Disclaimer: Encanto does not belong to me. This story is not for profit.
CW: mentions of physical abuse
Chapter 2
October 18th
Mirabel woke from a dream of Abuela's candle burning so hotly that it set Casita on fire with everyone trapped inside. She sat up and rubbed her eyes. "Ugh." Fumbling for her glasses and putting them on, she discovered everyone was waking up. She yawned.
Everyone split up to go to different people's houses to eat breakfast and bathe and change into their donated clothing. Mirabel and Dolores ended up paired together as guests of Señora Martinez, a textile weaver. Señora Martinez also had a full family out on the patio of her home, so Dolores and Mirabel ate in the kitchen in relative privacy aside from when their hostess came in to get more coffee for her family.
Mirabel sat across from Dolores at the small kitchen table. A plate of tamales sat between them for them to serve themselves off of.
"How did you sleep?" Mirabel asked.
Dolores stared at her for a moment and then looked away. "Terrible. I couldn't hear anything. I'm so used to – to the noise – I feel as if I've gone deaf."
Mirabel flinched and almost bit herself in the process of taking a bite of food. "I'm sorry."
"I could hear whatever I concentrated on," Dolores whispered. "I could pick my mom's voice out of a crowd. Now I can't hear her. I don't know what she's saying, what she's doing…It's the same for everyone else. I can't hear anyone. Anyone but you and Señora Martinez."
Mirabel looked away, tensing up. "I gotta admit, I was thinking that you would be glad not to have to hear all of us all day long – and all night."
Dolores looked at Mirabel strangely. "But that was my job."
Mirabel met Dolores' gaze with disbelief. "Your job?"
"Abuela told me to always listen and to tell her what everyone said," Dolores said as if that weren't the most horrifying thing Mirabel had ever heard.
"What?" Mirabel shot to her feet and slapped her hands down on the table. "You were spying on us? You could control your Gift the whole time, but you chose to overhear everything we ever said and tell it to Abuela?"
Dolores didn't seem to understand Mirabel's rage. "I kept some things to myself. It was hard. I heard Tio Bruno in the walls. But Abuela had said since the morning he didn't come to breakfast that he had abandoned the family and we were never to talk about him again. And I know better than to disobey an order from Abuela. So, she had decided he was gone, and I could hear that he was still here, but I couldn't tell."
Mirabel massaged her temples with both hands. "Well, we all need privacy from now on. OK? Don't listen to people and report everything they say back to Abuela. It's none of her business what we all choose to do with our time."
Dolores let out a characteristic squeak and shrugged. "I can't overhear everybody anyway. You know that. So what I tell Abuela is limited to what people choose to tell me."
Mirabel let out a long, exasperated sigh and sat back down so she could finish her breakfast. "Are you sorry at all?"
"Why? Abuela leads our family and she asked me to do it."
"Abuela isn't perfect!" Mirabel cut more bites off of her breakfast and shoved a bite in her mouth. "And you can tell her I said so."
"I would prefer not to make Abuela angry," Dolores murmured. She stared down at her breakfast.
"You know what? I don't care if Abuela is angry. I'm angry. I'm getting angrier every day." Mirabel shoved more food in her mouth.
Part of her longed for the incredible relief she'd felt to get a hug from her Abuela, to be told that the mythical Abuelo Pedro had sent her, to finally be told that she mattered. But all of that had worn off after sleeping on it and realizing that Abuela hadn't apologized for implying that she was worthless, hadn't committed to changing, and hadn't agreed that every person in the family was more than their Gifts. In claiming to be "broken" Abuela had missed the point, and then when Mirabel clarified, Abuela had not accepted Mirabel's actual criticisms. In short, Mirabel felt played.
Dolores was silent.
"Yeah, and about Tio Bruno. You knew where he was the whole time, but you told me to talk to Luisa." Maribel stabbed the air with her fork. "You could have told me where he was and how to find him the whole time. The whole time! I didn't have to risk breaking my neck or falling to my doom in that stupid, crazy room of his. What if I'd died because you told me to ask Luisa and Luisa told me to go to Bruno's tower? Do you care at all?"
"I knew it was a risk," Dolores said quietly. "But I couldn't betray Tio Bruno. He didn't want to talk to you. I hoped that finding his vision of you would be enough for you to leave it alone."
"Leave it alone?" Mirabel shrieked, standing up from the table and washing her plate and fork at the sink. They didn't have a magic house to help them wash the dishes and she didn't want to be rude to Señora Martinez. "You were happy for Tio Bruno to be living in the walls? Did you see what it looked like in there? Did you know he drew a plate on a little table on the other side of the wall from where the dining room is so that he could sit with us every night?"
