There's a heaviness in the air. Something's crowding all around him. Some horde of demonios that I can't see. But I feel them. Their corrupting power radiates outwards, reaches into my chest. Their cold fingers close around my heart. They crush it. And I feel my ribs contract, collapse, and I suffocate as I'm pulled into that empty hole. That's why I forgive him. Because if that's what I feel just being close to him, I can't imagine what he endures at the hands of his demonios. I forgive my father. But I can never forgive myself for that.

-Brenda Del Vecchio

BEFORE...

"Miss Del Veccho," the teacher spoke, "wouldn't you prefer assembling the care packages with the other girls?"

Brenda gave Mr. Soares a weird look. "I came to work." At that she dumped her armful of rubble into a wheelbarrow.

Paco's gloved hand came up and he volunteered, "Mr. Soares, I'd like to go work with the girls."

"I bet you would," was all their teacher said before moving off.

Jaime wiped his brow, then straightened and cupped his eyes against the sun to scan the block. Here and there his classmates picked through the remains of a demolished lot. Amongst them were teachers and college students acting as coordinators. The three blocks had been emancipated to bony remains by a fire. In the lot where they worked, demolition crews had already carved away most of the ruins from the previous building. A cement foundation and structural frame were already in place for the new homeless shelter. Jaime's school along with a local college were there to clear the lot of any remaining wreckage.

Though most people wouldn't expect a desert climate to get cold, El Paso sat almost 4000 feet above sea level and snow fell whenever there was moisture enough to have any. As it was, winter's grip was loosening and tender green shoots tested the land in preparation of spring.

Jaime melted, but it wasn't because of the sun or from working for three hours. This melting started deep in his bones, somewhere where the marrow formed, where blood was born. It started right in his shins, echoing up to his knees.

"Isn't it great?" Brenda shot Jaime a smile — the source of his bones melting like wax — and went on, "She's throwing it in Upper Valley at her estate. She even said she'd rent me a live band. There's going to be security to make sure people don't sneak in. So don't lose your invitations."

"Who else is coming?" Jaime asked wondering how big a party had to be to entice party crashers.

"My tía said I could invite up to two hundred."

Paco's eyebrows shot up. "Dang, chica. Wish my relatives were loaded."

Jaime had been happy for Brenda when she'd passed him and Paco the party invites on the bus, but he couldn't help feeling let down. In the past, Brenda's birthday's had been anything but special. Her dad didn't spring for a balloon let alone a cake. Jaime doubted he even remembered. The endless let downs had left her bitter and this year she had been dead set on skipping her sixteenth birthday.

"Don't bother getting anything," she had told him. "It's stupid the way people obsess over birthdays." But Jaime saw how hard she stared across the room when she said this. "Stupid," she repeated as though to convince herself.

For the past month, Jaime conspired to throw a surprise party, something with her friends, let her know she had family beyond the walls of her house. But his totally thoughtful and sensitive idea had been trampled under the prospect of catered food, live music, and a pool.

It was for the better, he told himself. His party would have been lame. And wasn't the most important thing that Brenda was happy? She was practically glowing, bouncing around the lot, eyes filled with visions of every birthday wish she was finally getting. And she deserved each one of them.

The three soon filled up their wheelbarrow with chunks of brick and charred wood. It was Brenda's turn to wheel it to the dumpster at the end of the street. He and Paco stooped across the grounds, snagging more trash as they went and tossed it in a pile.

Jaime and Brenda had met in elementary on the playground. Brenda had just been told she threw like a girl by a boy who was almost twice her size. She punched the boy in the mouth, knocking him right on his butt. She then leaned over him and asked, "I hit like a girl too?" The boy was Paco. Needless to say, the three became friends and Paco never joked about Brenda's throw again.

Brenda was the coolest girl Jaime knew. Somewhere along the line, the cool girl developed the power to melt him. His bones went soft, his heart pounded, and his hands trembled as though he were terrified though he didn't know of what. And when this happened, he laughed too loud and his brain flushed all sense and reason from his cranium. His impulses took free reign.

