"Look at this! Look at this!"
Bruno rushed into the kitchen, interrupting a peaceful family breakfast.
In his hands, there was a shiny green object which had a picture of Pepa on it.
He must have had another vision, Mirabel thought, as she looked over.
"Oh. That's nice, I guess."
"BRUNO!" Alma screeched. "It's not nice to make pictures of people without their permission!"
"Who did he make a picture of?" Pepa asked.
"You," Alma said.
"BRUNO! WHY?!" Pepa wailed.
Bruno grabbed her arm. "It's very important! You need to see this!"
Pepa screamed and freed herself from his grasp. "DON'T TOUCH ME!"
I'll need to take a long bath, she thought.
Then, she left.
"Wow!" Mirabel laughed. "She sure has been having a lot of mood swings!"
"Well, you know how redheads are. They always have short tempers!" Bruno said.
"Good thing she's the only one in our family!" Mirabel said.
"Why are you guys saying mean things about my mom?" Dolores asked, peering around the corner.
"We're not!" Bruno said, grinning.
"I heard you! And I've never misheard anything in my life!" Dolores said.
"Well… we didn't say anything that wasn't true!" Mirabel said.
"Yeah, she has been really moody lately!" Bruno said.
"And crazy!" Mirabel said. "Yesterday, she was pulling out her own hair!"
"Well, maybe she's been having a lot of stress lately! But did you think about that? No! You only think about yourselves!" Dolores said.
Dinner time came, and Pepa was absent from the table.
"Where is Tía Pepa?" Mirabel asked.
"We don't care about Pepa," said Alma.
"But she's been really sad lately. Shouldn't we check to make sure she's okay?" Mirabel asked.
"No!" Alma snapped. "We don't need any thunderstorms at the table, anyways."
"Well, I'm gonna go apologize to her," said Mirabel.
"Mirabel, no! Come back!" Alma said, but she made no attempt to go after her.
Mirabel knocked on the bathroom door.
"Go away!" Pepa snarled. She was thundering.
"Tía Pepa, I'm sorry!"
"GO AWAY!" Pepa screeched, as the thunder became louder.
"Okay, okay! Fine!" Mirabel scurried back to the table.
"I think you made it worse…" Bruno said nervously.
"Maybe you should try apologizing to her," Mirabel said. "After all, you started this!"
"Mami, do I have to?" Bruno whined.
"Just finish eating your dinner," Alma replied.
I should just leave. I'm clearly not wanted in this family anymore, Pepa thought.
That night, when everyone was sleeping, she left the house. Not really knowing where she wanted to go, she ended up wandering aimlessly.
In the morning, Antonio began asking Alma where his mother was.
"I don't know," Alma said dismissively.
"Maybe she's hiding in the walls! Go look!" Dolores told him.
"Okay!" Antonio said cheerfully.
"That's stupid," Bruno scoffed, after Antonio ran away. "Why would she do that?"
"She isn't hiding in the walls!" Dolores said, rolling her eyes. "She ran away from home because you and Mirabel were bullying her, just for having red hair!"
"Oh," said Mirabel. "Whoops…"
"What if I had a kid one day, and they had red hair?" Dolores asked. "Would you bully them, too?"
"Well…uh… why do you ask?" Alma replied. "You aren't pregnant, are you?"
"Uh… n-n-no…" Dolores said. "I was j-j-just wondering…"
She took a moment to compose herself, and continued.
"Even if I was, I would tell Mami first. But I can't, because you drove her away!"
"Aha! So you are pregnant!" said Alma.
"No, I'm not! Leave me alone!" Dolores cried.
"This is so exciting!" Bruno said, grinning. "What if she has twins? Or triplets?"
His grin quickly turned to a frown, as he was still worried about Pepa.
"In all seriousness… do you think maybe we should look for Pepa now? It has been a few days…"
"Do you really care?" Alma asked.
"She's my sister! Of course I care," said Bruno. "And I never got to say sorry to her…"
"Okay, fine," Alma said. "We'll all go look for her tomorrow, if she doesn't show up by then."
