Sometimes, I still wonder how all this is still going on. My name's Tulio Perez. I might sound like somebody you don't know, but actually, I'm tied to someone you probably do know. At first glance, my family is somewhat small, but an older relative of mine happened to find love and got married to someone from the Rivera family, the greatest musical family in Mexico.

You see, about 100 years ago, the Riveras were just a family of shoemakers living in Santa Cecilia. Then after one Dia de los Muertos, one of their kids comes out claiming to have a great-great-grandfather who's the true author of almost all of Mexico's greatest classics. That kid's name is Miguel Rivera.

He had a love for music, even when the rest of the family forbade it at the time, but after singing a song that restored the spirit of his own great-grandmother, his family began getting all sorts of attention: songs being credited to his great-great-grandfather, the original copies being displayed for tourists to see, and papa Miguel even got to be a musician like he wanted. The music of Mexico was reborn, all thanks to him.

His great-great-grandfather, by the way, was Hector Rivera. He pretty much started the whole "Rivera music"-thing, but he was still the real talent behind the songs everyone knows, like "Un Poco Loco," "The World is Mi Familia," and especially "Remember Me." But he was only able to get the recognition and love he deserved because of Miguel, who was able to take them back from the thief, whom everyone thought was the author for another 96 years before…I think it was someone called "de la Cruz"? I think I only read a little bit about that guy on a few websites, but from what I do know, everyone says he's no good. They say he only became famous by murdering Hector, who was his best friend, back in the 2000's and passed the guy's songs off as his own. Even after he died, people still looked up to him…until papa Miguel revealed his secret, that is. No one likes him. I don't like him. I'd avoid him if only I knew what he looked like. Pictures of him are so hard to come by nowadays…

"Tulio!"

A sudden, loud knocking jolted the boy from his chair, jostling the notebook he had been writing in just moments before. He braced himself for a moment as he stood up and faced his bedroom door. "S-si?" he answered.

The older voice answered with a somewhat rough tone, "Everyone needs you downstairs to help with the Dia de Muertos decorations. Hurry up in there, will you?"

"Okay," Tulio sighed, not with an exasperated groan as you might have expected from a kid like him. In fact, he does have a love for the holiday, which came to be since hearing the famed Rivera story that started by no other than Miguel Rivera himself. Tulio just wished that everyone wouldn't make the deal too big every time. He went over and turned out the lights before leaving his room.

Downstairs, several other family members were preparing the marigold adornments on the outside of the house. Strands of marigolds were being hung from the edges of the roof while the table was being set for tonight's family dining. Aside from lighting the ofrenda and setting up the food dishes there, most of the major preparations were almost done. Tulio had made it into the yard when he was finally spotted by his mom first.

"Mijo," she spoke to him with concern, "Where were you? We've almost finished."

"Sorry mama," Tulio apologized. He looked around briefly to see that the rest of his family was looking at him curiously, so he knew he had to finish up his explanation as quickly as he could. "I…was just…finishing preparing my room for the holiday, yes?" He gave his best innocent smile.

His mother looked at him for a moment, and then quietly sighed. Placing her hand on his shoulder, she kept her eyes on him. "Well, if you feel you need to add something more to the home, you can do it for the ofrenda," she said to him. Looking at Tulio's assuring nod, she went back to her work. Tulio was immediately greeted by his father who came up to him from behind.

"Don't feel too bad, mijo," he assured his son, "what matters is that you're here to help now." Tulio looked up to his dad to see him hold a broom in front of him. "Here, why don't you sweep the outside street clean for now?" Seeing that there was nothing else, Tulio nodded and took the broom from his father's hand. He turned to venture out into the street of his neighborhood.

Tulio thought about what would happen tonight as he swept. From what he remembered, one of the Riveras was coming over to celebrate with his family. For him personally, this felt like a honor. He had never been more proud to be related to a Rivera, though he didn't feel as much of a need to flaunt it around as he thought he might have. On the flipside, he didn't see his Rivera relatives that much, so he took every opportunity to hang out with them when the time was right. Deep in his thoughts, Tulio did not realize he had been sweeping down the street away from home for a long while now. Eventually, the boy snapped his head up to realize this.

"Oh darn," he muttered under his breath. Seeing that his home was not in the immediate vicinity, he took a little bit of time to retrace his steps. He took notice that he went on a downward slope, so all he had to do was go back the way he came. He wasted no time running, but as he did, he passed by a shady alleyway and from the corner of his eye, noticed something lying in the alley and abruptly stopped running. He walked over to the opening of the alley and peered in, looking past the crates and litter that lined the walls until his gazed reached the fence that stood deep in the alley, cutting off access to the rest of the alley. Looking down to the foot of the fence was a large mass that appeared to wrapped or bundled in a roughly textured tarp. Warily, Tulio took a step into the alley to see that the mass slowly expanded and shrunk, like it was breathing. As the boy's eyes went over and around the thing wrapped in the tarp, and after a moment, could deduce that within the wrapped tarp was a person, a person lying on the side with the back facing Tulio. The revelation made him gasp.

"H-hello?" he called out to the person lying on the ground. He ran forward and knelt down to examine the person. "Are you all right?" What he got in return was an audible groan, which sounded masculine. "Are you all right, sir?" Tulio asked again, but the man just shuffled in his sleep.

"Go away," the man groaned, shuffling away from Tulio until he was just hugging the fence. But Tulio, having been raised according to his family's principles and also Rivera principles, was not taking that for an answer.

"Please, let me help you," Tulio softly begged him. "I can help you get better."

"Leave me alone."

Seeing that this man was going to be a stubborn one, Tulio looked away in contemplation for a moment, and then turned back to the man. "Well, you shouldn't have to sleep on the ground. I'll bet with such a hard ground like that, no wonder you're the only one here who is." The man didn't move. Tulio continued, "tell you what: why don't you stay at my home for now? I'll let you lie down on our comfiest bed and you can finish your sleep there. After, you can go on your way. How's that sound?"

The man lay still for a little while, with Tulio breaking the silence with some toe tapping. "Fine," the man replied quietly. Tulio leaned forward to help him up, but the man pushed upward on his own two feet, keeping his body away from the hands of the boy offering them. But seeing him back on his feet prompted Tulio to do the same. The man lifted the part of the tarp covering his head and let it drop down to his shoulders. His face was revealed to have a square frame, with a full head of short black hair with several strands dangling down in front of his forehead touching the top of his eyes. A modestly bushy moustache lined his upper lip, and he had an overall brown skin on his face and the rest of his body, if his exposed forearms as seen by Tulio were any indication. Overall, he had a stocky physique hidden under the tarp, which he kept cloaked around himself.

"Well, let's go," Tulio beckoned to the man. He walked out of the alley and proceeded up the sloped road, waiting every few moments to let the man catch up. It proved to be quite slow, since the man appeared to walk at his own pace, missing a step or two. But Tulio was not going to let that hamper his mood and ruin his first impression with the man, whom he could consider the first stranger he has ever extended hospitality to. He wondered how bad his family would freak about inviting a stranger into the home of his own decision. The walk back home continued on in silence, so since he knew it would be a while away, Tulio turned to the man while mounting the broom on his shoulder. "So, señor," he spoke to the man, "what's your name? Mine's Tulio."

The man stayed silent for a moment, and answered, "Ernesto."