There's a wall, his impulses told him, I'll jump off it.

Look, french fries! I'll stick them up my nose.

I'll talk like Kermit the Frog for half an hour because that's funny.

All to get her to laugh. To look at him. To think he was brave and awesome. Only when his brain started functioning again, Jaime ended up feeling stupid, and Brenda flat out told him he was. Jaime told his impulses to shut up. Clenched his fists until they stopped trembling. And tried only to see Brenda as the cool girl. Not hot. Nothing that would start his bones melting.

A shout jerked him out of his musings.

"Think fast!"

Jaime turned just as Paco tossed a cinder block at him.

"Paco!" Jaime caught it but stumbled from the force. He ended up ramming into someone. Before he could even think to apologize, he was punched in the back.

"Watch it, nerd." Jaime cringed at the voice. Why? Of all the people to run into.

AJ was a senior. That meant bigger. He was short tempered to top it off. At his side as always hung his buddies Leo and Javier. Leo was a rat faced boy, pinched and bony like a misshapen clay figure. Javier towered at six foot two, and his powerful limbs were backed by taught aggression.

"What, the whole block not big enough for you?" AJ said.

"Chill," Jaime said. "Didn't mean to."

AJ jabbed him in the chest. "You're lucky I don't have time for you. Where's Brenda? She's usually hanging around you losers. Need to talk to her."

"Why?"

"You her secretary?" AJ droned. Javier and Leo found that particularly hilarious, falling into each other with laughter at AJ's oh so sharp wit. Pleased by his own humor, AJ went on, "Pathetic the way you're always following her around."

Jaime was not one for pithy retorts. That was Paco's area of expertise. Still, he tried, saying, "At least I'm not chasing around a girl who dump me." Not bad. Not great. Yeah ... Jaime really needed to work on his comebacks.

"You think I'm chasing after that redheaded slut?" AJ leered. "Been there. Tapped that." His buddies guffawed and they exchanged fist bumps.

Jaime dropped — or perhaps more accurately tossed — the cinder block squarely on AJ's foot. The boy hollered and reeled back. Jaime offered an 'oopsie' face complete with a small gasp of sympathy. Paco bent double in laughter.

"Sorry, man," Jaime cooed. "It was an accident."

AJ swelled up, fury swallowing all pain. "I'll give you an accident." He lunged, fists raised. Jaime braced for the strike.

Did he regret it? Hells no.

AJ was expert in dealing a beating. He didn't go for the face. That left evidence. The hit caught Jaime in the gut. He felt his breath crumple from the force.

Before AJ's second punch could land, Jaime was jerked back and Paco stepped between them. Paco wasn't as tall as the twelfth graders, but he was big. His bulky mass was sufficient enough to cause even AJ's fury to pause.

"Back up off my hombre," Paco said in a low voice.

"Move it, Taco."

"That's cute coming from a dude named after a little mermaid, Ariel." AJ's eyes bulged. Paco dared utter the forbidden name.

Meanwhile, Jaime gasped, holding his middle. Three to two wasn't exactly Jaime's idea of a pleasant tumble. Especially when two of the three looked like they ate barbells for breakfast. While Paco could probably take AJ, Jaime was compact, made for running (generally away); not jumping in the middle of a full out brawl. He doubted he could even take down Leo.

AJ slammed a meaty fist into his palm. "Had enough of both you. Acting like you're better than me."

"You say that as though it isn't true," Paco shot back.

"You got no idea what you're in for." At this, AJ glanced for his buddies. To both his and Jaime's surprise, instead of their posts at AJ's side, they stood well behind.

Javier mumbled, "Don't think that's a good idea, AJ."

"Heard he runs with The Posse," Leo added.

AJ turned right into Paco's smug smirk. "Tell me," Paco dared, "what am I in for?"

"This isn't over." And with that, AJ and his buddies slunk off.