"No, I didn't know." Dolores looked at her lap. "When I discovered him, because I could hear the trowel scraping the spackle into the cracks, he told me not to tell anyone, especially Abuela." Her lips quivered, and her eyes were extra wide. "That was the hardest thing I ever had to do. And I kept my promise, because I love Tio Bruno." A single tear welled up in her right eye and dripped down her cheek. "He is the only one who ever understood me. I would never betray him."
Mirabel sighed, rose from her chair, and put her arms around Dolores. "You never tried to let me understand you. Why have you always been so quiet? It's like you've always been unreachable."
"I didn't want to be like my mother, raining and thundering my emotions onto everyone," Dolores said, her lips curling back in a snarl.
Mirabel squeezed Dolores' shoulders. "But you went too far in the other direction. And, seriously, stop telling on us to Abuela. It's not cool."
"I shouldn't be talking about my emotions," Dolores insisted. "Everyone is having a hard time. It isn't only me."
"We're a family," Mirabel said. "It's about all of us. Together."
xxx
The Madrigals regrouped at the church. The only person who seemingly had never left was Bruno. He was in the same position Mirabel had seen last: cuddled up to the corner of the church. Mirabel marched over to him. "Tio Bruno?" Mirabel glanced at the others. They were all leaving to go out to the building site. She stood her ground. "Aren't you going to get up? We need everyone to work together."
Bruno hiked up his blanket over his head. "I used sand to outline where to put the walls. I'm pretty sure that's all they needed."
"What about breakfast?"
"No thanks."
Mirabel frowned. "You can't not eat breakfast."
"I can do anything I want. If there's anything I've learned from living in the walls, i-it's that."
Mirabel glanced around.
Dolores scurried away to join the others, meeting Mirabel's gaze pleadingly, silently asking her to respect Bruno's wishes.
The church was empty now, and Dolores didn't have her Gift anymore. No one would overhear them. Mirabel focused on Bruno. "I know that our family acted like we were useless. You because they didn't like your visions and me because I didn't get a Gift. But that doesn't mean we are useless. Our family is wrong, and Abuela is wrong."
Bruno flinched at the word 'Abuela'.
"You're still scared of her," Mirabel said.
Bruno curled into a ball. "I'm not talking about this."
"So even Bruno doesn't talk about Bruno?"
Bruno rolled over and looked at her from underneath his blanket. She saw the glittering red eyes of at least three rats in there with him. "That was a low blow."
Mirabel sat down. "When I said I was bringing you home, I meant it. But I can't do that if you don't want to be home."
"I-I-It's comp…licated." That was the worst Mirabel had heard him stutter since they'd met inside the walls. Bruno sighed. "Please. Go on without me."
Mirabel smirked. "What about Hernando?"
"W-W-W-" Bruno took a deep breath. "H-Hernando? I don't understand."
"Hernando is great at spackling." Mirabel grinned. "Don't you think that's a valuable skill on a building site? There are going to be lots of walls to spackle. And what about Jorge? There are sooo many buckets of spackle to make, it's ridiculous." She touched his arm gently. "Come on. Let's go help the others."
"There is no Her-Hernando, o-or Jor…Jorge, either. I was acting."
Mirabel shrugged. "So what? That doesn't make the patchwork you did on Casita's walls not real. And it was really professional looking." She stood. "And, since your Gift of acting comes from you and not from the miracle, you still have it. Right?" Pleased with her argument, she headed toward the door. When she glanced over her shoulder, she stifled a shriek of surprise. "Hernando" was right behind her: Bruno with the hood of his ruana pulled down. "Great!" She put on a smile to hide the fact that it was downright unsettling how fast he moved.
They split up at the building site.
Hernando directed half a dozen men in how to plaster a wall. They were so awed at Hernando's commanding presence and level of skill that they did what he said without question.
Mirabel saw Abuela talking to one of the village builders and started in that direction, but it suddenly seemed like everyone had a million tiny tasks for her to do: bringing buckets of nails, holding a board steady, mixing plaster, using the level to see if the wall was straight while five people held it up. In the midst of all this, Abuela disappeared. Two hours passed before Mirabel found Abuela again, talking and laughing with two of the female village elders. She broke away from the busywork. "Abuela! Can I talk to you?"
Abuela laughed and hugged her, smiling at the other two women. "Absolutely."
Mirabel smiled at the two women awkwardly.
Abuela received the unspoken message. "Let's take a walk." They walked arm in arm until they were far enough away that no one would overhear them. While it was strange to see the streets so empty, it was convenient.
Mirabel took a deep breath and started in. "Abuela, I really feel like we bonded down at the river."
Abuela smiled and touched her arm. "Good."
