Disclaimer: I do not own Encanto. This story is not for profit.
Chapter 20
October 30th
Dawn was difficult to place. The hurricane blotted out the sun, permitting only a dull gray light to reach the town. By the time Mirabel woke up, everyone else was awake except Bruno and the smell of coffee wafted through the house. Someone had draped a blanket edged with tassels over Bruno.
Antonio played with Bruno's rats, all dozen of them, laughing as they showed they did tricks for him in exchange for the scraps of fruit and arepa he offered them.
"You're gonna make them fat," Camilo said, eying the rats with a suspicious expression, as if he could see weight gain already.
"No, I'm not," Antonio said indignantly, taking the bait.
"He's teasing," Mirabel said, ruffling Antonio's hair and yawning. She padded into the bathroom with her knit bag and changed into her day clothes. When she came out, she practically physical bumped into Dolores. Dolores didn't have her makeup on yet, and she held a small case probably containing her cosmetics.
"Don't say anything about last night, okay?" she whispered. Then she hurriedly slipped past Mirabel into the bathroom and shut the door.
"Secrets," Mirabel groaned.
"What secrets?" Camilo asked.
Mirabel rolled her eyes. "Girl secrets. You'll throw up if I tell you." She smirked at him.
Camilo made a face and turned away with a slight shiver. Mirabel knew he was recalling the discovery that Dolores menstruated. It was a classic Camilo Story in the household. He had disregarded house rules and sneaked into his sister's room, discovered the used rag in Dolores' bathroom, and panicked. He'd run downstairs screaming that Dolores was bleeding. Mirabel's mother happened to be in the kitchen with Dolores at the time and had smoothed things over, but learning about menstruation had literally made Camilo so shocked that he hadn't eaten much for dinner that night.
"What're girl secrets?" Antonio asked.
Mirabel considered Antonio her friend and not just her cousin. "Well,-"
Camilo covered Antonio's ears and shot her a look. "What're you trying to do?"
Mirabel laughed. "He talked to animals. You don't think he already knows more than you do about pretty much everything?"
Camilo huffed and walked into the kitchen.
Mirabel came up to Antonio. "You shared a bedroom with me. You already know what girl secrets are." She grinned. "Except, they're not really secrets, and you already know all my 'secrets' because you were my roomie."
"Camilo is silly," Antonio said.
"He sure is."
Bruno finally woke with a groan and a stretch. He gave a start and looked over the arm of the chair, then relaxed with a sigh as he saw his rats gathered around Antonio. "Thanks for looking after my friends, Tonito." He stood. "They really like you. Gift or no Gift, kid, you've got a way with animals. You're just a natural."
Antonio beamed.
Over breakfast, the wind picked up to shrieking and the rain hurled itself against la Casa Guzmán as if infuriated to be deprived of victims.
Pepa slumped, looking miserable. "I'm so used to protecting everyone. I feel so guilty that this is happening."
"Remember the rainbows," Félix said, patting her hand. "Every storm has its good side, Pepi. Rainbows follow rain." He gestured with his other hand. "Like this family. Joy follows tragedy. It's a cycle. Think of it like a dance." He did a little shoulder shimmy. "It's called life."
Pepa sniffled, her eyes filling with tears.
Félix's gaze upon her was kind. He squeezed her hand. "Come on. Think about Ecclesiastes."
"Ecclesiastes?" Pepa asked, her voice thick with the urge to cry.
Félix grinned. "Right, Ecclesiastes. It contains my favorite line in the whole Bible: A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance."
Pepa hiccupped out a laugh.
"We've got everything pretty much covered," Félix said.
"Isn't there a part about a time to break down and a time to build up?" Bruno asked.
"Yes," Julieta said, a smile lighting up her face. "You're right."
"Yeah," Agustín said. "I see what you mean. Now is our time to build up."
Mirabel looked at everyone around the table. Her lackluster faith made her feel left out of this moment.