"Yay!" Bruno said.
Slap! Slap! Slap!
Bruno's sandals slapped the floor as he paced nervously, a few days later.
"Bruno, can you stop that?" Dolores snapped. "It's annoying!"
"Sorry," said Bruno. "I'm just so worried about-"
Alma cut him off.
"Stop stressing her out! It's not good for the baby!"
"I'M NOT PREGNANT!" Dolores insisted.
"But when can we go look for Pepa?" Bruno whined. "She's been missing for over a week!"
"Soon," said Alma. "Now, go find someone else to bother."
Bruno decided to bother Julieta. As he snuck up behind her, she felt his hair brush against her back.
"Oh. Hi, Mirabel," said Julieta, trying to focus on cooking.
"I'm not Mirabel!" Bruno said, offended.
Julieta turned around.
"Ew. It's you."
"Why did you think I was Mirabel?" Bruno asked.
"Because you're short," said Julieta.
"What? No, I'm not!"
"Now I have to wash my hands, because I touched your gross, dirty hair," said Julieta.
"My hair isn't gross!" Bruno lied. "It's thick, soft, and luxurious!"
He tried to reach over and sample the food, but Julieta smacked his hand with a wooden spoon.
"No, no, no!"
"But I'm hungry!" Bruno whined, as his stomach gurgled.
Ew. That's gross, Julieta thought.
"This food is for later," she told him. "You're just gonna have to wait."
"I'm not just hungry! I'm also bored!"
"Well, maybe you can help clean up the house."
"Okay!" Bruno said, picking up a broom and heading into a different room.
He happily swept the floor, until he saw a pile of red hair in the dust pan.
Pepa's.
He began tearing up, and it wasn't from the dust.
"I am starting to miss Pepa," Alma said to Mirabel. "I'll always remember the time that she randomly started wearing glasses, and said that it was because Bruno permanently damaged her eyes!"
"Because he threw sand at her face, right?" Mirabel asked.
"Yes, but he tried to say that a sudden windstorm did it!" Alma laughed. "It would never have happened if he hadn't been playing with sand in the first place."
"And then what happened?" Mirabel asked.
"He tried to apologize, but of course I just told him to go to his room," said Alma. "And then, he ran away crying!"
"And what did Tía Pepa do next?" Mirabel asked.
"She laughed and said 'Yay! Bruno's gone!'" said Alma.
She was silent for a while.
"We should all go look for her."
And so, they did.
"PEPA! PEPA! PEPA!" Mirabel shouted at the top of her lungs.
"Mirabel, no," said Alma. "Please don't do that."
Some of the villagers heard them and asked if they could help look.
"No," Alma said. "Mind your own business."
"But Mami!" Bruno whined. "They might have an idea of where she is."
"What happens in the Madrigal family stays in the Madrigal family," Alma said
After a few more minutes, she got tired of walking.
"Every step I take hurts!" she said. "I'm going home."
"Okay," Bruno sighed, tired of arguing. "I'm gonna keep looking, though."
"Can I keep looking, too?" Mirabel asked, smiling at her parents.
"NO," they said in unison.
"Oh, okay," Mirabel sighed. "Good luck, Bruno!"
"Mirabel!" Julieta glared.
"Good luck, Tío Bruno," Mirabel said. "Be careful out there."
"Y-y-yeah…" Bruno said. "Of course…"
The next day, Luisa had a surprise for Mirabel.
"Hey, sis! Guess what I found outside!" she said, grinning proudly.
"Uh… what?" Mirabel asked.
"This thing!" Luisa said, holding up a barely conscious Pepa.
"Oh!" Mirabel beamed. "You should bring that inside and show it to Abuela!"
"Show what to me?" Alma asked, clearly not amused. She crossed her arms and stared sternly at her granddaughters.
The two sisters froze and went silent. Luisa relaxed her arms, causing Pepa to fall onto the ground.
Alma gasped.
"Pepa!"
"W-w-where are my glasses?" Pepa mumbled.
