Chapter 4

After Héctor left Imelda and her Mother at the Family Reunion Offices, the two women made their way into the Land of the Dead. Héctor wouldn't go on to see Imelda for another couple of weeks.

During that time, Imelda adjusted to life in the Land of the Dead. She was overwhelmed by how beautiful the place was; everything was so bright and colorful. The alebrijes that flew around made her catch her breath in awe. Imelda didn't fear them for she knew that they were spirit guides and would not harm her despite the size that some of them grew to be.

Imelda's favorite thing to do was explore the Land of the Dead. She discovered that she was well known amongst her neighbors who all hailed from Santa Cecelia. Her shoes were everywhere in the Land of the Dead, as people buried their families in only the nicest of things. Maria was proud of her daughter for picking herself up and building a life for her and Coco in spite of the challenges she faced.

Everyone loved to hear the story of how she became a shoe maker, and Imelda would often joke, "Well, it was all thanks to my good for nothing husband who abandoned our family! I lived in shame because of it for a couple of years, but then I said to myself: 'You know what? He isn't worth your tears! And what better way to get back at him than to prove to him that you don't need him in the first place!' and so I worked harder and harder to become better than he, a hopeless musician, would ever grow to be!'" The women in the Land of the Dead felt so empowered to hear how her business stemmed from spite towards a man and her popularity increased the longer she spent in the Land of the Dead. Soon people were greeting her excitedly as she walked down the streets to explore.

Others knew of her by her fearless attitude; right from the get go, Imelda was exploring the Land of the Dead while many of the newly dead were still cowering in their houses, unable to accept their deaths. People often gave her suggestions on what to explore next and it was on one of her expeditions that she became cornered by an alebrije…

Imelda was walking down a street, just a couple of blocks from la plaza of the pueblo (La Plaza of a Mexican pueblo is sort of like the town square where there's a stage and usually a church and people gather to sell food and cool stuff. It's where the town events take place, like a Dia de los Muertos talent show and where the Musicians hung out in Coco. It literally translates to The Center of the Pueblo, although it doesn't necessarily have to be smack down in the middle). As she walked down the street, admiring the architecture of buildings styled from the 1800s, a familiar voice shouted her name from behind her.

Imelda turned and saw Héctor, waving his straw hat at her a couple of meters behind her. Imelda blanched and began walking as fast as she could to get away from him.

"Imelda!" Héctor shouted from behind her.

Imelda spotted an alley across a busy street, and so she crossed the street swiftly, hoping that she'd be lost in the crowd to Héctor. Across the street, Imelda ducked her head low and slid into the alley, hiding behind a couple of stacked crates and hoping that he wouldn't notice her. Imelda turned to face the back end of the alley and frowned. It was a dead end, she'd be cornered if he found her here.

"Imelda, where are you?!" Héctor shouted, passing the alley.

Imelda held her breath for several seconds before sighing in relief. He had not noticed her. Imelda moved from behind the crates to head back towards the street when she came face to face with a giant alebrije.

It was about the size of two horses put together, but seemed to weigh a lot more. It looked like a giant leopard and it stood, its wings out, blocking Imelda's escape from the alley.

"Con permiso, alebrije," Imelda asked, making a step towards the alebrije and expecting it to kindly step aside for her.

Instead, the giant leopard took a menacing step closer to her, it's eyes fully dialated and fixated on her. Imelda took a nervous step back as the alebrije took another step towards her. The cat opened its mouth and Imelda yelped then foolishly ran to the other end of the alley where it swifly pinned her against the wall.

"Help!" Imelda screamed as the alebrije opened its wide mouth to show all of its sharp and pointy teeth.

Then, the giant animal stuck out its tongue and began to lick her! It licked her for a couple of seconds then took a couple of steps back and began to arch its back playfully. That's when Imelda got a better look at its eyes and she gasped the second she recognized them.

"Pepita?" Imelda grinned excitedly.

Was it indeed her childhood pet cat? The cat rolled around onto its belly, and Imelda cried out in joy before running to pet it.

"Oh, my precious kitty! Look at how big you are! I always knew you were fierce, my Pepita!" Imelda laughed as she stretched out to rub the cat's belly.

"Imelda?" Héctor's voice rang out.

