Show Me Chapter 34
Hello everyone! Hope you're all doing well! It's been a bit of a crazy month for me—I started grad school last week and it's been crazy!
KelseyAlicia, to answer your question, I've only read one of the Twisted Tales—Maleficent's story—but I have plans to read the others. I even heard that a new one came out based on Tangled and featuring Mother Gothel.
Hope you all enjoy this chapter! And a big thank you goes to Eris for this chapter's pop culture reference—it was a very good idea!
Imelda sat at her workbench, working determinedly on a pair of boots that she had been focusing on for about 4 months, the same amount of time since the investigation began and time had flown by quickly.
The arrival of the message from the Rodriguez family brought hope to the Riveras and at long last, life in the Land of the Living could finally begin to settle down and get back to normal. And luckily for the ancestors, everything there seemed to be slowly falling into place as well.
While Rodriguez did not want to be found, Imelda knew that if the living family had some sort of closure, that was all that mattered. In terms of Araceli Torres, her daughter and granddaughter were handling things now.
With Frida's help, Riya decided to leave a note at the Department of Family Reunions, just in case Araceli wanted to try and find her. While Riya was doubtful that it would work, she knew that it was the only way to contact her mamá and avoid the press. She had stayed hidden from the press throughout the entire search, and she wanted it to stay that way.
In terms of Imelda's mamá, Josefina, Imelda had slowly begun to trust her again and had tried to visit her on multiple occasions, often accompanied by Coco and Victoria. While Coco had warmed up to her abuela, it had taken a bit longer for Victoria to trust her completely. But with some encouragement from Victoria's novio, Gustavo, she began to trust Josefina too. Imelda reasoned that Victoria simply did not want to watch her get hurt by Josefina. After all, it had been nearly a year since the arrests of both Imelda's papá and de la Cruz.
"Imelda? Mí amor?" Héctor said as he came into the workshop. "Miguel wrote again. It looks like Rodriguez's funeral was last week."
Nodding distractedly, Imelda said, "Bueno, bueno."
Putting his arms around her, Héctor said, "What's going on, mí vida? Qué tienes en mente?*"
Shaking her head, Imelda replied, "Nothing's wrong, Héctor. I'm just thinking about what has happened in these last four months. I never thought that I would be on speaking terms with mí mamá again or that mí nieta would be involved with el musico who made jokes about your death!"
Kissing the side of her head, Héctor replied, "Very true, mí amor. And I'm still in shock over Vicita being involved with Gustavo but I guess I'm coming around to it."
Dinner that night was a quiet affair; Oscar and Felipe were out ("probably trying to score dates" said Héctor) and Victoria was over at a friend's house, so it was just Julio, Héctor, Rosita, Coco, and Imelda. It was due to be a quiet evening and, with Dante staying with Miguel, there wasn't any cause for concern.
That is until both little Socorro's and Miguel's shimmering bodies suddenly appeared on the dining room table.
"AAAAH!" Imelda screamed, nearly falling out of her chair in shock. Coco, Julio, Rosita and Héctor stared openmouthed as Miguel and Socorro slowly began to materialize. Yanking her boot off, she aimed it at Miguel as Socorro began to whimper.
"Don't! Mamá Imelda, it's really us!" Miguel said as he made his way off the dining room table.
Slowly putting her boot back on, Imelda immediately wrapped her grandchildren in a tight hug. After she let him go, Héctor, Coco and Julio had their turns to embrace the two kids with Coco hugging him the longest. It had been nearly six months since Miguel had attempted contact with his ancestors while sleeping as Imelda did not want him to risk his life to get in touch with them. Socorro clapped her hands, giggling now as she tugged on Coco's braids.
"How are you, Miguelito?" Coco asked softly. "Is everything alright?"
Nodding, Miguel said, "Sí, I'm alright, Mamá Coco. I just wanted to see you all and see if you're okay."
Grinning, Héctor replied, "We're all doing okay, chamaco. And we're so, so proud of you and of everything you're doing."
"Has Rodriguez shown up here yet?" Miguel asked as Imelda gently shook her head no.
"We haven't sent him, mijo," Imelda said. "But I think it's best that we let him contact us when he wants to. That way he doesn't feel pressured."
"Okay," Miguel replied. "But I just hope he's okay no matter what. Después de todo*, what he went through was awful!"
As Rosita hugged Miguel, the children's bodies began to shimmer again; a tell-tale sign that they were waking up in the Land of the Living. Quickly, Miguel added a quick "Te amo!" before he and Socorro vanished back to the Land of the Living, leaving the startled relatives behind to contemplate what just happened.
That night, no one slept all that well. Everyone spent the night pacing back and forth in their own rooms. Rosita had tried to put on a historical film about the Spanish Conquest, but no one was able to pay any attention to it as their minds were on other things.
When the twins and Victoria returned, they were both astonished at what had just happened. By the time morning rolled around, everyone's mind was on how Miguel and Socorro had just appeared.
"We all knew this could happen, mi amor," Héctor said. "The agent at the Department of Connections said that it was possible that both Miguel and Socorro could see us. They said that the reason why Socorro could see us could be as simple as her being in the same room as Miguel when he was talking to us."
"But if that's the case, shouldn't the rest of the family see us too?" asked Imelda. When she didn't get an answer, she immediately went over to the phone, quickly dialing the Department of Connections to set up a meeting at their office.
The agent at the DOC was very helpful, taking all of Imelda's urgent questions in stride and answering them as patiently as he could.
"When a child grows up, they no longer see us, doña," the agent said. "But if something scary happens to that child in our Land when they are teenagers or if they are born into hearing what others tell them, they can see us. It's very likely that Miguel will see us for the rest of his natural life. The same goes for his sister."
"But is it safe for him to keep visiting us like that?" Héctor asked. The agent nodded.
"No visits over 12 hours though. He must be back in the Land of the Living before sunrise or if the visit happens during the day, sunset," The agent replied. "The same also goes for his sister."
When Héctor and Imelda came back to the hacienda, they immediately told the rest of the family what they had been told by the agent. Everyone was very relieved to hear it. They were debating on whether they should contact Miguel when Riya came into the workshop.
"I hope you're not all busy," she said timidly. "I wanted to let you know that I heard from mi mamá."
Almost immediately, everyone ran over to the woman, wanting to know what had happened. Imelda put her hand up, silencing everyone.
"Go on, señorita," Imelda said. "Esta bien."
Shaking slightly, Riya held out a folded piece of what appeared to be sheet music. "Two days ago, I got a reply back. I wasn't sure it was mi mama, but I had someone check her handwriting and it's real."
Holding out the letter, Imelda took it from her, and silently began to read it.
Dear Triana,
There is so much I want to say. But first, I was so happy to get your letter and to know that you're doing well. I would love to see you and learn more about your life. I want to be here for you whenever you're ready, so if you're only comfortable with exchanging notes for now, I'm okay with that.
I don't want you to ever think that I did not want you or that I blame you for my death. There should not be blame in this situation nor do I want you to be resentful of what happened to me. But there is one thing that I am proud of. I am proud to call you my daughter and I love you with all my heart.
AT
When Imelda finished reading the letter, Riya was nearly on the verge of tears along with everyone else. Without a word, Imelda handed the letter back to her and Riya said, "Gracias, doña. For everything."
And with those words, the woman left.
Translations
*What's on your mind?
*After all