[Chapter 8]
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Mirabel took the lotion she always used before bed as she watched herself at the vanity of the hotel room that Agustín had reserved for her. "Can I come in, Mirabel?" Camilo asked from the outside. Mirabel opened the door very slowly and let him in.
"I know, I yelled at you this afternoon, but I want to know exactly why you accuse our grandmother of something so horrible," Camilo said. Mirabel was surprised. He seemed to be a person of excellent humor, to tell the truth, they had never talked without him introducing a hint of humor into the conversation, but this time it was different. He was truly upset. Camilo sat on her bed and listened to her relive the moments before Bruno's revelation. She told him everything, her grandmother's nerves, Bruno's anger, the prophecy and his confession, to the point that at the end of the story Camilo just remained silent looking at nothing in particular.
"Now I understand, now I understand everything" he murmured. "Grandma lied to all of us, that's why Aunt Julieta and Agustín decided to keep everything about the private detective a secret, because they also distrust her" Camilo said. Suddenly, he sobbed and Mirabel couldn't help but hug him as she put her head on his shoulder. If anyone understood his feelings, it was her. Mirabel had gone from one day to the next, finding out that the man she always loved, the pillar of her beautiful past life, was a gray character, with good feelings but dubious actions, and now Camilo was going through the same experience.
"I've always wondered if grandma really loves me, or if she just wants my gift, now I'm sure. She doesn't feel anything for us, to the point of discarding one of her granddaughters because of her magic" Camilo said as he wiped his tears with his shirt sleeve. "We have all been so naive, mom has gone to the point of neurosis to please her, Luisa breaks her back for her, Isabela is going to get married and Dolores is in love but she can't say a single word" Camilo cried while Mirabel tried to help him calm down.
Camilo spent the night with her, and the next day they started the trip back to Casita. "Camilo, you said that mom and dad had the feeling that our grandmother was to blame for everything, but I don't understand, if that's the case, why haven't they done anything?" Mirabel asked as they walked. "Isn't it obvious," he asked, "for the same reason that I didn't believe you right away, or the reason because you can't stop loving Bruno despite everything that's happened. There are truths that are simply too difficult to accept.
A couple of days passed after their arrival at Encanto, and Bruno still hadn't shown up. However, her peace was interrupted with an announcement: The Madrigal family would receive the Gonzales family to share one last dinner before the long-awaited marriage between Isabela and Mariano. Mirabel had to attend a couple of fittings for her sister's wedding dress, and it was an almost pathetic sight, with Isabela smiling with cool politeness and using the first opportunity to take it on Mirabel. Perhaps she would have felt sorry for her sister, if she wasn't so rude.
The day of the dinner arrived, and her grandmother was frantic. The preparations began in the morning, with a general cleaning, after which Mirabel was in charge of shining the countless pieces of traditional black pottery, to the point that at the end she barely felt her wrist. Later, she had to help her mother sift liters of lulo juice for those who couldn't drink alcohol, which was lucky, at least she could drink it.
Mirabel went from one room to another through the central patio of the house carrying clean tablecloths and napkins for her grandmother to choose her favorite. Suddenly, a loud cracking sound caught her attention. She stopped and walked towards the stairs, just where Grandpa Pedro's portrait was, a huge crack appeared behind the painting. Mirabel looked at it as she gasped. She had seen that scene in one of her dreams.
"Mirabel!" her grandmother called as she walked towards her "What do you think you're doing, girl? those tablecloths are needed for today, hurry up" Alma said. Mirabel looked at her carefully and pointed towards the crack. "I saw that crack in my dream, this house will collapse very soon if you don't do something" Mirabel said very seriously. Alma seemed ready to deny the truth to the end, but she wouldn't let her. "You don't have to deny it, I know you have hidden from the family the truth. The magic is in danger, but I have seen it in my dreams, very soon everything will come crashing down, like a house of cards" Mirabel said. She was delighted with the reaction of her grandmother who looked scared and furious.
"If you knew what's going to happen, why didn't you accept my proposal?" her grandmother asked. "My presence does not make much difference, it is you, you are the one who created those cracks, your family is not as stupid as you think, surely they know the truth, those cracks are a consequence of each one of your lies, ma'am" Mirabel replied, Suddenly her grandmother's gaze softened, "Do you hate me that much, Mirabel?" the old woman asked with a broken voice. "Tell me one thing: if you were in my place, wouldn't you hate me?" Mirabel asked, while the old lady remained silent. "What do you want from me? Alma asked.