Imelda shut her eyes tight and then glanced up at the entrance of the alley way where Héctor stood, his straw hat in his hands.

"I see you found Pepitita," Héctor grinned.

Imelda ignored him and stood up, brushing herself off. Then the cat rolled over back on its back before rushing Héctor. Imelda grinned as the cat pinned Héctor to the floor, but the smile fell from her face as she saw Héctor laughing as Pepita began to lick his face.

"You… know her?" Imelda asked cautiously.

"Sí!" Héctor laughed. "Pepita and I go way back!"

The cat got off of him and sat contentedly, watching Héctor make his way over to Imelda. "I remember you telling me about Pepita! It was one of the first things you told me about yourself, how you loved this cat so much! When I got here, I found her and she's been sticking around me, waiting for you! Well, sometimes… Pepita still has that habit to disappear for days but she always comes back when you need her."

Imelda smiled and stepped away from Héctor and towards the giant cat to pet it. She stepped on her toes to scratch its chin and it began to purr fondly. "Just like she did in life," Imelda smiled. Then she turned to Héctor and regarded him with cold eyes, "Did you bring her to me?"

Héctor twisted his hat in his hands and began to smile shyly. "Sí, I just thought it'd be nice-"

"I suppose I should thank you, then," Imelda sighed. She leaned back on her cat and giggled as the purrs vibrated her back. Then, half smiling, Imelda looked him in the eyes and earnestly said, "Thank you."

Héctor's ghost heart began to pound in his chest the second Imelda's musical giggle reached his ears. He looked at her and saw the nineteen year-old girl he fell in love with, and he himself suddenly felt eighteen again. When she looked into his eyes, he saw that she was looking at him with genuine appreciation instead of with disdain, and once again he saw the mother of his daughter, the strong and proud woman he was lucky to be married to. "Of course, Imelda, I would do anything for you."

Imelda rolled her eyes and turned back to her cat. "Except stay," she muttered angrily before turning back to pet her cat.

Héctor smacked himself on the forehead a little too loudly causing Imelda to pause for a second before carrying on in petting her alebrije, pretending not to hear. Héctor began to contemplate the situation he was in. He figured that she would not be willing to even hear an apology right now, but if he could ease her into spending more time with him, he was sure she'd be willing to down the road. But what could they do together? He couldn't play her music, that would shut her down too… What did they have in common now? Coco? Coco wasn't here and she wouldn't want to talk about Coco either. Rubbing his goatee, Héctor began to smile as he watched the alebrije lick her paw as Imelda pet her.

"Would you like me to show you how to ride Pepita?" Héctor's voice called out.

Her back to Héctor, Imelda continued to pet Pepita as she considered it. Riding Pepita? It was something she imagined when she was younger: she used to pretend that she was shrunk down to the size of a doll and would ride Pepita through Santa Cecilia. She smiled at this memory and took a step back to look at the giant cat before her. It just might be possible to ride her…

"I'm sure I could figure it out myself," Imelda shrugged, without looking at Héctor.

Héctor took several slow steps towards her, saying in a good natured manner, "C'mon, Imelda it took me almost three months to learn how to ride her as she walked and another four months to ride her in the air and I'm still perfecting some tricks with her! You'll love it-" Héctor stopped himself before he could add "I promise" knowing that, too, would set Imelda off.

Imelda pursed her lips, looking into the eyes of her precious Pepita. Riding Pepita while flying? Imelda could hardly wait to master it herself! This is a stupid idea, Imelda. Don't do it… but Pepita looked at her with her fierce and playful eyes. She knew it would be an amazing experience to fly with Pepita….

"Fine," Imelda mumpled, turning to face Héctor. "When do we begin?"

"Now," grinned, Héctor.

Imelda's heart jolted at the sight of his smile, but her face remained indifferent. He made his way to the cat and she stepped out of the way and concentrated on remaining stoic if not hostile. Héctor began to pet Pepita and she rolled on her belly to be pet. Héctor reached over with both his hands to pet the giant cat, practically making fur angels on her. "That's a good girl, Pepita," Héctor smiled.

Imelda forced herself to glare as she watched the sweet interaction between Héctor and her beloved cat. Finally, Héctor stood and commanded, "Pepita, abajo!"

