days..."
He stops, realizing that he was just coming up with excuses, which was something his father always warned him against doing.
"I promise to visit you more often. No excuses."
Emiliano Suarez, a retired police chief with a commanding presence that defied his gradually withering body, had been standing behind Manny for quite some time. He clears his throat loudly enough to get the young man's attention, but not so loud as to disrespect the deceased. After all, he too was weathering the loss of his beloved daughter Frida.
Manny sighs. "There isn't a day that goes by I don't miss you, mis padres. " He says, then flicks the loose buds of his cigarette at the Jacaranda.
On the walk back to Emiliano's car no words are shared among the two, and neither of them felt the weightlessness that usually came with their increasingly irregular visits to the cemetary. Instead, as the chief pulls on the stickshift and the old sedan lurches forward, what drove them forward was their mutual desire for vengeance.