"You never had glasses," said Alma. "Luisa, bring it inside."
"NO!" Luisa shouted. I'm so tired of having to carry people around!"
"Well, that's not very nice!" Alma said.
"It's fine," said Pepa, getting up. "I can walk on my own. I'm just a bit tired…"
Julieta immediately spotted Pepa as she stumbled into the house.
"Pepa! You're back!" she said, running over to give Pepa a hug.
"Ow, ow, ow…" Pepa moaned, causing her sister to let go.
Julieta started to ask what was wrong, but she noticed the problem before she could finish her question.
"Oh, my goodness!"
She had been so excited to see her sister, and was just now realizing that Pepa's body was covered in bleeding scratches. Many were running straight up and down in a line, as if done intentionally.
"You're hurt!" Julieta realized. "Let me take care of that!"
"No, I'm fine!" Pepa insisted. "The lady whose fish died gave me a tortilla!"
She broke out in hysterical laughter and then fainted.
When Pepa awoke, she had no idea how much time had passed. All she knew is that her room was dark, and her body was aching.
The cuts were infected, and she had been left in a feverish haze.
Overwhelmed by the pain, she had nothing to do but cry herself back to sleep.
She didn't wake up at all for the next two days.
Luisa was starting to feel guilty.
"If only I had started looking earlier…" she said.
"We all should have started looking earlier," Mirabel said. "Besides, if it wasn't for you, she might have never been found!"
"I just hope she's okay," Luisa said.
"I'm sure she will be," said Mirabel. "Don't worry about this too much. You're awesome!"
"Thanks, sis!" Luisa hugged her sister very tightly.
Crack!
"Uh… what was that?" Luisa asked, hoping that she hadn't broken someone's bones again.
"MAMI!" Mirabel screamed. "LUISA BROKE MY GLASSES!"
"Uh-oh…" Luisa said.
Pepa spent the next several days lying face down in bed, with a cloud slowly drizzling rain over her. She barely moved or spoke.
"Pepa! I made your favorite food!" said Julieta, entering Pepa's room without knocking.
"But it's not meal time…" Pepa said feebly. It was the first thing she had to her sister in a while.
"I know, but you're sick," said Julieta. "You need to eat more."
"What makes you say that?" Pepa asked. "Do I look sick?"
She was even paler than normal, and there were dark circles around her eyes.
"I've been healing people for over forty years," said Julieta. "I'm pretty good at telling when they are sick."
Pepa didn't respond.
"Well, maybe I don't know exactly what's going on. But you've been like this for a few days now. I hope you snap out of it soon," Julieta said
She placed the food on the bedside table next to other plates of uneaten food, and the left the room.
When she returned to the kitchen, Bruno was waiting for her.
"Hi," he said. "Can I have some food please?"
"No eating outside of meal time!" Julieta said. "You know the rules!"
"But I'm hungry!" Bruno whined. "Besides, it's not like I'm getting fat."
He chuckled.
Julieta blushed. She had gained weight recently, and was feeling a bit embarrassed about it. Had Bruno noticed?
No, he just meant it as a harmless joke, she tried to reassure herself.
But the sparkle in his eyes made her feel sick.
Before she knew it, Bruno was gone again.
He probably went to hide in his room again, Julieta thought.
Even though the family had tried their best to make him feel welcome again, Bruno still didn't seem comfortable around others for long periods of time.
Suddenly, Pepa heard a knock at her door.
"C-C-come in…" she said, in a shaky voice.
"Hi," Bruno said, as he entered.
"Hi," said Pepa. "Food is on the bedside table. It's cold, though."
"I don't care," said Bruno. "I'm starving!"
He rushed to her bedside table. After gobbling up her food, he ran away.
Pepa chuckled weakly. "Oh, Bruno. You're always hungry…"
Julieta was still worried about her sister, and decided to check in on her again.
"Oh, good!" Julieta said, seeing the empty plate. "You ate all of your food!"
"Y-y-yep. I sure did," Pepa said.