"I don't know" Mirabel said "I just want to go home and for everything to be like before, but I feel guilty for mom and dad, because they love me and I should love them back, but still I can't" she confessed while her eyes got wet. "Please stop the cracks, Mirabel," Alma requested. "I already told you, I can't do anything" Mirabel insisted.
Suddenly, Dolores came out of one of the rooms, so they had to interrupt their conversation. It was clear that her cousin had heard, but she pretended not to, since she went down to the dining room without saying a single word.
The dinner began, and very soon everyone was sitting at the table, while Mirabel was trapped between Agustín and Isabela. She pretended to eat a couple of spoonfuls of the ajiaco in front of her, but she did nothing more than drink the juice that she had prepared, since it was the only safe food for her. "Avocado?" asked Mariano who passed her the bowl. Mirabel was happy, since the ajiaco avocado used to be served in quarters, without any kind of preparation, so she could eat it.
However, the avocado was served in the form of a puree that someone had prepared. Mirabel frowned. Who would be the degenerate who had had the brilliant idea of serving the avocado for ajiaco in the form of puree?
"Guacala" Mirabel murmured as she imagined that paste floating in the soup. "Watch your manners" Isabela scolded her, annoyed by her reaction. Surely she was the one who had the brilliant idea of serving the avocado in the form of puree.
Mirabel was silent looking at her soup and stirring the spoon in it, while Dolores did not take her eyes off her. Her cousin seemed about to explode. Probably, she had already come to her own conclusions after listening to the conversation. For his part, Camilo seemed as absent as he did since the arrival from their trip. He didn't even bother to look happy.
"Eat something," Isabela muttered under her breath as she gave Mirabel a look. "I don't want to," Mirabel answered. "I'm sick of your tantrums, eat something" Isabela insisted, she was finding it harder and harder to keep her fake smile. "No," Mirabel refused. "Mirabel, are you alright?" Mariano asked. "She's just happy, because of the marriage" Agustin replied while trying to keep up appearances, since a fight between the two sisters was imminent.
Mirabel remained silent and played with the spoon again, while she stirred the soup. "Eat something, dammit!" Isabela yelled as she hit the table hard with the palm of her hand, to the point that a couple of wine glasses came crashing down on the table. Everyone looked at Isabela, even Camilo came out of his misery for a few moments to be amazed by his cousin's outburst.
"Isabela, please, we have guests" Alma reprimanded her. "Grandma, Mariano will soon be part of our family, so I don't understand why we have to treat him like another guest," Isabela said. " Also, we can't just continue to act as if nothing happened. Mirabel is starving, she doesn't want to eat and there is no logical explanation, we can't allow her to keep throwing this tantrum as if she were a baby" said Isabela.
"Mirabel, please, eat some soup so that your sister can be at peace" her grandmother requested. "I'm so sorry, ma'am, but I can't do it," Mirabel replied. Isabela seemed to almost gather momentum to give her the worst scolding of her life, but Mariano interrupted her. "Has anyone asked you why you don't want to eat?" Mariano asked while the family and Mirabel looked at each other, because the truth was that they didn't ask, and she didn't tell anyone the truth either. "I can't believe it," Mariano muttered. "Why don't you want to eat the food your mom makes, dear?" asked Mrs. Guzmán who must have thought it was time to fill the awkward pause.
Mirabel looked at each of her family members. "I am very afraid of the magic of this house. They all say that Bruno must have erased my memories with the help of magic, and I fear that this may happen again. I'm afraid that you want me to forget about Bruno, about my life in Tocama and about the last ten years, for I can adapt to this house, and make me a little more docile. I don't want to go through that again," Mirabel said as she felt tears overtake her. "That such a nonsense" Isabela murmured "Mom would be unable to do that to you, nobody has poisoned your food or anything like that, give me that" Isabela said as she took the bowl of soup and put it in her place. "I will eat your plate and show you that it is completely harmless." Her sister took the spoon and prepared to drink.
"No!" Agustín and Julieta yelled at the same time. Isabela looked up as she dropped the spoon and dozens of drops spread on the tablecloth. "Mom" Isabela stammered, realizing that Mirabel's suspicions were not as far-fetched as she had initially believed. "Julieta, did you really try to put something in Mirabel's soup?" Alma Madrigal was surprised as she looked at her daughter. Julieta blinked frantically as she tried not to cry.