Obeying, Pepita lay down with her belly to the ground so that Héctor could climb on top of her. "Are you ready?" he turned to Imelda.

Imelda took in a deep breath and let it out slowly before replying, "I guess…"

Hector made his way to Pepita's shoulders and grabbed onto her back, heaving himself up and onto Pepita's back. Then he turned and offered a hand to Imelda. Upon seeing his outstretched hand, Imelda rolled her eyes and copied him, throwing her arms around Pepita's back and then heaving herself up onto the giant Cat. Once on Pepita's back, she grabbed Héctor's shoulders to steady herself before letting go as quick as possible.

Without looking at her, Héctor said over his shoulder, "Do you mind putting your arms around me so we can take off?"

"You've got to be kidding me," Imelda scoffed. She considered getting off for a moment, but shook her head. I can do this without it meaning anything to me, Imelda told herself, I am strong and I won't let him in again.

Begrudgingly, Imelda wrapped her arms around Héctor and scooted up closer to him so that her chest was touching his back.

"Pepita, arriba!" Héctor commanded causing Pepita to run towards the end of the alley. Imelda yelped, thinking for a moment that they were going to crash into the crowd of people bustling about in the street, when Pepita leapt and her wings spread, taking them soaring far above the street. Eyes shut tight, and her face nestled into Héctor's back, Imelda took several breaths, trying to get used to the feeling of flying. She felt as if her alebrije was moving too fast, and each time the cat would flap her wings, it felt as if they were falling for a moment before Pepita's wings became straight again.

Once Pepita was at an acceptable height, she began to soar, holding her wings erect and letting the breeze guide them. This Imelda thought was more comfortable with. As she began to feel safer on Pepita she realized how close she was to Héctor and pushed herself back a little further.

Héctor turned back to her with a grin, "Fun, eh?"

Imelda surrendered a smile to him. "Yes," she admitted.

Héctor kicked a leg around Pepita so both legs were on one side, then turned so that he was straddling Pepita faced Imelda. He leaned back on Pepita's head, holding onto her fur to steady himself as the cat turned with the wind.

He watched Imelda who refused to meet his gaze, focusing instead on the beauty of the Land of the Dead from above. It was full of lights, and she could now see far beyond what she'd ever explored.

"It's beautiful, no?" Héctor smiled, watching Imelda.

Imelda nodded. "Sí."

"Th-thank you, for coming with me on Pepita," Héctor said through his shy smile.

Imelda glanced at his eyes and her heart stopped again. "I never stopped loving you Héctor, but I wanted to and I still want to stop loving you. You need to let me move on, there's nothing left of our romance. That died the day you stopped writing back."

Immediately, Héctor's shoulders slumped. He looked at her seriously, examining her face. He knew Imelda better than that and he knew when she was lying. "You say that, but you don't seem to mean it, Imelda." Imelda folded her arms and arched an angry eyebrow at Héctor. She didn't speak so Héctor continued, "You can't just wish to stop loving your gran amor. I know that I will never stop loving you, you have had my heart since-"

"You know what Héctor?" Imelda rushed angrily. "Perhaps I would have forgiven you! Perhaps, if I hadn't stuck around to see my family after they died -I'm assuming you saw what Coco said to you once I had died? She was asking where you were because she didn't want to be left alone and that was it for me. If you had come rushing in, in that moment, I would have waited here for you to be yours again. If Coco hadn't said that, maybe you'd have a chance in hell. I don't care that you left me, but our daughter needed you and you were nowhere."

"I was trying to get back to you, Imelda," Héctor pleaded. "I swear that I realized that family was the most important thing in the world while I was alive! I packed up my things and left Ernesto, but I got sick…"

"What do you mean?" Imelda asked, rolling her eyes.

"I, uh, I got food poisoning from eating Chorrizo," Héctor mumbled sheepishly.

Imelda bit her lip to keep from smiling. "Food poisoning from Chorrizo?" Imelda echoed.

Héctor could hear the laugh in her voice and rolled his eyes. "I know, I know, you warned me 'No te comes esa comida de la calle, especially not the Chorrizo!" Héctor quoted his wife, imitating the exact inflections of her her tone when she told that to him all those years ago.

