El Viaje de Coquita
El Capítulo Diecinueve

Héctor plucked the opening notes of the song.

"Qué deseo sentir tu tacto...
con nada pero sonido entre nos...
con la luz de la luna sobre nos...
como tus...ojos tan redondos..."

Chelo was confused by the deviation until she noticed the two Cocos.

"Si solo he sabido...
que el viaje sería en vano,...
he nunca haber buscado paraíso...
y te ponido por infierno."

Chelo let off a soft laugh. "Brings back memories. Gracias..."

Everyone watched as her bones gained a steady glow before crumbling to dust and drifting off into the wind.

Héctor removed his hat and put it over his chest.

Dante could be heard whimpering in a far corner.

Socorro's eyes remained fixed on the spot where Chelo had been. "Wait - what happened?"

"She's been forgotten." One of the other women started picking up the cards. "When there's no one left in the living world who remembers you, you disappear from this world. We call it the Final Death."

"But where did she go?"

Coco shrugged. "No one knows."

"B-But I've met her! I can remember her when I go back - -"

"No, it doesn't work like that, mijita. Our memories,... they have to be passed down by those who knew us in life, through the stories they tell about us. But there's no one left alive to pass down Chelo's stories."

Coco nodded. "Papá is still here because I trusted Miguel to keep his letters safe."

Socorro was lost for words.

Héctor massaged her shoulder. "Hey, it happens to everyone eventually. Now, how about that competition, eh?"

With that, Héctor and his girls headed out of Shantytown.

Minutes later, their presence was replaced by that of the rest of the family.

A bearded skeleton at a campfire was the first to see them. "Oyé, ¿cómo estás?"

"Buenas noches, Señora Rivera."

"If you're looking for Héctor and Coco, they're on their way to a music competition."

"We're also looking for a living girl."

"About nine."

"Sí, they left about diez minutos ago."

"And you said they were bound for a music competition?"

The residents all nodded.

Julio thought about where they might have been headed. "Why do you think they're going to a music competition?"

Victoria shrugged. "Especially since they know we're out looking for them."

Rosita looked around. "Does anyone know where this music competition is?"

They were met with shrugs. "The living girl did say that she wanted to figure out what kept Primo Héctor from returning home."

Imelda was befuddled. "And how would being in a music competition get her any answers?"

Victoria suddenly remembered how Socorro managed to cross over. "Maybe she's trying to get to Ernesto de la Cruz."

The rest of the family responded with confusion.

"She said the guitar from de la Cruz's mausoleum belonged to Abuelito. If that's true, she's probably gone looking for him to ask him if he knows anything about Abuelito not coming back home."

"What are you getting at, mija?"

"If the music competition's prize is getting to meet de la Cruz in person, then Mamá, Socorro, and Abuelito are probably going to enter it."

"But where is the music competition?"

"We can't find them if we don't know where they've gone."

Imelda looked to Pepita. "We'll find their trail soon enough."

Socorro looked out over the cable trolley's railing. "So, that thing you said about cursed spirits not helping the nearly forgotten. Is that why the dead are so scared of living people in the Land of the Dead?"

Héctor tried to play a riff on his guitar. "I'm not sure I follow."

"You said that it's cheating to remember people by going to the Land of the Dead and meeting them."

He stroked his chin. "Bueno, I suppose if you put it that way,... but no, it's just that cursed spirits are a rare event. In all the time I've been dead, I've only heard of three such incidents. Only one of them made it back before sunrise, and that's how I found out about the whole 'cheating remembrance' thing."

"Did you try to get them to remember you when they went back?" Coco asked.

"Sí. I knew it didn't work because my bones remained just as yellow after she was sent back."

Socorro shuddered at the fate of the two unlucky souls. "So, am I the third or fourth cursed spirit during your after-lifetime?"

"Fourth." Héctor prepared to dismount the trolley. "Welcome to La Plaza de la Cruz!"

The trio hopped down to the cobblestone pavement and began wading through the masses of partygoers gathered in the plaza. There were souvenir vendors, dancers, and skeletons lighting firecrackers.

Socorro spotted the stage in time to see it roar to life.

A skeleton with blue hair appeared. "¡Bienvenidos a todos! Who's ready for some música? It's a battle of the bands, and the winner gets to play for El Maestro himself, Ernesto de la Cruz, at his fiesta tonight!"

Héctor ushered his girls behind the stage. "Hopefully it's not too late to sign up."

The announcer concluded the introduction. "Let the competition begin!"

One by one, the competitors presented their musical talents (or lack thereof) to the audience.

Héctor sat down with the two Cocos. "So, what's the plan?"

Socorro was sifting through the songs in her book. "I'm looking, I'm looking."

Several contestants nearby were practicing covers of "Remember Me".

Coco grimaced. "That's one song we can cross off the list."

Héctor nodded. "Agreed."

Socorro continued searching the book. "How about... 'Poco Loco'?"

Héctor and Coco both beamed. "That's a good song."

The stagehand looked at his clipboard. "Los Tres Campeches, you're on standby; Los Chachalacos, you're on now."

A band of skeletons dressed in pink made their way onto the stage, receiving the audience's first cheers. "Los Chachalacos!"

They struck up the music, delighting the crowd with their performance.