"Anytime, princesa," Paco called after him. He turned to Jaime. "You okay?"

"Think I inhaled my spleen," Jaime said.

Brenda returned, empty wheelbarrow in tow. She stared after the upperclassmen. "What was Ariel doing over here? Was he bothering you?"

Paco brushed the dust off his gloves. "Nothing I couldn't handle, chica."

"Jaime, you okay?" she asked when he only glared after the trio. He felt her take note of the way he grimaced and held his stomach. But she didn't say anything. She wasn't the kind of person to do that.

"Can't believe you dated that idiota," Jaime muttered.

"One," she said. "One date. And don't remind me."

Paco took a water break, surveying their progress. "Looks pretty good. Can hardly tell there was a bonfire big enough to be seen from space."

"What caused the fire, anyways?" Jaime asked, eager for any topic besides AJ.

Brenda was the one to answer. "Heard the teacher say there was some lab accident nearby and the whole block went up in flames."

"Several blocks," Jaime added, noting the blackened buildings further down the road. He hefted the same cinder block that served as his weapon of justice and dropped it into the now filled wheelbarrow. "I got this one." Jaime hulled the load to the end of the street. He dumped the contents and took a breather before heading back.

The street looked eerie on this side. The buildings were windowless, leaving gaping openings into their charred depths. Soot painted the walls and building exteriors. Some roofs had caved, exposing the remains like some scene out of a war movie. Walking back, Jaime was drawn to an office building roped off by caution tape. He stopped. This must have been the lab. From what he could tell of its remains it used to be a three story building, sleek and modernly designed. Only last month this area had been up and coming. Now businesses were in shambles, stores closed, and ... what was that? He craned his neck to get a better view of the doughnut-shaped ring the size of a swimming pool. He was too far back to tell.

Jaime glanced one way, then the other. Couldn't hurt to look. He ducked under the tape.

"Can't you read?" a voice said and Jaime's heart leapt into his throat. He whipped around and was relieved to see Brenda, hand cocked against a hip. "I thought Paco was the one failing English."

"It says caution," Jaime said. "I'm being cautious."

"You know that's not what I meant, burro. What you doing?"

"Just looking. Think this was the lab where the fire started."

"Yeah, so you're probably stepping in a bunch of deadly chemicals, genius."

"Think there's a particle accelerator. And who knows what other cool stuff this place has."

"We can't just walk around."

"Scared?"

"No. Just not stupid." Jaime grinned. Brenda's chin jutted out. "If my hair falls out, I'm breaking your teeth." She ducked under the tape and followed him.

Scorched computers and equipment scattered the debris, plastic melted and distorted. Even so, Jaime could tell it was once very new generation.

"Look, sorry about Ariel," Brenda spoke up.

"What for?"

"Paco said you got in a fight."

"It wasn't a fight."

"Then what was it?"

A near death experience.

"Nothing," Jaime said. "And you shouldn't apologize for him. Not your fault AJ's a dick."

"He was probably mad because I didn't give him an invite to the party."

Still determined not to talk about Brenda's pseudo-ex, Jaime shrugged. "Who knows with him."

They'd reached the back where the miniature particle accelerator lay. One side had collapsed, making it a C shape. Brenda clamored over the rubble to the center of the mechanism. The broken ring was no larger than his bedroom at home, probably making it a prototype for some larger project.

"Okay," she relented as she turned full circle. "This is pretty cool."

"Told ya."

"Think this is what started it? Some scientist crashed a few atoms together and ka-boom?"

Jaime shrugged, turning to examine the rest of the lab. He could see the remains of worktables, high powered microscopes, and who knows what else. He picked his way past a steel wall that had survived and entered the neighboring room.

Here, there was just the regular debris from the building. Nothing interesting. He turned to head back when he spied something sticking out of the ground. What caught his eye was its color. Everything else was a muted gray, coated under grime and soot. This object was spotless as though it were a shard of fallen sky.