"Don't you feel so much better now?" Julieta asked.
"Y-y-yeah," said Pepa. "So much better!"
"PEPA!" Alma screeched from downstairs. "Where are you, Pepa?"
"Ugh," Pepa said, rolling her eyes. "What does she want?"
"Uhh… maybe she wants to discuss birthday plans?" Julieta suggested.
"Umm… well… why don't you just tell her?" Pepa asked.
"PEPA!" Alma screamed again.
"I'm pretty sure she wants you," said Julieta.
Pepa sighed.
"Okay..."
She began getting out of bed slowly, but felt a sudden wave of dizziness. Her heart was pounding, and her ears were ringing.
Oh, no. I don't want to faint again!
Julieta noticed Pepa's distant stare and rushed over to help steady her, asking her if she was alright.
"I'm fine!" Pepa snapped. "Leave me alone!"
"No," Julieta said firmly. "You're not fine. Come on, we'll go downstairs together."
Mirabel woke up screaming the next day. A rat had crawled into her bed while she was sleeping.
"MAMI! THERE'S A RAT IN MY BED!"
Julieta didn't come, not even after several minutes of screaming and crying.
Instead, Pepa entered the room.
What in the heck? Why is she here? She hates me! Mirabel thought.
"What on Earth is going on here?" she yawned. "I'm trying to get my beauty sleep."
"I want my Mami!" Mirabel yelped.
"She's in the shower right now," Pepa said tersely.
"B-b-but there's a rat in my bed," said Mirabel. "I'm scared…"
Pepa searched the entire room, but didn't find any rats.
"I don't see anything," she said.
"I CAN SENSE ITS PRESENCE!" Mirabel grabbed Pepa and cried harder.
Pepa reluctantly hugged her. "Don't cry. It's going to be okay."
"Your hair is wet, and it smells like flowers…" Mirabel mumbled.
"That's because I just took a shower."
"I'm s-s-sorry…"
"It's okay," said Pepa. "Don't worry about it."
"N-n-no… I'm s-s-sorry… for everything…"
"It's fine," Pepa said. "Everything's fine. Really, I don't care anymore. I was just too sensitive."
She began stroking Mirabel's hair for some reason, and Mirabel fell asleep in her arms.
Mirabel woke up again a few hours later, still determined to find Julieta.
"Mami is always here!" she said, entering the kitchen.
However, Julieta was not there.
Mirabel was in disbelief.
"Where else could she possibly be?!"
"I saw her," Antonio said.
"Ooh! Where is…" Mirabel started, and then noticed that he was sipping coffee.
"Aren't you too young for that?" she asked.
"No, I'm not! Antonio giggled.
"Yes, you are," said Mirabel, taking it from him.
"MAMI! MIRABEL STOLE MY COFFEE!" Antonio shouted.
"No, no, no! I'm sorry! Here, you can have it back!" Mirabel said.
"MAMI!" Antonio shouted again, but even louder this time.
Pepa rushed into the room.
"MIRABEL! DID YOU STEAL FROM MY PRECIOUS BABY BOY?!"
"N-n-no…" Mirabel said.
"She did, Mami! She did!" Antonio said.
"I was…uh… just playing with him?" Mirabel said, sweating nervously.
"GIVE IT BACK!" Pepa commanded, as a storm cloud appearing over her head.
"Okay! Okay!" Mirabel said, giving the coffee back.
"Yay!" Antonio said. "Thanks, Mami!"
"I love you, sweetie," Pepa said, chuckling.
At that moment, Camilo wandered into the kitchen.
He's probably trying to sneak some extra snacks, Mirabel thought.
Then, she noticed that his hair was red.
"Why do you have red hair?" she asked.
"Because of Mami."
"SHE CHANGED YOUR HAIR COLOR?!"
"No, I changed it," Camilo said.
"But how?" Mirabel asked. "Did you dye it?"
Camilo just stared at her for a few seconds, until she realized how dumb her question was.
"You're looking for your mom, aren't you?" he asked, after an awkward silence.