At this Imelda began to laugh. "It is ironic, isn't it?" Of course it was chorizo to kill him, the exact example she had used the very first time he went out of town to a music festival without her when she was pregnant with Coco. The memory was such a sweet one that hearing him quote her caused a feeling of delight to bubble in her chest. But then it began to sink in… he had been trying to come home to them. And he let food poisoning stop him. Héctor watched as Imelda's expression went from almost happy to angry again and braced himself. "You let food poisoning get in the way of coming home to us?!" Imelda reached out and hit him in the arm angrily, "I told you not to eat street food, especially not the chorizo!"

Héctor almost apologized but he knew it'd be meaningless to her right now. Instead, he remained silent, looking around at the Land of the Dead. Imelda glared at him angrily for several seconds. It was now that she noticed his strange attire for the first time. A straw hat, a purple vest and red ascot, the cacky pants.

"What on earth are you wearing?" Imelda asked.

Héctor looked himself up and down. "This? Ah, it's the first thing I could acquire after I gave up music down here. A new outfit is hard to come by, but a friend gave them to me before he disappeared so they didn't go with him…."

"You… gave up music?" Imelda whispered.

"Sí," Héctor nodded solemnly. "For almost twelve years now… it's just… I've been visiting you and Coco for almost twenty years now! And it didn't take me long to realize that you resented music and me, and that my love for la musica overwhelmed my love for you for just a moment and in that moment I lost everything. Once I realized that, it didn't take long for me to start resenting music. But I loved it so dearly for so long, that it took me a while to finally be rid of it. And then one year, when I hugged you, you didn't hum La Llorona. I saw that you had finally, truly left music behind you. So I decided it was time for me to leave music behind me and so I never played again after that day."

Imelda watched Héctor with a grim expression, for once her face was stoic without her forcing it to be in his presence. Héctor looked up to meet her eyes as she watched him, taking in what she said. He couldn't deny the hope that was crawling its way into his heart that he was making some progress, that he had made a dent in that armor that Imelda had put up against him. He had to show her that although she no longer believed that he was the Héctor she fell in love with, that version of himself was still there somewhere deep inside.

At that moment, Pepita conveniently made a roaring noise to signify that she was getting bored of just floating above the land of the dead. Imelda jumped and grabbed the cat tightly causing it to hiss so she let go and reached out to steady herself, grabbing onto Héctor's shoulders. Héctor imagined biting his tongue so as to prevent the wrong kind of smile from appearing on his face. He grabbed her arms gently in as platonic a way that he could, to help Imelda steady herself.

"Are you good?" Héctor asked in a good natured way.

No, Imelda thought. Those feelings I've surpressed for you for so long are making themselves known again and I want it to stop. Imelda nodded and sighed, "Yes."

"Here, let's take Pepita down for a drink at this river-" Héctor started.

"Pepita needs to drink?" Imelda asked, an eyebrow arched.

Héctor grinned sheepishly, as if he'd been caught in the middle of a lie."Eh… no…" Embers of anger began to glow dimly in Imelda's eyes so Héctor rushed quickly, "But Pepita loves to visit El Rio de Ensanada!" Upon hearing the name of the river, Pepita did a quick flip in the air, sending Imelda and Héctor flying for a moment before catching them. They landed exactly as they had been sitting on her just moments before.

"What was that?!" Imelda shot angrily at Héctor.

"Pepita loves going down to the river! C'mon, Imelda, I know you'll love it! And Pepita will too!" Héctor grinned, throwing his arms out in a "ta-da" manner.

Imelda exhaled slowly and with it the anger in her eyes began to dissipate. Héctor smiled internally that he had managed to accomplish this. Then, she began to focus on the sun that appeared close to setting and frowned. She did not want to be near Héctor at a river during sunset. But Pepita turned back at her, a hopeful gleam in her eyes and Imelda couldn't deny her precious kitten this simple joy. "I suppose we can go… but not for long!" Imelda conceded.

Héctor almost let out a grito in his excitement. Being with Imelda made him feel like himself again and he could feel the call of music for the first time in years. But then he remembered that he was a musico no longer. He swallowed the grito, and smiled at Imelda before turning and guiding Pepita towards the river.

"You're going to love this, Imelda!"