"You mean there's actually something good in there?" Camilo asked. His father elbowed him. "Ow."
Mirabel laughed, relieved that she wasn't the only one who couldn't remember anything about the Bible off the top of her head except that Jesus was in it.
Señora Guzmán quoted, smiling, "He hath made every thing beautiful in his time."
Mariano joined in. "And also that every man should eat and drink, and enjoy the good of all his labour, it is the gift of God." He made the words sound like music. He gestured to the table upon which their bountiful breakfast was spread.
"Ecclesiastes also says, 'For that which befalleth the sons of men befalleth beasts; even one thing befalleth them: as the one dieth, so dieth the other; yea, they have all one breath; so that a man hath no preeminence above a beast: for all is vanity,'" Abuela said.
Everyone stared at her.
Mirabel found Abuela's interruption of their good humor bizarre. Then a flicker of insight came to her. Oh. You're talking about yourself.
Félix cleared his throat. "Right. Right." He bowed his head and studiously ate his breakfast.
"Amen," Camilo said in a cheerful tone. "Thanks, Abuela."
"All that is in one book? I really need to study the Bible more," Mirabel said, giving everyone a lopsided smile.
That caused the adults to chuckle and the atmosphere to relax again.
"What are we doing today, Abuela?" Luisa asked.
"What can we do?" Camilo asked, gesturing. "It's not like we can build a house in a hurricane."
Luisa fidgeted in her seat. "There must be something useful we can do."
Julieta touched her arm. "Not everything needs to be useful."
Luisa gave her mother a pitifully lost look.
Mirabel was dismayed. No…You're backsliding. Why? Is being a guest of the Guzmáns stressing you out?
"It's all right, Luisa. One day off won't kill you," Señora Guzmán said with a laugh. She appealed to all the Madrigals. "Why don't you all take a day off and relax in the comfort of my home? I would be honored."
"On behalf of my family, thank you," Abuela said formally.
Bruno stood and waved a hand. "In that case, I'm going to take a nap."
"A nap? But you just got up," Antonio said.
"Don't argue," Pepa said. She stood and gathered Antonio to her side. "Your Tio Bruno can rest whenever he wants to. He's earned it."
"Thanks, Pepa," Bruno said, already yawning. He went back to the living room, curled up in the armchair, pulled the blanket over his shoulders, and went back to sleep.
Abuela rose and touched Luisa's arm gently. "Mi vida, will you speak with me? I need some advice about something." She gave Luisa a pleading smile.
Mirabel was shocked. Abuela never asks for advice.
"Sure, Abuela," Luisa said, also openly puzzled.
Alma gestured. "This way." They removed themselves from the kitchen and went upstairs so they could have privacy.
Several of them did dishes, although not everyone could fit into the same area of the kitchen at once. Isabela cleared the table and handed the dishes and cutlery to her mother and Félix. Dolores dried the dishes that Julieta and Félix washed and handed them to Mariano, who handed them to Camilo and Antonio. Antonio handled the lower cabinets and Camilo the upper cabinets. The larger dishes stored in a cabinet across the room went to Mirabel. Señora Guzmán stood by and directed, explaining where each dish went. Agustín was exempt for obvious reasons, and Pepa was shaking so hard at the continued wailing and thrashing of the hurricane that Félix set her back down at the table with a cup of tea.
Mirabel smothered a groan: Dolores kept trying to shyly make eye contact with Mariano while Mariano seemingly couldn't help watching Isabela's natural grace as she cleared the table. This is painful. I've got to do something. But what? Dolores wants me to stay out of it. A smile crossed her face. Then I'll just talk to Mariano.
Camilo juggled the plates he was expected to put up in the cabinets, earning laughter from Antonio.
"Don't play with dishes," Félix scolded. "What if you break them? Did you think of that? Huh? Usa tu cabeza."
Camilo put up the dishes with an unrepentant grin.
"So lively," Señora Guzmán said with a charming smile.
"Don't encourage him," Félix said.
