The world seemed to stop around me. The crowd stopped dancing, the cheers stopped, even my mouth seemed to not want to close after I spoke his name. Everything around and in me just froze. I wanted to move my hand off his clothes, but it wouldn't move an inch.
"Rosa?" he asked, giving me slightly nervous smile.
This time, I managed to move my mouth a little, but could only manage out another "Bruno?" before it went back to gaping open.
Bruno slowly nodded his head as he gave me a nervous laugh.
The world started to slowly come back in motion as the sound of the surrounding crowd began coming back to my ears. Soon after I gained my hearing back, my eyes started to blink into focus as I looked Bruno up and down. He didn't look anything like how I remembered him. His hair was unkept and he looked filthy with dark bags under his eyes like he hadn't slept in days. He had some stubble that also looked somewhat unkept and he smelled like the wood and stone we used for our house alongside another smell I couldn't quite identify (or didn't truly want to identify). "What happened to him?" was my first thought followed by "He looks…".
I guess he could tell I wasn't impressed with his current look, so he gave me another nervous laugh and scratched the back of his head. "Sorry…you'd be surprised how hard it is to find a bath in a collapsed house."
"Is he trying to be funny?" I thought. I tried to say something to him but once again all that came out was another "Bruno?!", this one louder than the others. This caused Bruno to flinch slightly, but he couldn't move much as I was still holding on tightly his green ruana.
"You're very loud…can you let go of me please?" he said, trying to remove himself from my grasp. My hand didn't move at all so he hesitantly reached down and slowly loosened my fingers himself. When he did, his fingers seemed to linger on mine longer than they needed to be. I started to regain feeling in my arm the more he touched my fingers. As soon as I felt like I could, I jerked my hand back towards my body. "Your grip hasn't changed." Bruno smiled.
"Where's my brother?" were the next words out of my mouth as I turned away from him and tried to find an opening in the crowd.
"I didn't know you-Rosa?" were the last words I heard from him before I found a gap and disappeared into it. I allowed my legs to guide themselves as my brain was busy processing what just happened. "Bruno…what happened to my-Why does…where could Bru-Juli-Bru…who-Hey!"
Suddenly I was grabbed by a woman and pulled into a dance. She was all smiles and laughing but the only thing on my mind was to get away from her. I quickly got my wish, but it was through being grabbed by someone else and made to dance with them as well. Who they were, I have no idea as their face started morphing into Bruno's.
"I can't…no!" I screamed, pushing them away and trying to get back to finding my brother. "Bru…Julio!" I called out, quickly correcting myself. At first, I was only walking with a sprint and pushing my way through the dancing crowd before I started racing through it. This proved very quickly to be a mistake as my heart and lungs seemed to forget their functions and I suddenly ran out of breath. What earlier seemed to be a fun and joyful crowd with steady music suddenly turned into the loudest party I've ever heard. My legs started to feel weak as my heart started going a thousand miles a second.
Once again, someone grabbed me and pulled me into a dance, spinning me around as fast as they could. When I stopped spinning, I was face to face with an adult who's face morphed into my brother's. "Are you ok?!" they asked before I pushed them away and bumped into another person who tried to dance with me.
"I can't breath!" I screamed out, pushing this person away and attempting to run again. My legs failed me in this and I soon found myself on the ground as the crowd seemed to close in and spin around me, all of their faces morphing into Bruno's, my brother's, or a strange combination of the two. My eyes were darting all around my surroundings, but my brain continued to race. I wanted to call out to my brother, or just anyone, but my voice was lost as I started really struggling to breath. I opened my mouth, but no sound came out. Only hopeless breaths, if you could even call them that.
"Hey, hey are you ok?" A tiny voice whispered next to me and I suddenly felt hands around my arm. I looked to my left and saw Dolores Madrigal holding onto me, trying to help me up. I could only muster a crawl as she began parting the crowd for me to get through. "It's going to be ok. I heard you fall, let's just get you out of here." Her whisper of a voice helped me calm down slightly as it helped me to focus and gain my bearings, but then a new worry set in. "Does she know who I am? Will she recognize my name if I say it? Would she still be helping me?"
We eventually made it to the outside of the crowd and Dolores sat me against a stone wall. "Would you like some water? I can ask my tía Julieta to make something quick for you."
I started hugging my chest and taking in deep breaths. I shook my head and managed out a "Thanks." Dolores bent down beside me and gave me a concerned look. "It's going to be ok, it's just me here."
I glanced over at her and breathed out a tiny "My brother…." And looked toward the crowd.
"Did you lose your brother in there?" Dolores asked and I nodded my head, managing to let out my brother's name a couple times.
