Show Me Chapter 14

Hello everyone! Hope you're all doing well! It's been another crazy month but overall everything is going good! I've been watching a lot of Disney Plus movies (especially old live action ones that I had on VHS) and playing Kingdom Hearts! Anyway, I hope you all enjoy this chapter and if you have any suggestions, feel free to comment!

Date: February 8, 2019

There was no time for questions, as the volunteer ambulance arrived along with the police. Since there was no dispatch, one of the neighbors had run up the street to the local fire department. Guy Quesada, the Riveras' next door neighbor, had come to help as well.

"They came out of nowhere," Franco told a police officer as an ambulance attendant bandaged his ankle. "I couldn't tell who los bastardos were. But I think one of them was that teenager that threatened Elena in the market a few months ago."

Quesada added, "Estoy bastante seguro that one of the men works for de la Cruz Productions. I've seen his picture on the news."

Guy Quesada was one of the few people outside the family who knew what was going on. Having promised both Enrique and Elena that he would look in while they were away, he had run from next door upon hearing the noises at the workshop, worried that something bad had happened.

While Guy Quesada went to the police station to make a statement, Franco stayed behind, listening intently while an EMT finished bandaging his injured ankle.

"Well, you're lucky, Señor Rivera," one of the EMTs said. "You've probably just got a sprained ankle, but I don't think it's broken. To be on the safe side, though, I think you should get this looked at the hospital and, in any case, get you some crutches."

Franco balked at the idea until Berto pointed out that he had some crutches lying around from when Abel sprained his ankle playing soccer when he was 8. With a few minor adjustments to the height, those would do for now.

After everyone left, the family slowly made their back to bed, Franco electing to sleep on the sofa in order to avoid a long trek up the stairs. The children had fallen back asleep almost instantly. But the adults laid awake: whoever had done this had gone too far.

The next morning was another whirlwind of activity; Carmen and Berto had taken Franco to the doctor's office, leaving Luisa, Rosa, and Abel (who was home on spring break) to look after the younger children.

"Guy Quesada called," Abel said as he walked back in the room. "The police are positive that the people who attacked Papá Franco were the same people at the music festival a few months ago."

Rosa looked guilty, almost disgusted with herself. She had been the reason why her tío and abuelita were at that shop! "But what about the music shop owner? He made it clear that he thought Abuelita was awful!"

Luisa sighed in frustration; she had been aware of how bad things had gotten as Luisa recalled a trip to the music store ended in disaster shortly after Día de los Muertos 2018:

"Welcome, may I assist—" the shop owner cut off his words, his expression shifting to one of deep hatred upon seeing Elena.

Enrique looked a bit put out but his mamá looked livid. Elena walked up to the owner, clearly on the verge of removing her chancla, but her son stopped her.

"We're here to look for violin sheet music for mi sobrina," Enrique said, desperate to relieve the tension. "She's going to be turning 15 this year and I'm not too sure—-."

"Violin sheet music is over on the middle shelf." The owner said curtly, turning back to his cash register. Not wanting to cause a stir, Enrique decided the best thing to do was to pick out music he thought his niece would like and leave, taking a reluctant Elena with him.

After leaving the shop, Elena suddenly let out a "QUE?" causing Enrique to jump. Upon turning around, Enrique noticed a sign in the window that read:

ANYONE WHO SMASHES INSTRUMENTS IS NOT ALLOWED IN HERE. VIOLATORS WILL BE PROSECUTED TO THE FULL EXTENT OF THE LAW.

"I don't think he would do it," Rosa said. "It seems that he was looking out for Miguel and he just doesn't get along with Abuelita."

"But this is beyond 'not getting along with her', Rosa," Abel pointed out. "He really does not like her, and he threatened to call the police on her when she tried to go back."

Luisa agreed, having spoken to Enrique about it. While the shop owner, Morales, wasn't nice to the adults in the family, he treated the children with respect. To the adults, it seemed that Morales was all bark and no bite. So, whoever attacked Franco and wrecked the shop had to be someone who worked for de la Cruz or someone who was angry at the Riveras for how they treated Miguel.