"Yes…"
"I saw her, but…"
"But what?"
"She didn't have her apron on!"
"Really? But she always wears her apron!" Mirabel said.
"Well, she wasn't wearing it today," said Camilo. "Go find her, and see for yourself."
Mirabel searched for a long time and still couldn't find her mom, so she decided to go outside.
She wasn't out for long, when she saw something very strange.
Julieta's apron was caught on a low-hanging tree branch.
Mirabel's heart raced as she ran over and carefully removed the apron.
"How did this get here?" she wondered aloud.
Her mother didn't seem like the type of person to leave her apron just lying around- especially not in such a random place.
Mirabel's ears rang, and she began feeling sick to her stomach.
I have to bring this inside!
"ABUELA! ABUELA!" she shouted, as she ran into the house.
"Ugh," Alma said. "What do you want, Mirabel?"
"I found Mami's apron outside, in a tree!"
"Oh, no!" Alma gasped. "That can mean only one thing!"
"W-w-what?" Mirabel asked.
"She's dead!" Alma said.
"NO! Why are you saying that?"
"Because!" Alma said. "She never takes her apron off!"
"MAMI! NO!" Mirabel cried.
"This is all your fault, Pepa!" Alma said.
"My fault? How?" Pepa asked, putting her hand over her rapidly beating heart.
"You broke her heart by rejecting her food! Why didn't you just eat?" Alma said.
"I've been eating!" Pepa lied.
"No! You've been giving your food to Bruno! Dolores told me everything."
"ARGH! HOW DARE SHE!" Pepa said. "Just wait until I find her! I'm gonna kick and punch her!"
"No! Don't be so violent!" said Alma. "After all, she is pregnant."
"SHE'S NOT PREGNANT!" Pepa roared. "I AM!"
Bruno, Mirabel, and Alma began laughing hysterically.
"At your old age? Ha!" said Alma.
Julieta entered the room.
"Yeah! That's a good one, Pepa!"
"Oh! You're still alive!" Alma said. "Now I don't have to cancel your birthday party."
"Of course," said Julieta. "I was only gone for a few hours…"
"Where exactly were you?" Alma demanded. "You know you're supposed to stay in the kitchen!"
"I was just visiting some friends…" Julieta whimpered.
"Ha!" Alma scoffed. "You have friends?"
"Y-y-yes, and they hadn't seen me in a long time, since I've always been in the kitchen…" Julieta said, starting to tear up. Her smile began to turn into a frown, until she saw Alma making a fist.
Then, she quickly smiled again.
"Get back in the kitchen, or I'll beat you!" Alma shouted.
"Yes, Mama…" Julieta sighed. "But can I at least have the day off for my birthday? It's coming up soon, you know…"
"Well, I'd say yes, but you were naughty and snuck out! So, my answer is NO."
"Oh, okay…" said Julieta. She put her apron back on and headed into the kitchen.
"If Julieta wants to go outside so badly, I'll give her what she wants," Alma muttered. "I'll have a kitchen built outside. Since it's almost her birthday, I can pass it off as a birthday gift."
A few days later, Pepa told Félix everything that had happened to her.
He quietly listened without saying a word, because he knew that she'd hit him if he interrupted her story.
"… and I would've come home sooner, but the rocks fell and blocked my path! I spent hours crying for help, but nobody came! There I was, alone in the dark. Weak… vulnerable… tired… hungry… soaked from the rain! And then…"
"Hey, hey!" Julieta interrupted.
"What do you want?" Pepa glared at Julieta as a storm cloud formed over her head.
"I made you some extra food!" Julieta said. "Eat up!"
"I already told you that I'm not sick!" Pepa said. "Why don't you just drop it?!"
"I know you're not sick, but you are eating for two… right?" Julieta giggled.
"WHAT?!" Félix was flabbergasted.
"Umm… uhh… let's not discuss that right now…" Pepa said.
"Have you been keeping secrets from me?" Félix probed.
"No!" Pepa said. She tried to run away, but Julieta tackled her.
