Maribel sipped the red wine, swirling it around on her tongue. It tasted sweet, with very rich fruitiness and a little salty. Like the sea.
Osvaldo spoke. "It's Chilean. From the coast. I personally drove to get it. A special wine for a very unspecial person, eh?"
Mirabel rolled her eyes. "Way to rub it in. I know you like my family more. I'm here to help them. We've all seen the cracks. I need to find a way to help save the miracle. I need to know what's wrong."
Osvaldo waved his hands. "No no no. I don't mean it like that. We are the unspecials. All of us." That's why I only have good things to say about your family."
Señora Pezmuerto, Osvaldo, and Father Cabezacalva sat across from her in the church pews. The shadows flickered around the dark corner of the gothic building they hid in, light coming from a few candles set up near them.
Father Cabezacalva spoke.
"We love your family. They've done so much for us. That's why we formed a special group. The unspecials. I am a priest, Osvaldo is our chief merchant, Señora Pezmuerto just knows everyone. Together, we have power, but we don't have gifts. We want to help them with special gifts ever so much. That's why we came together when you asked about Isabela but... we'd never say anything bad about your family."
Pezmuerto nodded. "Luisa has done so much for me. It was really hard for me after I lost my mother." She did a quick sign of the cross, and closed her eyes for a moment, and spoke up. "I'm better now. I'm fine. But she helped me move my house somewhere else and get away from it. Camilo let me talk to her one final time. He liked by Bandeja Paisa as much as she did." She gestured at the food. "Try it, the black pudding is" She put on a slight french accent. "Délicieuse."
Mirabel tried it. "This is delicious." She stayed quiet. Sometimes it was easier to let others speak, when you wanted something.
Pezmuerto continued. "And I'd never say anything bad about your family." She paused for a few seconds the three glancing around conspiratorially.
"But..." All three said, and then Father Cabezacalva spoke.
"Luisa has been getting more and more behind on her chores. I don't blame her no, she's an angel, she does everything she can.
Osvaldo spoke. "We're running low on goods, and we need someone to move the mountain so we can drive out, but she's been slower. It's Dolores. She's supposed to be helping coordinate things and find donkeys, but she's always moping about now."
"Any idea why?" Asked Mirabel. She had seen Dolores in a mood. She had a bit of an idea, after the song before.
Pezmuerto spoke. "She's got the hots for Mariano Guzmán."
Osvaldo turned to her mouths agape.
"How do you know?"
Father Cabezacalva rolled his eyes.
"Everyone knows. It's like a live telenovella. I want to support you guys, I really do, but her trying to seduce an engaged man doesn't look good."
Pezmuerto continued. "I have eyes. She's been lusting after him for months. Now the wedding is happening she's completely dropped her duties. But that's not all. Oh no. Camilo has been stuck in the house calming Pepa down all day because she so moody. People need him, he's able to step in for so many. There's sad mothers who haven't had an hour of sleep for days because he couldn't hold their children. Julieta hasn't had time to do a round of the town because she's been at home dealing with your drama. We've been getting the bare minimum of flowers lately. Look at this bare, sorry church." She gestured around.
"It's not bare, it's pristine." said Father Cabezacalva, a little annoyed.
"It's so pristine you can't see anything." Countered Pezmuerto. "She's been in her room more and more hiding. Julieta told me. And when she does deliver them, she likes to sprinkle loads of ugly white roses in with it."
Osvaldo shook his head. "They look terrible. No one wants to buy white roses. I have to pick them out when I go out to the nearby town to sell them. Isabela needs to learn to stick in her lane."
All three stopped talking.
Mirabel spoke. "I agree. Isabela is clearly the heart of all this. She is breaking the magic." She had always known that her sister was a cause of bad drama. Too much time blowing petals out her ass. She'd set her straight.
Osvaldo held his hands up. "I wouldn't go that far. But, we unspecials, to you unspecial- we need to fix this. We don't know what to do. We need your miracles. We can rally the people if you need help. We'll do whatever is needed. We complain, but we love your family. If we can help them in any way to get over whatever this is, whatever is causing the cracks you saw- we'll do it."
Mirabel ate, she spoke, she talked over theories with them, of the land granting a miracle, of god, of Pedro, being perhaps some great mystical being, how to fix it all. Then, the sun a little lower in the sky, she stepped outside.
As Pezmuerto was about to leave Mirabel stopped her, a hand on her shoulder.
"Are you fine?"
Señora Pezmuerto had a look of sadness flash on her face for a second, and then masked and smiled. "I'm fine. Glad that someone is going to help the magic."
Maribel remembered the vision. She remembered that this woman's house still looked dirty in it.
"I'd hurt if I lost them too. I get it, it hurts. If you need support, we can help you too. Help you, clean house, if you know what I mean?" Mirabel smiled awkwardly.
Pezmuerto frowned and put her head down. "I have to go. My house is fine. It's super clean. I've told you everything. I'm fine. I'm fine."
"I'm not fine. My house is a mess. I can't" She sung a few words, tears in her eyes.
"Te extraño más que nunca y no sé qué hacer
Despierto y te recuerdo al amanecer
Espera otro día por vivir sin ti
El espejo no miente, me veo tan diferente
Me haces falta tú"
I miss you more than ever and I don't know what to do
I wake up in the morning and I remember you
Wait another day to live without you
The mirror doesn't lie, I look so different
I miss you
Pezmuerto shook her head. "I have to go." She pulled away from Mirabel's arm.
"Wait, was Isabela supposed to do anything? Like to help stuff?" Mirabel slyly and subtly tried to find out if Bruno's vision was true.
Pezmuerto looked back. "You heard? She was supposed to make a rose gravestone for her. My mother loved roses. But she never came. I have to go. It's been years. I'll be fine." She headed away.
Mirabel turned back to Casito, goal ready. She was even more committed. "I'll punch you so hard, Isabela."
As we know, they don't talk about Bruno, but when pushed, they totally sing all their worries. I made them bitchy, but I tried not to make them too bitchy. Father Cabezacalva and the rest love the Mirabels, and have a lot of good to say about them, but family drama makes a lot of things harder.
Father Cabezacalva is the bald guy from the song, Señora Pezmuerto is the dark skinned lady whose fish died, and Osvaldo is the large man who grew a gut from too much food and delivered fireworks. I made up Osvaldo being a merchant, but it makes sense- fireworks and candy seems like something you buy from afar, and I know an earlier plot had them heading to town.