"I just wanted to cure her of whatever Bruno had done to her. My powers are for healing, that was the only thing I wanted to do" Julieta confessed with a broken voice. The entire family held their breath for a moment, even his uncle Felix, who was a calm man with calm emotions, was impressed by that confession. They had all spent months believing that Mirabel suffered from extreme paranoia, but in the end it turned out that she had completely valid reasons for not eating in this house.
"You have never used that kind of magic, Julieta. That could have been disastrous" her grandmother said. "Easy for you to say, you didn't lose your daughter, Mom. Ten years ago I left my heartbroken baby in the hands of the person I trusted the most in the whole world. And now I find her without a single memory of me. My own brother kidnapped her, and now, he has the nerve to steal her love. Mirabel hates me, Mom, she hates this house, this town, and none of this would have happened if he hadn't taken her away that night. I just wanted to get her back" Julieta said.
"How long have you been trying to do this, Julieta?" her grandmother asked. Her mother shared a look with Agustín. " Since the night before we got here, the night we spent in the boarding house on the outskirts of Encanto. Agustín and I realized that Mirabel was very unhappy, we knew that we could not be a family again until Bruno had disappeared from her memory and from our lives. That night I went down to the kitchen of the inn and made an arepa for her, but I haven't been able to get her to eat" Julieta confessed.
"Julieta, when you say that you two decided to get rid of Bruno, I suppose it means that the incidents with the Villanuevas and the Ruiz Diaz were your fault" Pepa said without daring to look at her sister. "We take care of that," Julieta confessed. "Julieta, he is our younger brother, our brother" Pepa replied indignantly, "we spent months believing that this girl was nothing more than a poor paranoid, and in the end it turned out that she was right" her grandmother intervened.
"You have no right to judge me. Especially you, mother, I can't even be sure that you're not to blame for all my misfortunes", Julieta replied as a deafening noise filled the room. A gigantic crack broke the tiles of the dining room.
"Enough," Mariano said as he stood up. "This marriage is off," he continued. "What are you talking about? you can't do this to me" Isabela responded as a huge vine grew out of the ground and hit Mariano square in the nose. "I can and I will," he replied even though he was bleeding profusely. "Isabella, you don't love me, you can't even stand me, and I…" Mariano began, while he gave Dolores a look that was barely perceptible, but it was enough to unleash Isabela's fury. "It has to be a joke," Isabela replied. "It's not, Isabela, I loved you, I swear I did, but you don't love me, and I don't want to go into a marriage without love, I don't deserve it. You just want to please your grandmother, but I don't deserve to be used" Mariano replied. Isabela and Dolores exchanged a brief look and a new noise alerted them, another crack broke one of the walls of the dining room.
At that moment Camilo suffered a hiccup attack and his face began to change shape without any control. While a black cloud rose above the dining room, it soon started to rain and everyone was soaked as they shouted at each other. Mrs. Guzmán took her son and got ready to leave. "Mirabel, come with us, you can have dinner quietly at home" Mariano said as he stopped his bleeding with one of her grandmother's fine embroidered napkins. Mirabel gave them a smile and agreed to leave with them.
Mirabel silently accepted the food that Mrs. Guzmán offered her. Mother and son felt bad for her. After all, the two of them had been the spectators of her life in Encanto from the beginning, and they knew what her relationship with the Madrigals was like. Despite his injury, Mariano seemed happy and relaxed. Probably, because he had enough courage to break off that engagement with Isabela, and a marriage that seemed doomed to disaster.
However, Mirabel's calm did not last long, as Doctor Calle entered with the intention of examining Mariano's wound. "Miss Madrigal, we meet again" said the doctor while Mirabel barely managed to give him a courteous smile. "Good afternoon, Doctor Calle" she replied as he packed his instruments into his bag and prepared to leave. "Miss Madrigal, I heard you visited Manizales, a nice city, certainly," he said. Mirabel perked up, wondering if anyone had told him about her visit to the courthouse.
"Yes, it's a nice city, I went to buy some fabrics, and to answer a few questions that the police asked me about the whole Bruno thing" Mirabel said. She knew that the best way out of all that was to tell him about her visit to the police, so it wouldn't look like she was keeping any secrets. "I understand," Dr. Calle agreed. Suddenly he walked over to her and took her by the chin. "I have two children, who attend school in Manizales. I would really like it if you could meet them one day, I am sure you would make a wonderful couple with the youngest," he said.
