Show Me Chapter 6

Hello everyone—hope you're all doing okay and staying healthy (and sane) during this crazy time! Thank you all for your support and encouragement—it means a lot to me! I've been working from home on this chapter as well as planning out future chapters so stay tuned for more! And as always, I hope you enjoy this chapter!

The Riveras worked hard in the workshop, a fan blowing air around to cool everyone off. It was a teacher's workday so both Rosa and Miguel were home from school, taking advantage of the extra time to browse on the family computer, doing research on de la Cruz and any mention of a third band mate. Every now and again, Miguel would glance over to Elena, who was unusually silent as she helped Luisa work on a pair of dancing shoes.

It had been several days since she had confided in Franco about how bad things had gotten. Oh, if life were simpler. She wished nothing more than to go back in time and stop de la Cruz from murdering Héctor, but even she didn't have that power.

"Elena,"

Startled, Elena raised her head and looked around. Nothing. Although Miguel could communicate with the ancestors when they came over for Día de los Muertos, he had kept that knowledge secret and Elena wasn't aware that he or possibly anyone else in the family could have that ability.

"I must be hearing things." She muttered to herself as she walked over to her workbench.

"Elena." The voice said again. This time, Elena walked over to Franco and asked, "Mi amor, did you just call my name? Or hear something a little while ago?"

Shaking his head, Franco said, "No, why? Is something wrong?"

Briefly peeking outside the window, Elena said, "I hope not. I thought I heard someone calling my name but there's no one there."

Peeking outside briefly, Franco just said, "You didn't sleep well last night, Lena. Lo sé y tú lo sabes. Why don't you try and get some rest? I'll work on the Diaz order for you."

At first, she wanted to protest but one pleading look from Franco and she yielded. Elena headed back to the main house to get some rest as Gloria and Luisa looked on. They too knew that Elena hadn't been sleeping well and that ever since Miguel's nightmares had started up again, she had been taking it on herself to comfort him whenever they occurred. Luisa had tried suggesting that her son talk to the local priest, but Miguel remained vehemently against it. When the ban was still active, Miguel had been bullied relentlessly at school and even came close to repeating a grade due to a missing credit (music class) on his report card.

"How is Miguel doing, Luisa?" Gloria asked. "Sometimes I don't know whether or not I'm doing the right thing by him." Ever since Día de los Muertos 2017 and after Miguel's attack the previous year, Gloria had been trying to make up for her behavior towards her nephew, even though Miguel had claimed over and over again that he forgave her.

"It will take some time, Gloria. But to be honest, ojalá supiera," Luisa said. "I spoke to his teacher last week and she agrees that we need to make up for lost time in terms of the ban."

Frowning slightly, Gloria gestured for her to continue. "What do you mean, Luisita?"

"She said that allowing him to play at home and at the Plaza may not be enough. Let him have opportunities that we couldn't give to him prior to the ban. Rosa, too. She even suggested sending them both to a music camp in México City when school lets out for spring break."

"Does Mamá know about this?" Gloria asked as Luisa handed her a pamphlet that described the camp.

"No, but con toda honestidad, I don't know how I feel about this. I want Miguel to have this opportunity, but I don't want him to have to worry about whether or not a de la Cruz supporter would find out who he is." Luisa said. "Or how Mamá Elena would feel about it. You know how she was when Abel left for Universidad."

Gently pulling her sister-in-law into a hug, Gloria simply said, "The camp pamphlet says it's only for 2 weeks, not an eternity, not even a month. Let Miguel and Rosa decide, Luisa, and see what happens from there. It might be good for both of them to experience this, to enjoy a normal life before this all goes crazy. For all we know, Mamá may be on board with the idea."

Murmuring a polite "gracias," Luisa sat back down at the work bench as Enrique walked into the room. Greeting his esposa with a quick kiss, he said, "De qué están hablando ustedes dos? If it's about Miguel and the twins dyeing my mustache green again..."

Stifling her laughter, Luisa shook her head no and said, "No, Quique. It's not that. It's about Miguel."

Trying to appear as serious as he could, Enrique said, "What's going on, Luisa?" Handing her esposo the pamphlet about the camp, Enrique read it over as quickly as possible.

"What do you think, Quique?" Luisa said anxiously. "Your hermana thinks it would be good for Miguel and Rosa to go to this camp, but I don't know if it is the right time now. Especially with everything going on with the Rodriguez family."

"Well, I don't disagree with Gloria, mi amor. It might be good for them." Enrique said, choosing his words carefully. "But let's bring the idea up to Miguel and Rosa and see what they say."

Nodding, Luisa headed inside, giving in to the distractions and taking a break for the afternoon to talk to Elena, Miguel, and Rosa. Carmen and Berto were out on a supply run in a nearby town, so, knowing they would bring it up with Rosa later, Enrique decided just to discuss the possibility with Miguel.

Miguel was sitting in the family room, immersed in a book on music theory and frowning slightly as he attempted to play the provided examples on his guitar. As the instructions were in English (Miguel had refused to go to the only guitar store in town after learning what Elena had gone through there), learning to read written music wasn't coming easily for Miguel, who had thus far only played by ear, but he saw it as a learning opportunity.

"Miguelito?" Luisa called softly. "Can we talk to you for a minute, por favor?"

Nodding, Miguel set his guitar on the couch and headed over to his mamá as she gestured for him to take a seat.

"You're not in trouble, mijo," Luisa said, observing Miguel's worried look. "Esta bien. But I do want to talk to you about something."

Frowning slightly, Miguel answered, "Okay, Mamá. Is everything ok? Have we heard anything from Señor Martinez?"

Luisa shook her head. "Nothing new, Miguel. Señor Martinez said that when he arrives in America next week, he'll let us know about any new updates. But I wanted to talk to you about something else, Miguel."

Taking a deep breath, Luisa pulled out the camp brochure and handed to her son. Miguel skimmed through it slowly, not saying a word as he took it all in. Luisa watched in concern as Miguel slowly put the brochure down, unable to read her son's reaction. "Miguelito?"

"Lo no se, Mamá," Miguel said. "I don't want to just leave! What about the investigation? What about the Plaza? How can I help from México City?"

"Miguel, relájate,"Enrique said as he walked into the room. "It's not for a few more months. We just wanted to let you know about it in case you wanted to go."

"Does Abuelita know about it?" Miguel asked warily.

"Not yet, Miguel." Enrique answered. "I'm going to talk to her about it tonight and we'll go from there, bien?"

Nodding silently, Miguel agreed and said, "Okay, Papá. But in the meantime, can I still go to Los Estados Unidos with you, Abuelita, and Tía Gloria next week?"

On top of asking to set up a Facebook page, Miguel also had been asking to accompany his family to America. His English skills were improving at a steady rate thanks to the music theory books and Wikipedia. Miguel also had been helping Elena with English flyers for the family museum.

Sharing a glance, both Luisa and Enrique nodded slowly. They couldn't keep Miguel in a protective bubble all his life and he needed to have this experience, whether it was at the camp or in Texas.

"We talked it over with Abuelita," Enrique said. "And she doesn't mind under the condition that you stay close to us and not tell anyone outside of the family what we are doing."

With a big grin, Miguel let out an excited grito and ran off to pack. Finally, the Rodriguez family would receive the help they needed, and he got to help!

"Just promise me that you'll bring him home safe, Quique," Luisa said. "You know how adventurous Miguel can be."

Hugging his wife close, Enrique promised, also silently promising to himself to talk to his mamá about the camp the next day. If the last few months didn't do anything, it proved that Miguel needed a break to just be a normal kid.

Little did Enrique know, that a break was not going to happen right away.