Show Me Chapter 18
Miguel slowly stared at the flight departure board, willing it to change. It had been two days since the shop was destroyed in a break-in, and to say everyone's nerves were shot was an understatement.
Miguel hadn't been able to see Aria again but had kept his promise and emailed her from an internet café at the airport. He told her about what had happened but also requested that she delete the email in case one of her relatives saw it. Miguel did not want her family scared off from re-pressing charges. Aria promised to keep in touch with Miguel via phone, giving him her cell phone number.
Martinez had seen them off that morning at the hotel and went straight to where the Rodriguez family lived. They weren't 100 percent convinced about renewing pressing charges, but they were getting there.
Several hours later, Elena was anxiously checking Enrique's phone for texts from the family, as she had been all day, worried sick about Franco and whether or not the music shop owner was responsible for the break-in.
"Mamá, there haven't been any new texts," Enrique pointed out tiredly as Elena watched Gloria scroll through her phone. "Te prometo, the minute I get a text from Papá or from Luisa, I'll let you know."
Huffing slightly, Elena nodded and, pecking her son on the cheek, walked off with Miguel to go get some food. Miguel had been taking everything in stride, acting strong for everyone. This of course, was observed by Elena and Luisa who worried a bit that he wasn't being his true self.
Little Socorro was also becoming her own little personality, strongly reminding Elena of how others had described her when she was a child. Despite inheriting her looks from both Luisa and Enrique, Socorro had inherited her abuelita's personality traits, which including throwing her rattle at reporters that dared try to interview the family.
"Miguel?" Elena asked softly as Miguel sat down with the food. "Did I ruin your life? Before the ban?"
Startled, Miguel nearly choked on the hash browns he was eating, coughing a bit. "Qué? Abuelita, qué paso? Did I do something wrong?"
Shaking her head slightly, Elena gave Miguel one of her famous hugs. "Oh, no, no, Miguelito. You didn't do anything wrong. But I just want to know."
Taking a deep breath, Miguel carefully planned out his next words. "Well its kinda hard to say. Going to school wasn't easy. People on that YouTube site wanted to go and hold a #NoMusicChallenge once word got out about what happened on Día de los Muertos. They had to go through a whole day without music. If anyone failed, they had to smash themselves or a friend on the head with the shoes they were wearing."
Elena winced at that statement but patted Miguel on the shoulder. It wasn't his fault that a bunch of locos decided to pull stupid stunts like that; if anything, it was her fault. Maybe when they got home, she could convince Enrique to teach her more about how the Internet works. And teach those locos to not do stuff like that.
"But Abuelita," Miguel continued. "You were just trying to protect me, and I guess I didn't realize it then. You didn't ruin my life."
Hugging him, Elena replied, "Gracias, Miguelito. It warms my heart to hear you say that. Now, let's get back to the gate, so we don't miss our flight."
Cheering silently, Miguel power-walked back to the gate, feeling slightly better. But Elena was wondering about one thing as she made a request to Enrique and Gloria.
"There was actually a challenge out there called a #NoMusicChallenge?" Enrique asked shocked. "Why didn't we hear about it sooner?"
"It was before Guy helped us install WiFi at the shop, Quique," Gloria said as she fixed her makeup. "And who on Earth would be estúpido enough to do a loco stunt like that?"
Muttering "Loco chicos," under her breath, Elena jerked to attention as the flight attendant announced it was time to board. The Riveras were going home.
Meanwhile, things back at the hacienda were relatively calm for the moment. After the break-in, the neighbors got together and decided to not only help clean up the shop but also hold a fundraiser to help raise money to replace the broken equipment.
Carmen and Luisa had spent most of that morning, in addition to the previous day, cleaning. And after doing a quick check, only two sewing machines were broken, one with an easy fix but the other was no longer operable. And several pairs of shoes had some paint spilled on them, but luckily Berto managed to create something to help remove the stain.
"How's Papá Franco?" Luisa asked Carmen when she got back from taking Franco to the doctors.
"He's doing much better, Luisa," Carmen replied. "It looks like the swelling has gone down a bit in his ankle and the concussion is healing just fine on its own. They don't want him to walk on his ankle yet though, it's a bit early. He wasn't too thrilled about that."
Picking up little Socorro as she toddled into the room, Luisa replied, "Apparently, he signed himself and Mamá Elena up for dance classes when she gets home. Which reminds me, their 50 aniversario de boda is coming up and Enrique wanted to know if we should throw a party or not?"
Carmen nodded, "I think that's a great idea. School's out for spring break and it would give Papá a chance to practice those new dance steps with Mamá once his ankle heals. But it shouldn't be a huge party. Maybe just close friends and family? I'm not sure Mamá would feel comfortable having lots of people at the hacienda, given what just happened."
Nodding, the two women decided to go back to work in the workshop and they could plan the party there.
"So, who would be invited? Other than the family and the Quesadas?" Luisa asked Carmen as they got to work on sewing dance shoes.
"A few of the mariachis, maybe. The ones who aren't too upset. And some friends of both Mamá and Papá. Maybe we could also invite friends of the kids." Carmen suggested. "But we should definitely ask Mamá about this after she comes back. Once Papá is feeling better."
At that point, Rosa walked into the room, holding her phone in one hand.
"Tía Gloria texted me—they landed in México City and are waiting for Abel to drive them back home." She reported with a smile. "And I like that idea! It's been too long since we threw a party and it'll make everyone happy."
"But the most important thing is that we're celebrating Abuelita and Papá Franco, mija," Carmen said. "And celebrating everything that represents them."
Socorro clapped her little hands enthusiastically—it seemed that everyone was on board for the party idea and they were all excited.
After a few short hours, a familiar van rolled up to the entrance of the hacienda. The Riveras poured out of the car, happy to be home.
Once everyone welcomed home the weary travelers, Luisa suggested that they should all go and get some rest. While Miguel had fallen asleep the moment his head touched the pillow, the adults stayed up, those who had remained at home wanting to know every detail of the trip.
"We were able to convince the Rodriguez family to continue the investigation, but they were very reluctant," Enrique said. "According to their youngest daughter, someone from de la Cruz Productions visited them shortly before we arrived and basically threatened them into silence."
Shaking her head in disgust, Luisa asked, "What about the actress? Araceli Torres?"
"We weren't able to find out too much, Luisita," Enrique responded. "There is virtually nothing on her except what was written down in a conspiracy novel about de la Cruz's death and what Miguel found online. And de la Cruz himself was careful to not write about his love life in any of the books."
Deciding a change of subject was sorely needed, Carmen brought up the idea of the anniversary party to both Franco and Elena.
"It would be something fun for you both and a chance to celebrate your long marriage, Mamá," Carmen said. "We could have the party as soon as Papá feels better."
Elena looked a bit skeptical but agreed under the condition that the party would be kept on the small size. Franco also agreed, on the condition that party would be held at the house, it would be by invitation only and there would plenty of dancing.
"I don't want random reporters showing up at our anniversary. This is our time with our friends and relatives, not a media circus." Elena said firmly. "But the world needs to know that we are not going to hide away just because of the break-in. That's not who we are."