Mirabel felt a chill run through her, and she wondered again if he knew anything. his words might not have been threatening, but his actions certainly were. Mirabel tried to get those thoughts out of her head. Maybe she was an alarmist.
Mirabel sat in Mrs. Guzman's living room while she helped her choose threads for an embroidery project and they both listened to the radio. Suddenly the sound of the door alerted them. Mariano was faster and ran to open it. Mirabel stood up when she heard Isabela's voice at the door. She apologized to Mrs. Guzmán, and went out into the hall.
"I've come to look for Mirabel" Isabela said as she crossed her arms. "I know, but I think it would be best to let her spend the night here, with us, it's already very late, it will soon be dark, and we are all very upset," Mariano replied. Isabela took a deep breath. "My grandmother also wanted me to reconcile with you and resume the wedding preparations," Isabela said. This time it was Mariano's turn to take a deep breath. "Do you want to resume the wedding preparations?" he asked. "No," Isabela replied. "It is clear that something is happening between you and Dolores, besides, I have never wanted to get married" Isabela replied "but I don't want to talk about this, I want my sister, I want we can return home once and for all" Isabela said. Her sister looked through the door to find Mirabel standing in the hall.
"Mirabel, come on, we have to go home" Isabela said sullenly, Mirabel nodded and prepared to leave with her sulky sister. "Thank you very much for everything, Mr. Mariano" Mirabel said, to which he responded with a kind smile. "If you need a place to stay you can come here" he replied. That must have bothered Isabela since she took her forearm strongly and took her out of that house without the slightest delicacy. "She doesn't need a place to stay, she already has a family," Isabela said.
They made their way back home while Isabela from time to time spoke to her to scold her. "Mariano's nose is squashed like a papaya" Isabela complained, "and Luisa can't even pick up an empanada" she continued. "What do you want me to do? Do I apologize for ruining your wedding dinner? It's not my fault that my own mom tried to poison me" Mirabel answered furiously. Isabela kept silent for a few moments, it was clear that she did not know how to answer that.
"I think it's a good idea to cancel the marriage with Mariano" Mirabel said "both of you would have been very unhappy" she continued. "I did it for the family, that was my duty as the older sister" Isabela replied as they both walked. "Isabela, don't you get tired of being unhappy?" Mirabel asked. Isabela stopped suddenly as the two crossed a path of vegetation and she watched Mirabel with eyes full of fury. "Excuse me?" she asked.
"It is clear that you are unhappy, and since I got here you have done nothing but take it out on me. The others have been trying to understand me, but all you have done is attack me. I think you should solve your own problems before insulting me or making me feel bad, it's not my fault that you can't be happy for pleasing our grandmother" Mirabel said. "How dare you? the only thing I have done since you arrived is to worry about you, you do not want to talk to anyone, you are not interested in knowing the town, you are not interested in going to school here, you work with one of mom's enemies and if you do not eat for sure you will get sick I don't understand why you can't accept reality" answered Isabela who didn't seem to notice that a series of flowering cacti were born from the ground.
"Because I don't want to adapt. I had a good life, my dad, my boyfriend, my house, my friends, it wasn't great, but I was happy, and now I'm here. I don't know who you are, I don't know you, all I know is that I don't have a place in your lives because I don't have magic, because I'm incomplete. My parents want to kill Bruno, the only person who loves me as I am, and they want to erase my memories, "Mirabel said, who couldn't help but cry as she confessed that to her older sister. Isabela brought her closer to her and hugged her, her sister had never done this.
"You're right Mirabel. I am unhappy, very unhappy, and I have done nothing but take it out on you" Isabela accepted as she cradled her in her arms. "You are not incomplete, nothing is wrong with you. I simply envy you so much, it is clear that you are free, that you are the person you really want to be, I am tired of being nothing more than a decorative object" Isabela replied.
"You are not just a decorative object" Mirabel replied while pointing around her, "look at all the vegetation you have created by yourself", she said while pointing at the new plants around her. Isabela and Mirabel stayed for a long time observing them, while she completely ruined their clothes. However, neither of them cared.
