Chapter 2: Spooked
The sound of hammers and sewing machines filled the Rivera workshop in the Land of the Dead as they worked on their continuous amount of orders. They got over 20 orders per day, and made over 20 pairs of shoes in the same amount of time. Imelda was surprised that they hadn't made shoes for every skeleton in the Land of the Dead yet. They were by far the most popular place to buy shoes, and they always guaranteed customer satisfaction every time. The shoes were built for them, so they had to be perfect. Imelda took great pride in the title of best show makers since she had started the business and had taught all her family members after her. The latest family member she herself had taught just happened to be her long lost husband.
He came bounding back into her life after so long, and she couldn't help but let him back in. His smile, teasing attitude, and love were too much to pass up. And when Coco joined them later during that year, the reunion brought tears to the matriarch's eyes. Hector had completely broken down while hugging his happy daughter, and it had been the most heartwarming thing Imelda had seen… ever. And when Hector had pulled her into the hug too, she had also broken down hugging her daughter. Coo had been happy to see them and her husband Julio again. She was also happy to be able to move and talk like she had 50 years ago. She had been very pleased to get out of a wheelchair, and immediately began to help them with the shoe making. She had made over half the shoes each day for at least a couple weeks before her frenzy diminished. Seeing his daughter making shoes made Hector want to make shoes, and the lessons began.
Imelda looked up from the shoe she was waxing expecting to see her husband either working on his first attempt at shoes or watching the rest of the family making shoes, but she couldn't see him. She began to get suspicious when she saw her brothers trying to cover up their laughs, and Coco and Rosita were smiling as they looked between the twins and Mama Imelda. Victoria was just shaking her head in a form of disappointment, and Julio looked conflicted as to go with his wife or his mother-in-law. Imelda knew she wouldn't get the answer to this apparently funny situation from Julio this time because no matter how much she scared him, he was more loyal to Coco than anyone else, besides maybe his children. She wouldn't get him to crack easily this time, so she turned to her granddaughter. Victoria was always one to give the truth even if it was harsh.
"Victoria honey, what are they laughing about?" Imelda asked her granddaughter with a raised eyebrow. Victoria raised her head from her sewing machine with her calm expression before saying:
"I'm sorry Mama Imelda, but I've been sworn to secrecy," Victoria said without a change in her expression, but her response made Felipe and Oscar laugh harder. Imelda hardened her eyes at her family, and hoped whatever they had planned didn't result in something immature. They didn't usually act like this. They usually left all their goofy intentions until after work. Imelda guessed Hector was behind it.
That got her thinking. Hector was probably behind this, and he was missing. What was he doing.
"Hector!" Imelda yelled, but that just made her brothers laugh even harder, and even Rosita and Coco were joining in with sniggers. Imelda was getting impatient. Where was he? Did he go back into the house, and put oil all over the floor? Did he go to that joke shop downtown? Did he—
"Boo!" Hector yelled as he fell upside down right in front of her face.
"Ahh!" Imelda yelled and fell backwards onto a stool. Her brothers laugher, combined with the rest of the skeletons in the shop, was surely enough to make their neighbors turn heads towards the home in alarm. Imelda clutched her chest as she tried to regain her breathing. She raised her eyes to her husband who was still hanging upside down from the rafters above where they usually hung new leather to dry or hung up tools. He smiled down at her, and she didn't immediately know what emotion she should go with. Anger was the first emotion that came to mind, but it didn't come. She knew her family was laughing at her, but at least they were happy so she should be happy too. She thought how many emotions, but she could express any of them besides shock.
"Mi amor, are you alright?" Hector asked with both concern and humor.
"Of course," Imelda said as she wiped her hands on her apron, trying to shake it off. "It was just unexpected that's all."
"You should've seen your face," Felipe cackled.
"It was to die for," Oscar agreed with a pun that made Coco, Rosita, and Julio chuckle while Victoria rolled her eyes. Hector turned his head to them as his legs still hung on the rafter. The twins gave him a thumbs ups, and he just shook his head with a smile on his face.
The new emotion that seeped through Imelda was annoyance. Her brothers had put Hector up to this. This had been there idea. Imelda felt her anger rising, but an idea stopped it. If they wanted to be jokesters, than she should even the playing field. There were parts of this house that even they had no idea about.
She took two handfuls of dust off the workshop floor, and blew them around her. Hector gave out a surprised cough before falling from the rafters onto her work station. The rest of the family gasped at the cloud of dust that covered the family matriarch. Hector, after collecting his thoughts, waved away the dust cloud. To his surprise, he didn't see his wife. Her work station was blocked on one side by the table that their dumbfounded Coco was working at, they would have seen her walk out of her station past her brothers and Julio, and she obviously hadn't hoped over her table because Hector was on top of it.
"Imelda?" Hector asked as he and the rest of the family looked around. "Where did she go?"
Imelda covered her mouth to keep from laughing as she watched her family's confusion underneath the old, metal grate. She was currently crouched in the ventilation system underneath the floor. If she had skin and organs like she had in life, than she wouldn't be able to fit through. But since she could take herself apart, she could fit easily. After she had first bought this house, she had made the mistake of accidentally falling into one and it was the one time she had been thankful to be the only person in the house. She had eventually put coverings on them, but she was the only one who knew that these tunnels, that could fit a skeleton, reached out all around the original ground floor workings. After watching Hector look around a bit more and whipping dust from her dress, Imelda started to walk silently towards the grate on the complete other side of the shop… the one behind her brothers. She quickly but quietly removed the grate and squeezed herself through. Thankful that everyone's attention was on where she disappeared, she stood at her full height behind her brothers and reached towards their shoulders.
It was her turn to yell "Boo!" as she grabbed their shoulders with a strong grasp. They gave a cry, and jumped away from her. This caused them to go tumbling over the side of their own work table, and falling to the ground below. Imelda leaned her chin against her palm on the table as she looked down at them with a triumphant smirk. Hector bursted out laughing, and Coco, Rosita, and even Victoria joined in. Julio looked like he had been the one to be snuck up on, and Felipe and Oscar looked up at her with a nervous smile.
"Well played," Oscar admitted.
"Agreed," Felipe nodded.
"How did you do that?!" Hector asked through his fits of laughter.
"My secret, querido," Imelda winked at him as she put her index finger over her lips in a shush gesture. Imelda swore she saw his cheek bones grow redder, and it made her giggle. Don't mess with Mama Imelda.