After a reaching a quick consensus to not let Benny and Manny into the shop, Rosa, Abel and Luis set to work in the kitchen preparing lunch. Crime scene tape was all over the workshop, making it completely unrecognizable with materials and shoes scattered everywhere. The police wouldn't allow them into the workshop yet, wanting to document the scene first before allowing them to clean up. They also wanted to interview the neighbors and Skype the Riveras who were in the United States.

Knowing that Miguel or Enrique wouldn't pick up if they didn't recognize the number, the police decided to use the Rivera family computer.

Shooing Rosa, Luisa and Abel out of the living room, the police sat down at the desk, getting ready to for a tough Skype call.

After their call with the police ended, no one was able to speak. Gloria and Elena were both crying, Enrique desperately trying to offer what little comfort he could to them. Miguel was pale as a sheet, taking in the information.

After taking a minute to compose herself, Elena's sadness turned to anger.

"IF I EVER FIND OUT WHO DID THIS, I WILL THROW THEM IN JAIL AND MAKE SURE THEY NEVER SEE THE LIGHT OF DAY!" Elena yelled at the computer, her children desperately trying to calm her down. "Hurting the shop is one thing, but injuring mi familia?! Eso está muy lejos!"

Miguel shrank back. He'd only seen his abuelita this angry when she—-ah, no, probably best not to think of that. But his sadness soon became worry as he thought of one person, er, skeleton who did not know.

"Pobre Mamá Imelda," he said worriedly to his mamá. "How am I going to tell her? And what about the ofrenda? Is that ok?"

Much to everyone's relief, Luisa replied that the ofrenda had not been touched. But with a pang, they realized that Miguel was the only one who could communicate with the ancestors. What they didn't know was that Miguel had discovered another method of communication.

Right after Día de los Muertos that past year, Miguel found out that he could visit his ancestors when he was asleep or unconscious. Not wanting to freak out his parents or his abuelita, Miguel kept that piece of information a secret. If it was one thing that Miguel did not want to have happen, it was having people outside the family think he was losing touch with reality.

Luisa reassured them that Franco was going to be all right with nothing more than a sprained ankle and a minor concussion that would keep him from working for two weeks. Abel had gone ahead and set up Franco and Elena's room as a place for him to get some peace and quiet, complete with a radio and a computer.

Elena had expressed interest in coming home almost immediately after hearing about the break-in but, much to her sadness, the cost of airfare was simply too much and there was no available flight out at that moment. With only three days left to the trip, there was nothing to do except wait until the actual date of departure.

After ending the call, Elena went back to her hotel room to get to work on locating materials online that would be needed for repairs to the shop. Window replacement wouldn't be cheap, but otherwise all that the shop needed was a good clean-up. Carmen and Luisa had gotten started on that after the police had given them the all-clear as they left.

Enrique and Miguel had both decided to take a nap, mentally exhausted from the incident. But little known to Enrique, Miguel had a plan to get in touch with the ancestors. As he felt himself fall asleep, Miguel woke up in the dreamworld that was between the Land of the Dead and the Land of the Living. While he couldn't directly talk to his relatives, Miguel could leave a message instead with the agent at the Department of Supernatural Connections.

After giving his name and the names of the people who were to receive, Miguel felt that familiar tickling sensation throughout his body: he was waking up.

The agent barely read the message, glancing as he put in the mailbag to be delivered later. He could tell by the living boy's body language that something was definitely wrong. Unlike letters in the living world, a letter in the Land of the Dead could only be read by the letter's intended recipient. If someone else tried to read it, the ink and paper would vanish immediately.

Mamá Imelda y Papá Héctor,

I'm doing okay in Texas. We've discovered a lot about de la Cruz including the fact that he may have a kid out there somewhere. We were able to convince the Rodriguez family to re-file charges against the estate and Señor Martinez is going to stay in Texas for a while after we leave to look into it. But something bad happened back home.

Someone broke into the workshop and destroyed a ton of equipment as well as shoe orders. Papá Franco was injured as well as our neighbor, Guy Quesada. But they are both going to be fine. The police think someone from de la Cruz Productions is responsible.

I'll try to update you when I can.

Miguel