Jaime bent then paused. Several large canisters were partially buried in the debris but the labels were still readable. Liquid nitrogen. If those had been damaged in the fire, one wrong move could leave him with a popsicle for a hand. Jaime reached around the containers and pulled at the blue object. It gave way with a few tugs and he stepped away fast.

"What you find?" Brenda stood in what used to be a doorway.

Jaime examined the object. It was about the size of his palm, heavy as lead, a polished surface. It was a carving of a bug. If it hadn't been for the color, Jaime would have guessed it was a fossil. "Some sort of rock," he said and showed her.

"Wow. That's so cool."

"It's a bug," he said.

"Technically, it's a dung beetle. It's the symbol of resurrection."

"How do you know that?"

"I'm sorta going through an Egyptian mythology phase. It's gorgeous," she said, eyeing the figure. "Think it's carved from a single piece of stone. Look at the detail on the legs." Jaime bent towards it as well; less to admire the craftsmanship, more to enjoy their faces being so close together. Their foreheads were almost touching and a strand of her hair tickled his brow. All day working and she still smelled sweet; like vanilla.

"Brenda?" He said her name softly. They were close enough for him to say it that way.

"Yeah?"

"Uh ..." What incredibly romantic thing had he just been about to say again? "Really looking forward to your party."

Damn him.

"Me too."

Quick, say she smells good. Say she's beautiful. Tell her you like her more than as a friend! "Brenda, I-"

"Hey," a man's voice barked.

And moment gone. Damn him twice.

The two turned to see a man in a navy blue jumpsuit, gloves, and heavy work boots. His head was covered by a stark white hardhat. That coupled with his beet red face made him appear very patriotic.

Jaime was suddenly very certain that the caution tape had actually read, "KEEP OUT!" He jammed the bug carving into his back pocket without thinking twice.

"You're not allowed to be back here." The man's eyes nearly popped out of his sockets as his volume level rose. "What the hell do you think you're doing?"

"Nothing, sir-" Jaime stammered.

"You're trespassing."

"We were just looking," Jaime said. "We didn't know-"

"My ass you didn't."

Jaime's mind went into overdrive. They were suspended from school. Probably had to pay a fine. Maybe they'd be sent to jail. Jaime thought of his madre and cringed. Maybe worse than jail!

Brenda whispered something. Jaime glanced at her. Her eyes flicked to the side. A hole in the outer wall. In a split second he understood and nodded.

"Cops are on their way you little-" the man's popping eyes widened. Brenda and Jaime shot through the opening in the wall and booked. "Get back here!"

Spurred on by a string of expletives, the two tore down the street. Only back at the safety of the clean up site did they stop, panting behind the construction site, wearily watching the street for the man in the jumpsuit. No one followed.

Brenda glanced at Jaime, a sly smile at her lips. "Nothing like a brisk jog from the man to get the blood pumping.

Jaime breathed out a laugh. "Thought we were screwed-"

"Jaime! Brenda!"

The two jumped in alarm. He spoke too soon. Their teacher Mr. Soares marched up, glaring down his pinched nose. No where to run to now.

"And where exactly did you two sneak off to?" Mr. Soares drilled. The two exchanged glances. "Have half a mind to toss you in detention. Lucky I didn't decide to leave you. Put those rears in gear." At that he turned and embarked the bus that was already packed with their peers.

He and Brenda let out joint sighs of relief. They boarded the bus and slid into the fo-leather seats that Paco had saved for them. Only when they were well on their way back to school did they relax.

"Hey, what did you do with the scarab?" Brenda asked Jaime.

"Huh?"

"That beetle rock."

"Oh." Jaime shifted in his seat to ease the pressure off the uncomfortable bulge in his back pocket. "Must have dropped it," he said to the window.

Loose Spanish translation as taken in context:

burro - idiot
chica - girl
demonios - demons
hombre - man
idiota - idiot
madre - mother
princesa - princess
tía - aunt