Land of the Living 1952 Mexico City
It was the 10th anniversary of the death of Ernesto de la Cruz and it was time to prepare a tribute: in all the cinemas of Mexico all his films would be broadcast and in particular in the capital a gigantic party was being organized where several aspiring artists would perform paying homage to him and many benefactors would give their contribution that would be destined for the construction of the villa- museum dedicated to de la Cruz himself; but there were only 5 days left for the celebration and the suitable location had not yet been found because the foundation of the Lopez Garcia family, which had existed since 1922, had refused with a sharp no as de la Cruz's music was forbidden in their family. However, Jessica Cortez, lawyer and mistress of de la Cruz, was not the easy type of woman to give up and had returned knocking on the door of their house trying to bribe them with money, but receiving as an answer a shoe thrown on her head by the matriarch Claudia
"We will never pay homage to a man who built his career with my nephew's blood on his hands! His music destroyed 2 families." and he closed the door in her face. Jessica, however, had not allowed herself to be intimidated and had turned to the court to obtain permission which was later denied due to the testimony of señora Claudia herself on the attempted corruption; now he had no chance and so he had announced on the radio that the party would take place in the plaza but he had a plan in mind to take revenge. 5 evenings later, in the Lopez Garcia house they were having dinner quietly until Paloma, Claudia's daughter, had turned on the radio where they were broadcasting the very latest news about the party
"Damas y caballeros we're live from Mexico City, do you feel all this heat? It is the love that Ernesto de la Cruz bequeathed to us in his songs! So many keep coming! A huge success despite the obstacles encountered at the beginning but we will talk about this shortly with the lawyer Jessica Cortez after the commercial. " all remained with their ears pricked, curious to know what the lady would say about it
"Señora Cortez, I have to pay you my compliments; despite the problems the party is still having a huge success! But tell us what happened, why did you opt for the plaza at the last minute? " Jessica grinned before answering the question
"We wanted the party to take place in the Lopez Garcia foundation but the family didn't allow us."
"Can I know why?"
"You know, sometimes it's easier to hang on to fantasies in order not to face reality. 46 years ago, the brother of the señora Claudia adopted an orphan who was also Ernesto's childhood friend and 31 years ago he disappeared and never returned and she holds Ernesto responsible since they were together on tour but the truth is that her nephew met a woman, he lost his head and fled with her God knows where leaving his family. I'm sorry that she still can't accept it and I can't blame her, I know how it feels when our loved ones disappoint us but tarnishing Ernesto's memory is unacceptable and mean; I just feel sorry for her. "
"Thank you señora Cortez for the interview, he made a lot of things clear to us. It is horrible that someone attacks a person even when they are dead! "
"But thank you for making this possible. I wanted to clear things up." Claudia, seized by anger, went down to the plaza, snatched the microphone from the interviewer and screamed
"Jessica Cortez you are a bastard; how dare you talk about Hector? You must never allow yourself again, I will tear your dyed hair, do you understand?"
It takes the intervention of her niece Ana to calm her down before the police intervene "It does not end here!" these were the last words addressed to Jessica The next day and in the years to follow, many fans of de la Cruz would send threatening letters and the foundation would lose some customers but the tenacity and determination of Claudia Lopez Garcia not only would have made the family survive despite the problems but it would was repaid some sixty years later by obtaining justice.