Camilo behaved for the remainder of the chore, but sneaked funny faces at Antonio, keeping his younger brother laughing.
Abuela and Luisa returned. Luisa's jaw went slack when she saw that the dishes were done. "Oh, no. I missed it."
"It's fine," Mirabel said.
"I could sweep the floor," Luisa suggested.
Señora Guzmán looked puzzled. "If you really want to, dear."
Abuela's shoulders slumped. "Luisa…"
"Where's the broom?" Luisa asked cheerfully.
"The broom is in the closet." Señora Guzmán pointed to the far corner of the kitchen. "But you really don't have to."
"I want to!" Luisa grabbed the broom and swept the kitchen, accidentally forcing everyone into the living room. "I've got to do something. You already did the dishes without me." She gathered all the dust and food particles with the dust pan from the closet and tipped it into the kitchen garbage at the back door. Once she finished putting the broom and dustpan away, she walked into the living room with a grin. "What's next?"
"How about we all sit down and play a game?" Señora Guzmán suggested.
Abuela caught Luisa's eye. Luisa smiled uneasily. "Sure." She sat down on the sofa next to Abuela.
"Can we play Chinchón?" Antonio asked eagerly. "Tio Bruno taught us how to play."
Señora Guzmán smiled. "He did?"
Bruno stretched and yawned. "Yep. I mean, yes, ma'am." He straightened. "That was a good nap." He took his deck of cards out of an inner pocket with a flourish. "Chinchón it is."
Everyone gathered around as Bruno dealt them in. Mirabel noticed that Dolores was distracted by Mariano and Luisa made several lousy plays, seemingly out of nervousness. However, the overall atmosphere was festive, and the adults made small talk over the noise of the storm.
After the card game finished, Señora Guzmán suggested, "How about some music? Mariano loves to play his guitar."
Mariano smiled at his mother with obvious adoration. "Would you like to hear some music, Mamá? I'll go get it."
"I have an accordion around here somewhere," Señora Guzmán said, rising. "It belonged to my husband."
"Mirabel plays accordion!" Antonio pointed at his cousin.
Mirabel froze and pasted on a wide grin. "I don't know…"
"Won't you please play for us?" Señora Guzmán asked, giving Mirabel a gently pleading look.
Mirabel glanced at Abuela and hopped up. "Sure! No problem."
"Pick something with lyrics and I can sing," Félix said, grinning.
Señora Guzmán clapped her hands, smiling. "Wonderful, Félix! I'll go get that accordion." She hustled upstairs.
Mariano came down with his guitar, sat, and strummed it, listening.
"Your lower E string is flat," Dolores murmured. "And your A string is sharp."
Mariano gave her a startled look.
Mirabel wanted to cheer. Go, Dolores, go! Get noticed!
Dolores, however, wilted down in her chair, tucking her shoulders. "Sorry. I shouldn't have said anything."
"What? No, you are being very helpful," Mariano reassured her, tuning his guitar. He strummed again. "Is that better?"
Dolores nodded, not meeting his gaze.
Mirabel wanted to throw her hands in the air in disgust. What do I have to do to get you two together?
"Dolores has perfect pitch," Félix bragged, throwing an arm around his daughter's shoulders.
Dolores' eyes darted around the room with a wide stare. She looked like she wanted to dart out of her father's grasp. Mirabel was reminded of Bruno.
Señora Guzmán returned with the accordion and handed it to Mirabel. "It hasn't been used in a while, but I've taken good care of it."
Mirabel experimentally ran through a chord progression. "Wow. This is a really good accordion."
Señora Guzmán glowed. "My husband loved music. He and your Abuelo Pedro used to play songs together all the time."
Mirabel was stunned. "Really?" She felt the weight of holding a piece of history.
"That is so cool!" Isabela burst out.