"Ahhh!" Pepa screamed. "Help me, Félix!"
Julieta shoved an arepa into Pepa's mouth.
"Eat up! Yum, yum, yum!" Julieta said. "There you go! Doesn't that feel great?"
Pepa cried and curled up into the fetal position. Antonio saw this, and ran up to her.
"Mami! Are you okay?"
"Yeah," Pepa said, wiping away her tears. "Mami's okay."
Don't cry in front of your children, she thought. It's a sign of weakness.
Camilo peered around the corner and saw them hugging.
I wish that she would hug me! he thought.
"Are you really pregnant, Mami?" Antonio asked, smiling innocently.
She stared at him blankly, but he only smiled harder.
"What do you think?" she asked.
"Yeah!" Antonio said.
That evening, Pepa finally returned to the dinner table. However, Bruno was late.
"Chicken again? That's the second time this week!" Alma complained.
Julieta ignored her.
"I'm coming! I'm coming!" Bruno stumbled into the room, sniffling.
"Bruno!" Alma said, disgusted. "Is your nose broken?"
Bruno didn't answer.
"I think his nose is broken, Julieta. Don't you?" Alma asked.
Julieta looked over and gasped.
"It is broken! How did that happen, Bruno?"
"I slipped on one of Pepa's puddles," Bruno sighed.
"PEPA!" Alma screamed. "You made a puddle on the floor?"
"It… it… w-w-was an accident!" Pepa whimpered.
"Shame on you!" Alma scolded. "You know better than that!"
"I-I-I'm sorry!" Pepa said.
"Go to your room!" Alma said. "No dinner for you."
Pepa ran away, crying.
"Oh, and I don't want chicken again," said Alma. "Take this back and make something else."
Isabela had no idea that dinner was ready. She was swinging on vines in her room.
"Whee! This is so much fun!"
"I guess she's not coming. That's too bad. She's my favorite family member," Alma said. "Besides myself, of course."
Julieta went into the kitchen to cook something else.
"AND HURRY UP! I'M STARVING!" Alma added.
"Yes, Mama…" Julieta sighed.
The next day, everyone woke up to a burning smell.
"WHAT HAPPENED?!" Alma screeched, stepping into the ashy kitchen.
"Julieta set the kitchen on fire like an idiot!" Pepa proclaimed.
"I'm sorry! I don't know what happened! I just left for a minute…" Julieta said.
"You're not supposed to ever leave the food unattended while you're cooking!" Alma scolded. "You know that!"
"Yeah, but… Pepa helped put it out! So, everything is okay!" Julieta said.
"No!" Alma said. "It's not okay!"
"What? Why not?" Julieta asked.
"You've been cooking for over 40 years!" Alma shouted. "There's no excuse for making mistakes like that!"
"I'm sorry! I don't know what's gotten into me…" Julieta said.
"First, you served us chicken twice in a row. And then this! Oh, and I haven't forgotten when you gave us meat that was RAW in the middle!" Alma ranted.
Little did she know that Camilo was standing behind her, mimicking her.
Julieta saw him and tried not to laugh.
"What's so funny?" Alma asked.
"N-n-nothing," said Julieta. "M-m-maybe I just need a break…"
"Absolutely not!" Alma roared. "You are going to stay in this kitchen day and night, until you stop making stupid mistakes!"
"I can't do that!" Julieta exclaimed. "I have a life outside of the kitchen, you know!"
"NO, YOU DON'T!" Alma roared. "Your only purpose in life is to cook and to have babies. And you're too old to have any more babies."
"Pepa's going to have a baby," said Julieta.
"No, she isn't," said Alma.
"But she said she felt it moving!" Julieta said. "And her stomach does look like it's gotten bigger."
"That's just gas," Alma said.
Bruno woke up hungry in the middle of the night, and smelled bread baking.
That smells good!
He wandered into the kitchen, where Julieta was wearing glasses.
"Hi," Bruno said.
"Oh!" Julieta said, taking the glasses off and hiding them in a drawer.
