Show Me Chapter 13
Warning: a bit of language and mild violence in this chapter.
Date: February 7, 2019
"And the weather's going to be in the mid-80s today, perfect weather for getting those outdoor chores done." Luisa turned off the radio with a sigh. She had FaceTimed Enrique earlier that day to see what was going on in Texas. Elena wasn't too sure of Houston, Enrique had reported, finding it a bit too crowded for her taste, but she was slowly getting used to it. But things back in Santa Cecilia had hit a rough patch.
It was no secret that the town was willing to forgive the other members of the Rivera family, but when it came to Elena, even just her name was like a curse word: saying it out loud drew looks of fear and disgust, much to the sadness of the other Riveras. They had hoped for months that things would calm down, but it was soon becoming clear that not everyone in the town would be as forgiving.
From shopkeepers refusing to serve Elena, to the children of wealthy vendors calling her "Perra Loca" and "Asesina de la música" behind her back, circumstances were not looking good. It soon became clear to Luisa and Enrique that some of the wealthier citizens of Santa Cecilia were determined to make Elena's life a living hell. Despite numerous complaints to the police by the Rivera family, it seemed that nothing was changing.
"Tía Luisa?" a soft voice spoke up, jolting Luisa out of her thoughts. Turning around, Luisa saw Benny, who looked incredibly upset as he held a piece of paper attached to something heavy and rectangular. Luisa looked stunned as she took the note from her nephew. The note, which had no name on it, read:
If you don't move out of Santa Cecilia, this will be your daughter's moving present. This is your last warning, Asesina.
"Tía?" Benny asked, with cocern. Even though he couldn't read yet, Benny could tell it was serious. "What's going on?"
Not wanting to frighten the 5-year old, Luisa hugged him and sent him back inside, just as Rosa came out holding a book. Looking closer, Luisa saw it was that American novel that her 15-year old niece borrowed from a friend.
"Rosa?" Luisa called, causing her niece to squeak slightly and hide the book under her shirt. Luisa quickly said, "Are you sure that book is appropriate for you?"
"Don't tell Mamá, Tía!" Rosa said. "It's good for my education!"
Stifling laughter, Luisa took the book from her niece and looked it over. When those movies came out a decade ago, Gloria had brought all 4 books home from the library so she could read them, but Elena wasn't too sure about that idea. Eventually it all came to a head when 5-year old Rosa had borrowed them and took them to school for her library class, resulting in an impromptu "birds and the bees" talk with Carmen and Elena.
"Edward y Bella son tan lindos juntos," Rosa said. "And wouldn't it be awesome to be a vampire, Tía Luisa? You could never get tired and go face off vampires like los Vulturi."
As Carmen came outside with the twins, Luisa immediately composed herself and simply said to Rosa, "I'm not sure I would want to sparkle in the sun like that. Just try not to be like the people in that book, ok? Talk to your mamá about that."
As Carmen sat down next to Luisa, Rosa nodded and left to go inside.
"Go play, mijos," Carmen said to her sons. "But stay where we can see you."
As the twins took off, Carmen turned to speak to her sister-in-law, clearly very worried.
"Anything from Enrique?" Carmen asked. "And was Rosa reading that book again? Ay, I hope that she doesn't get any more ideas from that! Why do I have a feeling that I'll have to give her the Talk again?"
Luisa laughed but knew that there was a much more serious issue at hand: specifically, the issue of how to get the town of Santa Cecilia to warm up to Elena Rivera.
"Another hate note arrived today, Carmen," Luisa said as she handed her sister-in-law the note, gauging her reaction. "This is getting serious."
Reading the note, Carmen felt her blood run cold. At first these notes looked ridiculous, but now they had taken a serious turn. Involving her children in this? This had gone way too far. The scary bit was that the note didn't have a name on it or even mention which Rivera daughter it was addressed to.
"We should let Mamá Elena know, Luisa," Carmen said. "But we need to let the police know first. I'll go ahead and give them a call."
Getting up from her chair, Carmen walked back inside and headed for the family room. Since little Socorro was napping and the twins had come inside for a nap, no one was in there at that time, the phone would be available for use.
Luisa looked overwhelmed but upon steeling herself, she headed back inside.
Carmen had just finished up her phone call when Luisa rejoined her.
"The police said they'll keep a lookout and advised us to not do anything to draw attention to ourselves," Carmen said.
As they had agreed they should let the rest of the family know, Carmen decided to text Enrique later that night. The two women headed back to the kitchen to prepare dinner. Normally, if Elena, Enrique or Gloria went out on supply runs, the family would order food from a local restaurant. But given the circumstances, everyone decided a home-cooked meal would be best.
Dinner was an unusually quiet affair. After they finished eating, the three youngest children headed off to bed while Rosa stayed behind to talk to the adults. Berto's arm was healing fast and it wouldn't be long before he could go back to work. Franco had been keeping in touch with Martinez, relaying important information back to the family, but his main worry had been for his wife and daughter. Elena reported that Gloria had seemed upset by something, but both she and Franco were mystified as to what could be wrong.
"It's loco!" Rosa said. "Why can't they forgive us already? We've apologized to Miguel and to the town for the ban!"
Shaking his head, Franco simply replied, "It's not that easy, mija. You know how stubborn Abuelita is. Owning up to her mistakes is not an easy thing for her."
Everyone made noises of agreement; Elena could be so stubborn when she wanted to, just like Imelda. But the guitar shop owner was even more stubborn and refused point blank to forgive her or associate with her. Except for Miguel and the other Rivera children, when an adult member of the Rivera family went to the shop, they were treated with cold disdain. Or, in Enrique's case, shown the door.
"I thought that day at the festival would have changed everything for the town," Luisa said sadly as she thought back to the music festival where Elena had literally stood up on an orange crate to apologize for her actions. "But it's going to take time no matter what. This town has seen how Mamá Elena hated music for nearly 65 years. And for the time being, I think we need to keep away from the Plaza."
No one would argue with that.
Loud noises woke Luisa later that night. Reaching for her bedside lamp and scooping up baby Socorro from her crib, Luisa quickly headed for the hallway, meeting up with Carmen and Berto in the process.
"Qué es?" Luisa asked urgently. "What's happened?"
Carmen shook her head, "Lo no se. We heard loud noises. We thought that it might have been one of the neighbors but…"
"I think it's coming from the workshop." Berto said, holding a flashlight.
Creeping stealthily along the blackened hallway, the three adults went into the workshop and turned on the light. Much to everyone's shock and horror, the workshop had been completely and thoroughly wrecked. Orders and papers were scattered everywhere, windows and equipment almost destroyed. It would take weeks, months, to sort through the chaos. Elena would be devastated, but there was no doubt that she would also be very angry. Thankfully, the museum was untouched, as Gloria was fixing it up for the upcoming spring break, so many of the exhibits (the guitar, poems, and sheet music) were locked away.
But it wasn't until Rosa cried out, "PAPÁ FRANCO!" that the mood instantly shifted. Berto quickly ran towards his papá, telling Rosa to keep the twins and Socorro out of the workshop.
Franco was sitting upright, hidden by a couple of boxes, clutching his right ankle in pain. On the floor next to a sewing machine was a bright red brick with an ominous note, in English, attached to it:
I warned you, didn't I? You destroyed something that he loved, now I'll destroy something that you love. Consider it payback and maybe next time you'll be home for my message to sink in.