Mariano and Mirabel conferred about what songs to play and then Mariano led the way, playing the guitar part and giving Mirabel the rhythm. Mirabel played alongside Mariano effortlessly and soon was comfortable enough to keep the beat by dancing to it, which is what she usually did. Her self-consciousness evaporated as she saw how rapt her family was. Mirabel found herself wishing it could be Dolores playing the accordion, given that she was now determined to get Mariano and Dolores together, but it was understandable that Dolores' super hearing had made it impossible to learn how to play instruments. They all would have sounded too loud for her to handle – not to mention taking her attention away from listening to everything, which had been Abuela's orders.
Félix got up and danced, and that uncorked everyone else. The second song had vocals, and Félix sang to them as they all danced.
"Let's do cumbia next," Camilo said. "Is there something I can drum with, Señora Guzmán?"
She laughed, continuing to dance alongside Abuela. "I'm sure I can dig something up." She danced her way into the kitchen and out of sight and returned with a clean bucket of the type that would hold water for washing the floor. "Try this!" She tossed it at Camilo casually.
Camilo caught it, momentarily looking shocked, and then grinned.
"All right, Señora!" Félix cheered.
Camilo turned the bucket over and played a recognizable drum beat. Mirabel shifted effortlessly into a cumbia song. Mariano and Félix sang the words together.
Even Luisa relaxed at this point, dancing alongside Julieta and Pepa and leaving Isabela room to do showier moves. Agustín, the only person sitting out due to his natural clumsiness, clapped along to the beat instead, watching with evident enjoyment. Most surprising to Mirabel was that Bruno was as good at dancing as Isabela. On the next song, a faster one, they partnered together, Bruno keeping up with Isabela and showing off her graceful dancing perfectly.
Mirabel felt tears in her eyes as the harmonious energy of the room swept through her. There is hope.
xxx
Lunch was an informal, light meal of leftovers and some fresh beans and rice. Everyone ate sitting together in no particular order. Dancing seemed to have done Bruno some good. There was more color in his face, and he actually regaled the children with funny stories about things that happened when he, Julieta, and Pepa were kids. Pepa threw her napkin at him at one point, turning beet red, but otherwise everyone enjoyed the rare experience of Bruno opening up.
Afterwards Julieta, Luisa, Isabela, and Mariano took over the kitchen to prepare dinner. Pepa offered Bruno the use of the room she had Félix had been given to take a nap in, which Bruno gratefully accepted. Antonio enlisted his brother, sister, and parents, plus Mirabel, to play hide and seek with him. Agustín borrowed a book to read and settled in the living room. Abuela and Señora Guzmán sat across the living room from Agustín with cups of tea and discussed village business.
Mirabel caught snatches of Abuela and Señora Guzmán's conversation as she crossed back and forth through the house during her turn to try to find everyone. "A second bridge is definitely needed," Señora Guzmán said as if she were agreeing with an earlier statement of Abuela's. Mirabel perked up her ears but did her best to pretend like she was only passing by. On her second visit to the living room, Abuela was saying, "Better pastures with better enclosures. The donkeys drift to the south side of town because that is where the grazing is better." Excitement rose in Mirabel's chest. They're actually talking about making life easier! That was the advice Abuela wanted from Luisa earlier.
Mirabel popped into the kitchen, pretended to look for Antonio under the table, and whisked over to Luisa, whispering in her sister's ear, "Abuela and Señora Guzmán are taking your advice seriously!" She bounced away, pleased with the startled, blushing expression on Luisa's face.
Antonio, a 5-year-old bundle of energy, insisted on hide and seek all the way until dinnertime, when the adults called a stop to it so that everyone could help set the table. Bruno came downstairs, yawning. The dark circles under his eyes that Mirabel had grown so used to here almost gone. He looked Julieta's age now, which was good, because it was also his age.
Dinner was lively, with the adults swapping stories about their childhoods and early adulthoods and Camilo trying to start a subtle food fight and being stopped by Isabela.
That night Mirabel fell asleep feeling blissful. Maybe we should have hurricanes more often.