"Were you wearing glasses?" Bruno asked.
"What? No!"
Casita opened the drawer.
"Hey! Quit giving my secrets away, Casita!" Julieta said, chuckling.
She turned her attention back to Bruno.
"Why are you up so late, anyways?"
"Eh, I couldn't sleep," Bruno said, as his stomach gurgled.
"Are you sure you didn't just wake up because you're hungry?" Julieta asked.
"Yeah, I'm sure!" Bruno said, as his stomach gurgled louder. "What about you? Isn't it a bit late to be baking?"
"I couldn't sleep, either," Julieta said. "I've had a lot on my mind lately."
"Yeah, there's been a lot going on…" Bruno said.
"Especially with Pepa!" said Julieta. "Do you think she could really be pregnant?"
"That's… uh… not my affair to meddle in," Bruno mumbled.
They were silent for a while.
"I'm so happy that someone actually wants to spend time with me," said Julieta. "Most people only approach me because they want food."
"You seem so sad," Bruno said. "I wish that you were allowed to see your friends."
"It's okay. My friends only loved me for my cooking, anyways," said Julieta. "Well, at least that's what Mami says…"
At that moment, the bread finished baking.
"Oh, hey!" said Julieta. "The bread is done. If only there was someone around to eat it while it was still fresh and warm…"
"Yeah," said Bruno. "If only."
Julieta started cutting the bread. When she turned around, Bruno was already scurrying down the hallway like a rat.
"Bruno! Wait!" Julieta said. "Come back!
Bruno shaved his beard off that night, and snuck up on Julieta while she was chopping vegetables the next morning.
"Hi," he said. "I shaved."
Julieta turned to look at him, while still chopping. As she did, her knife slipped and she cut her finger.
"OW!" she screamed.
"Oh, no! What happened?!" Bruno asked.
Julieta showed him her finger, which was bleeding.
"This is all your fault for distracting me!"
After cutting her finger, Julieta didn't feel like cooking anymore. She just stood there, reminiscing about when she wasn't injured.
"Julieta! Why aren't you cooking?!" Alma screeched.
Julieta held up her injured finger again, as the bleeding intensified.
"What do you want me to do about that?" Alma asked. "Kiss it better?"
"JULIETA! I'M THIRSTY! I WANT A GLASS OF WATER!"
Ugh. Pepa's here to screech at me again, Julieta thought.
Julieta sighed.
"Okay, just a moment."
A moment later, Julieta handed Pepa a glass of water. There was a lemon wedge on the rim.
"What is this?" Pepa asked, her voice dripping with disgust.
"Your water," Julieta said, smiling.
"WITH A LEMON ON IT?!" Pepa screeched.
"Yeah, what's wrong with that?" Julieta continued smiling.
"ARE YOU TRYING TO GET ALL FANCY WITH ME?!" Pepa said.
"What?" Julieta asked. "You don't like it?"
"NO! I just wanted a simple glass of water!"
Pepa threw the lemon wedge at Julieta.
As Julieta tried to catch it before it fell to the floor, the lemon's juice got into her cut and intensified the pain.
Despite Julieta's attempts to disguise it as a brand new meal, Alma noticed that Julieta was serving leftovers for lunch the next day.
Instantly, she began screaming and beating her daughter.
Antonio ran into the room, wearing a pair of green circular glasses that were much too large for him.
"Why are you wearing those?" Pepa asked him.
"Because they're cool!"
"Let me see those!" Pepa said, with an insane grin.
"Okay!" Antonio said cheerfully, handing them over.
Snap!
Pepa broke the glasses in half.
"Why did you do that?" Antonio asked.
"Because they reminded me of Mirabel, and I HATE MIRABEL!" Pepa screeched.
Julieta stared at her with wide eyes and her mouth slightly open.
"Oh! I mean… uh…" Pepa started. She rambled on, trying to explain herself until she noticed that her sister was not saying anything or even blinking.
"Julieta? JULIETA!"
Thud!
Julieta fainted.