"So I feel like I can talk to you about anything."
"Please do." She cupped Mirabel's cheek. "I want us to be close from now on."
"Dolores told me how you asked her to use her Gift."
Abuela tensed and dropped her hand from Mirabel's cheek. "Oh?"
"And it isn't appropriate."
Abuela stared at her with a perfected look of disapproving confusion. "What are you talking about?"
That line, a variation of 'What are you doing?' snapped through Mirabel's self-control. "You can't be spying on people you're supposed to trust!"
"You are blowing this way out of proportion, as usual."
"Stop it!" Mirabel was so angry that her chest was heaving. "I thought you changed when we were down at the river, but now I see that all you did was excuse yourself by saying that you had a bad time and that this isn't the life you wanted, so you're taking it out on all of us. I'm sorry Abuelo Pedro died. I'm sorry that the war between the Liberals and the Conservatives destroyed your village. But you know what? That's no excuse to treat everyone this way. I'm not worthless because I didn't get a Gift. And you know what else? I'm beginning to think that the reason I didn't get a Gift is because of you."
Mirabel ran away as hard and as fast as she could. She didn't change. She'll never change.
"Mirabel!" Abuela called after her.
Mirabel ran until she couldn't hear Abuela anymore. She hid in one of the market stalls behind some barrels and cried, but only because she was so angry. When she'd had about twenty minutes to put herself back in order, she stood, wiped her cheeks, blew her nose, and made a new plan. I can't let Abuela stop us from becoming a happy family. Her unhappiness doesn't mean we all have to be unhappy. I don't accept that.
She marched back to the building site to the outdoor stoves set up and beamed at her mother. "Need some help? I can do stuff." She grabbed some roasting corn and turned it. "See?"
Julieta's face was tight and her eyes wide, brows lowered. "What are you doing?" She grabbed Mirabel's arm and pulled her away from the workers.
Mirabel allowed herself to be pulled along, in shock that he mother was physically restraining her. "What?"
Her mother's lips tightened into a thin line. When she decompressed them, she frowned coldly. "I thought you made up with your Abuela. Now you are starting an argument? Have you forgotten what happened the last time you argued with your Abuela? How is that possible, when our house broke apart around you only two days ago? After that speech you gave us about working together and being constellations, I really thought you understood your place in this family. I am so disappointed in you."
Mirabel pulled her arm back and gestured with both hands. "You weren't even there! How do you know what Abuela and I said to each other?"
Julieta propped her hands on her hips. "I don't care what your Abuela said to you, what you said to her is disrespectful, rude, and cruel. If you are my daughter, you will apologize."
Mirabel's cheeks puffed out from the effort of not immediately replying. She let her breath go in a sharp puff and forced her shoulders down, even though her arms were tight. "Then…I'm not your daughter."
"Mirabel!"
Mirabel jerked forward, staring down her mother. "If it doesn't matter what Abuela says to me, if it doesn't matter what Abuela says to anyone, then she can be disrespectful, rude, and cruel, and you will still protect her."
Her mother's angry expression was blasted off her face, and in its place blank-eyed shock, as if she had never seen Mirabel before.
Mirabel clenched her fists. "The night of Antonio's party, you told Abuela to be nice to me because it was a difficult night for me, and Abuela said no. She told you it won't just be difficult for me, it will be difficult for everyone, if Antonio doesn't get a Gift. And you dropped it." Her jaw clenched, and she worked it loose, breathing deeply. "Just like when Abuela made fun of me by accusing me that I was drunk, you told me I had had a difficult night. No, you did not believe me that I saw the cracks. And you warned me that I was in danger of ending up like Bruno." She straightened and lifted her head high. "I hope I turn out as courageous and selfless as Tio Bruno!"
Her mother's anger returned, and lines appeared around her mouth. "What Bruno did wasn't courageous and selfless. It was cowardly and selfish."
"How can you say that?" Mirabel's voice cracked.
"Bruno should have shown us the prophecy immediately!" her mother yelled. Mirabel couldn't remember her mother ever yelling. "If he had warned us, if he had given us time to prepare, then we might have avoided this! Instead, he thought about the short term consequences, he thought about Abuela being mean to you, instead of thinking about the family!"
Crushing weight stole the breath from Mirabel's lungs. "How can you say that?"
"I lost my Gift!" her mother shrieked, their faces only two inches apart. "If I could cram an arepa down your throat and erase the marks, I would slap you!"
Miabel gasped.
"Your argument with my mother cost me everything!"
Mirabel's father ran up to them. "What's all this yelling?" His mouth was gaping open and his eyes were concerned.
Mirabel sobbed and ran past him, using him as a body shield to get away from her mother.