"I'll go look for him. If you need me again just say my name and I'll hear you. I'm Dolores. You don't even need to scream, I'll hear you." She said before getting up and going back to the crowd. I pulled my legs up to my chest as the invasive thoughts returned. "Bruno…he's ba-where's my brother? Where did Brun-where's my brother? Why is Bruno…where's my broth-Bruno's back. I haven't thought about him in-I lost my broth-"
"Rosa!" I suddenly heard a familiar voice call out to me. I looked behind me and saw my tío Joaquín and papa racing toward me.
"Oh no!" I immediately thought and tears started to form in my eyes. As they got closer the tears came more until both were by my side. "This will only make things worse!"
"Rosa, what's wrong? Why are you here?" tío Joaquín asked, wrapping his arms around me. I looked up at my papa and saw him scanning the crowd.
"Where's Julio?" he asked. Then, as though on cue, my little brother emerged from the crowd followed by Antonio Madrigal (the newest member of the Madrigal family to gain his gift) Dolores, and (to my greatest displeasure) Bruno, Alma, and what seemed like the whole Madrigal family. Immediately, there was a tension in the air. Even the crowd seemed the sense it as they seemed to stop dancing, and I knew it wasn't my imagination this time.
"Papa!" Julio happily screamed as he ran over to our father, completely unaware of the change in atmosphere. "You came to celebrate!"
Papa steered Julio towards Joaquín and me as he stared at Alma. I grabbed onto Julio as soon as I could and held him close to me. Over his hair, I managed a glimpse of Alma and my papa having a stare-down. If Alma's look could kill, there's no doubt I'd be left without a father at that moment. Then, papa's eyes drifted to Bruno. Even though I was behind him, I still saw him tense up and even Joaquín sensed it as he held me and Julio tighter.
Papa and Bruno locked eyes and 10 years of rage creeped its way into papa's body. Then he did something I'd never seen him do when he was angry. He started laughing. Even tío Joaquín didn't know what to do. Papa laughed even as he turned away from the crowd and toward his three family members.
"We're…" Papa laughed "We're going home." He continued laughing as he lifted Julio onto his shoulders and Joaquín helped me to my feet. Despite Julio's protests, we turned away from the party and started back home. As we walked, I looked behind me for one final glimpse at Bruno. He had a sad, almost puppy dog-like look on his face. He took a few steps toward us before Alma quickly stopped him and ushered him back towards the house. My legs still felt weak and slightly shaky, but I still managed to make my way back home.
By the time we reached our house, my tears had mostly dried. As soon as I walked through the door, my mother grabbed hold of me and gave me one of the tightest hugs I've ever received from her. I tried to hold her the same way and even though I wasn't anywhere near ready for her to let me go, she still did and immediately hugged my brother the same way. "Rosa, Julio, you had us all so worried!" She said, letting my brother go. "I didn't know where you went! We searched everywhere!" She looked at me and put a hand over the tear stains on my cheek. "Rosa, are you alright?"
I don't know what it was, but at these words I lost it and grasped back onto her. "Mami, I saw him!" I sobbed into her shoulder. I felt her head shift to look at either my tío or papa. "I saw Bruno down there, he's alive! He's still living there, he's on their door!" I sobbed more. She started leading me toward the couch and slowly sat me down onto it, all the while never letting my head leave her shoulder. I heard papa say something to Julio and I felt the seat next to me on the couch give in, followed by papa's hand pat my back.
"Just tell us what happened mi hija" my papa whispered. As best I could, I told them how Julio and I ended up at the Madrigals. From Julio running out the gate, to me losing him in the crowd, how I found Bruno, everything.
"So…Bruno never disappeared?" my mom asked. "Did Alma lie to us?"
"I never saw him in the village or near my shop." Joaquín chimed in. "Unless he became a recluse and never left the house."
"The way he looked, he'd fit that description." Papa said. "Nearly skin and bones, hasn't washed in ages. Probably has dirt where it shouldn't be."
While my three family members passed judgement of Bruno, I kept my face hidden as I felt my eyes get puffy from my tears. My mother patted my head and pulled me in closer. I know it sounds ridiculous, but I couldn't help but feel like a child again, holding onto her mother for comfort after a boy broke her heart. Only I wasn't crying over a boy. I was crying over a man. A man that hadn't stayed in my mind for this long in over 6 years. A man I told myself multiple times that if I ever saw again, I wouldn't give him so much as a glance. A man I had mentally prepared myself to ignore and forget should he ever cross my path again. And yet, here I am. Holding onto my mother like a little girl.
I don't remember what happened the rest of that night, but I do remember my eyes becoming too heavy to keep open. Whether it was from the puffiness or being mentally tired, I can't say. I remember my mother gently placing me on the couch and placing a single kiss on my nose. As everyone's footsteps leave the room, I heard my tío whisper something and my papa responding "We don't talk about Bruno. Not anymore"
