El Viaje de Coquita
El Capítulo Quince
Socorro spun around in time to see her dead family notice her reappearance.
Imelda marched right up to the girl. "Dos segundos, and already you've broken your promise!"
"I was just taking Papá Miguel's guitar back where it belongs."
"First of all, my name is Héctor, not Miguel. Second, she specifically asked that your brother stop playing music, and bringing a guitar back home is not going to make that happen."
Socorro shoved her way past Imelda. "This isn't fair! It's my life! You've already had yours!" She found a pedal lying on the floor.
"Papá Julio, I ask for your blessing." He pulled his hat over his face.
"Tía Rosita?" She shied away from the pedal.
"Óscar? Felipe?" They tried to hide behind each other.
"Tía Victoria?" She just shook her head.
"Mamá Coco?" She immediately reached for the pedal.
Imelda snatched it away before her daughter could reach it. "Don't make this hard, mija. You go home my way or no way."
The two Cocos gazed with betrayed faces. "Y-You really hate music that much?"
"I will not let you or your brother go down the same path he did!" Imelda pointed to Héctor.
Coco's face hardened into a sneer as she pulled her bisanieta toward her. "You've gone too far this time, Mamá! She's living her life the way she wants, and you have no right to take that away from her!"
With that, she stormed out of the office with Socorro and her father in tow.
The rest of the family remained frozen in shock at what they just witnessed.
The silence was broken by Victoria. "She's not going to make it home until the last possible second, isn't she?"
Socorro struggled to keep up with Coco as she dragged her and Héctor through the train station.
"Where are we going?"
"We can't let Mamá put an end to having music in your life!"
She caught a glimpse of the rest of the family talking to a police officer, and pulled her sombrero tighter over her head.
"Tenemos una familia buscando una niña viva."
Héctor took Socorro's shoulder. "We need to find a place where we can hide."
Coco spotted a phone booth and pushed them all inside.
"Okay, look, all we need to do is find a pedal, and either you or Miguel can - -"
"Héctor."
"Sorry. You look and sound just like my brother. Anyway, if we just get a pedal, I can go back home without having to give up music or make Miguel give up music."
"Just don't try to steal the guitar again, even if it did belong to me."
"What do you think will happen if Elena found it?"
Socorro sighed. "I just thought it might have some sort of clues about what stopped you from coming home."
"I hadn't touched it in over a century; what kind of answers would you expect to find?"
"I dunno." Socorro found her copy of her brother's book in her pocket. "I mean, there's too much stuff about you and Ernesto that isn't making sense." That's when an idea struck her. "Maybe we can find Ernesto and ask him about what he knows about you."
"You want t-to - to - to do WHAT?!" Héctor's eyes dropped into his mouth.
Socorro reeled in disgust.
Héctor punched his eyes back into place. "Wait wait wait wait wait... you want us to go prancing around the Land of the Dead to try and find a famous singer who we might not reach before sunrise?"
Socorro stepped out of the phone booth. "Well, as long as we stay together and have some pedals we can use, I can go back home whenever I want."
Coco followed her out. "But where do you expect to find any?"
Héctor closed the booth door behind him. "Well, all the flower shops sell cempazuchitl flowers, so that takes care of that."
A voice echoed from across the station. "SOCORRO!"
She gasped and grabbed Héctor and Coco by the wrists before running out the door.
She stopped when she heard snaps and realized the arms in her hands had become detached.
"¡Espéranos, chiquita!" Héctor reclaimed his arm and waited for his daughter to get hers back on before following Socorro into the street.
They disappeared with Dante at their heels as the rest of the family burst out the door.
Imelda paused to catch her breath. "¡Ay! She's going to get herself killed! I need my spirit guide! Pepita!"
She whistled for the alebrije, who was sleeping on the roof of the Rivera zapateria.
The giant winged jaguar hopped down to the train station entrance and glided to where her mistress was standing.
"Who has that pedal Socorro touched?"
Julio presented it. "N-Nice alebrije..."
Pepita sniffed the pedal and immediately started sniffing the cobblestones ahead of the family.
Héctor and the two Cocos stopped under a bridge to catch their breath.
"Okay. I managed to get a couple petals, so we can send you home now."
Socorro nodded. "I still want to find out why you never came home, Miguel."
Héctor facepalmed. "Would you stop calling me that, por favor?"
"Sorry, Papá Héctor. It's hard when you look and sound just like my brother."
He sat down on a crate, his daughter and tataranieta sitting on their own crates. "Well, you see, Socorro, this place runs on memories. When you're well remembered, people put up your fotos, and you get to cross the flower bridge and visit the Land of the Living on Día de los Muertos."
Coco nodded. "People in this world keep the appearances they had on their last day alive."
"So, that must mean you died when you were Miguel's age?"
Héctor nodded. "Such a smart girl."
"And you never came home because you were dead?"
The man sighed sadly. "Sí."
Socorro fished two tins of shoe polish from her pockets; one black, one white. "I think we need to find Ernesto de la Cruz and ask him some questions."
Héctor took possession of them. "Play a little game of Sherlock Holmes, eh?"
Socorro shrugged. "I guess."
Héctor prepared to paint Socorro's face. "Like I said, de la Cruz is a tough guy to get to, and you need to get back home before sunrise, mijita. So, don't count on this mission being successful."