She went out into the fields where villagers were packing mud into the brick-making frames that would result in adobe, the sun-dried building material needed to make most of the new Casita. No one there cared that she had never been given a Gift. They allowed her to fill the frames and scrape off the excess with them. They accepted her as another villager like them.
"Have you been crying?" Guadalupe Morales asked kindly. She was 25, and the Morales family was a family of builders by trade. She was strong like Luisa, but not as tall, and wore her dark hair in two braids. Since Mirabel was 11 years old, Guadalupe Morales had been like an older sister to her. She went by Lupita.
"No," Mirabel said quickly. "I'm fine. Everything's fine." After a minute or two of working together to fill another frame, she asked, aware there was no casual way to ask the question, "So, what does everyone think about Bruno coming back?"
"He looks very sad," Lupita said. "I know everyone ages, but he has not aged well. I don't think anyone fears him anymore. The Gift is gone. We wonder where he has been and if he has news from outside the Encanto."
Mirabel took a deep breath. "He didn't leave the Encanto."
"Oh. I see. Some of the men, like my father, will be disappointed. We had hoped to know if it was safe to come out of hiding."
"Sorry. Tio Bruno has been hiding, too," Mirabel whispered.
xxx
Mirabel crept back to the building site at dinnertime so that she could eat, but she didn't want to talk to anyone. She grabbed a plate and wandered off down the street. As she glanced at the crowd she was leaving, no one seemed to notice her. Then she faced forward and almost bumped into Bruno. "Ah!" She narrowly avoided dropping her plate.
"Sneaking away from the others?" Bruno asked, smiling. "You're becoming more like me every day. Be careful."
"I had an argument with Mamá. I've never argued with her before."
Bruno held out his hand. "Here. I'll show you the best view of the sunset." He helped her climb the market building with their plates.
They ate in silence. Mirabel stared ahead at the sunset for as long as she could, trying to be polite, but the pretty colors didn't make her feel any better. She ended up watching him feed his rats off his plate. The way he shared his food with them without any fear amazed her, but he was still alive after doing stuff like this for ten years, so rats had to be pretty clean creatures. He ate his roasted corn on the cob, a few bites of stewed pork, and an arepa, and then tucked the other two arepas into his pockets.
Mirabel set down her empty plate. "She screamed at me. I can't get out of my head what she said to me."
Bruno set aside his plate and braced his hands on the roof, leaning back. "Yeah, when Julieta finally goes off, she can be a firecracker."
Mirabel wrapped her arms around herself tightly. "She would never hurt me. Never. It was like she was possessed."
Bruno laid his hand on her shoulder. "I'm sorry you saw a side of your Mamá you don't like. But she's always been like that. Pepa lets it out. Julieta builds pressure. Sometimes she goes years without letting it off, and – and sometimes, she's just like, boom! And everyone has to run for cover. That's one thing I don't miss about living outside of the walls."
Mirabel sniffled. "She is a good person. She helps people all the time."
"People like that run out of energy for themselves, and when they do, they snap." Bruno's voice was gentle. "I never said your mom wasn't a good person. She's a great person. But even – but even great people have their problems."
"Has she ever yelled at you?"
"L-Lots of times."
Mirabel scooted over and wrapped her arm around him.
He wrapped his arm around her in return. "Th-That doesn't make it OK, though. It's not OK. It's one of the m-m-many things with this family that's not OK." He looked tired. "But I always felt like I was the only one – only one who saw it. After a while, it was eas-easier just to hide."
"I see it too," Mirabel whispered. "You aren't crazy. And I refuse to go into hiding. And they had no right to push you between the walls." She met his gaze. "Because it wasn't the prophecy about me that made you hide there, was it? That was more like the last thing that happened, like the straw that breaks the camel's back."
"I kn-knew how it would look," Bruno said. "And you're right. I couldn't handle one more argument. E-Especially not about you. You were the youngest. It didn't seem fair. How they would all gang up on you." His shoulders slumped. "I know they did a lot of that anyway. I'm sorry."
Mirabel hugged him tightly. "It's OK. I forgive you. I know you did the best for me. Te quiero mucho."
Bruno looked at her with shock, and then suddenly tears were in his eyes. "Te quiero mucho." He hugged her tightly in return.
Getting down from the roof was a lot harder than getting up, something Bruno apologized for. Mirabel had a couple near-slips, and she knew from her experience inside Casita's inner walls not to grab onto Bruno. Then they would both fall.
When they rejoined the rest of their family and the villagers, no one asked them where they'd been. Mirabel received a glimpse into how lonely Bruno's life had been.
Note: Te quiero mucho is a common way for Colombian families to tell each other "I love you so much".