They came home a couple of hours later, dirty and happy, while Mirabel was glad that she was finally able to reach some level of understanding for this sister. Mirabel felt even happier when she saw the caravan dismounting its horses in front of the house. She saw Bruno give her a smile, so she ran to hug him tightly. "Dad, you came, for a moment I thought you would abandon me" Mirabel said. "I would never do something like that, my mariposita," Bruno replied as he gently stroked her hair.
They entered the main patio of the house, where her grandmother was completely frantic. "Did you manage to fix things with Mariano?" Alma asked Isabela, without even giving Mirabel or Bruno a second glance. On the other hand, Julieta's gaze did not detach from the two of them. "No, I don't want to marry him" answered Isabela. "What? This is crazy, look at your clothes, look how you are, and now it turns out that you don't want to get married, that's what you've always wanted, "her grandmother said. Julieta smiled at her eldest daughter, and then it was clear to her that she didn't want the wedding to take place either.
"Mirabel!" Alma said, "this is your fault, first Luisa, and now this" she yelled. "Mom, it's not fair that…" Julieta began, but Mirabel cut her off. She reached her breaking point. Mirabel was fed up with half-truths, lies and secrets that would affect the course of her life. Alma Madrigal had ruined everything. Mirabel could have grown up with her family, her mom, her dad and her sisters. Julieta would never have been driven to the extremes of madness. Bruno would not have had to be considered the only villain in history, and a subject as shady as Octavio Calle would not have had the opportunity to commit crimes. Everything was completely clear, it was her grandmother's fault, she destroyed everything she touched.
"I don't know why you didn't receive a gift. I understand that the change has not been easy for you, but there is no reason for you to continue damaging the family, the cracks appeared because of you, Bruno left because of you…"
"I am not the one who is damaging the family, it is you who destroys it. You want to believe that the cracks started with me, but we both know it's your fault. The cracks started last year's night of the candles, just when mom found out that I wasn't dead, and my parents began to suspect the truth, you were the one who told Bruno that he had to take me out of this town so I wouldn't damage the magic, everything, for a prophecy that wasn't even completely clear." Mirabel yelled. Alma watched her with wide eyes as she glanced at each member of the family.
"You have no right to tell lies…
"Enough, Grandma" Camilo said while taking a step forward "I know it, Mirabel knows it, Aunt Julieta and Agustín have the feeling, even the police know it. I myself heard them. They know that it was completely impossible for Mirabel and Bruno to get out of this town without your help. They also know that you paid the detectives after they filed the case. They said your footsteps were all over the case. You dare to blame Mirabel for harming this family, when all you've done is break us, one by one, but what you did to Aunt Julieta is unforgivable." A short, panicked silence followed Camilo's speech, it was as if everyone had to take a moment to understand what they heard.
"I knew it," Julieta murmured.
"Julieta, please..."
"I knew it, you are to blame. Bruno did not have the cold blood to do this, I know him, I was his favorite sister, if it had depended on him, he would have simply disappeared to not deliver the prophecy, but someone must have put that idea in his head, someone or something must have made him think that kidnapping my daughter was the only way out, someone must have given him the money to buy that house in that distant town, someone must have paid for the trip" Julieta murmured, with a lost look and looking abstracted from reality. "But no matter how much I thought about it, it was impossible for me to accept it. I thought my own mother couldn't do something so horrible. My mom, the same who crossed this mountain with three small children, single-handedly founded this town, who has taken care of us for so long, she just couldn't…
"Mom didn't put that idea in my head, if I have to be honest, she had another idea, one that led me to think that the only way out was to run away with Mirabel. Everything I told you that night was lies. Julieta, you are a good mother, caring and responsible. I would never have run away with the girl if I hadn't thought it was completely necessary to keep her safe,'' Bruno said. Mirabel looked intently at her father, while everyone in the family understood the horror surrounding her grandmother's true plan. The night that Julieta and Agustín ambushed them in Tocama, Bruno told her mother that he had taken her because she was an incapable person, but that was a lie, he did it because he feared for her life.
"Camilo" Pepa said with a dry throat, while the rain fell on her, "you're right, dear, this is completely unforgivable".
Suddenly, the floor began to shake. Mirabel knew then that the destruction of the house had begun, and for some reason, this did not make her happy.
Hello everyone, this is the penultimate chapter and we are close to the end. The avocado scene was a real conversation over that scene that I had with my cousins.
Anyway… oh, I forgot, guacala means disgusting, that's not Spanish, it's a common expression.