Chapter 9
Figuring out the curse
"This is not amazing." Rosa drew back her statement. "This is outstanding!"
Millions of colours and lights threatened to overwhelm her eyes. Buildings of all shapes and sizes started spreading out shortly after the marigold bridge ended.
She'd never seen anything like the view before her, and Miguel hadn't either. She doubted that even the most fascinating places in the Living World could come close to this one.
Beside her, her cousin managed to overcome his bewilderment quicker.
"This isn't a dream, then. You're all really out there..." he said with a smile.
"You thought we weren't?" Tía Victoria appeared to be miffed.
"Well, I don't know." He shrugged. "I thought it might've been one of those made-up things that adults tell kids. Like… vitamins."
Rosa burst out laughing. "You really are stupid!"
"What's stupid about not believing in them, huh? It's not like you can see them. "Oh, look, I have vitamins right here in my hand!""
The girl's laughing increased so much that she had to stifle it in order not to attract unwanted attention.
"Miguel, vitamins are a real thing." Victoria stated simply.
"Well, now I'm thinking maybe they could be. There, you happy now, prima?"
She wiped the tears from her eyes. "Mucho."
There was one particular aspect that concerned Miguel as the family descended the bridge.
"How do these buildings not collapse? They don't look very sturdy, more like brittle. Is it also thanks to the strange magic?"
Rosa figured out that she was wondering the same thing.
"You got that right, mijo." Tío Óscar praised. "There are no scientific explanations, as the living would call it nowadays…"
Felipe finished his twin's phrase. "...They are safe, though. Don't worry about that. And if they did collapse, it'd only be because of an accident, not because of the way they top each other."
"This place doesn't seem to have as much physics as our world. "What's beneath these bridges?" Rosa admired the multiple other bridges, each of which ascended from another cemetery in Mexico and seemed to be supported on nothing but mist. They finished on some pyramids similar to the Aztec ones she'd learned about in geography class, where the other land began.
"A never-ending river." Rosita responded. "It courses everywhere in Tierra de Muertos. It's far enough from up here that you can't make out the water, but it's there."
"Those who have been brave and stupid enough to venture in it because they wanted to find out how deep or how long it is either never returned or came back unsuccessful." Victoria blandly informed.
Miguel shivered, while Rosa's hands suddenly cooled down.
Could the dead… die? She didn't wish to know the answer. Dying once was enough, but dying twice… seemed too much to endure, both for the person and for their family. If they had one.
Skeletons were sauntering in the other direction, many of them caught up in the enthusiasm of Día de Muertos, especially kids. But those who heeded their surroundings better goggled at the Rivera children as if they were some phenomena.
A little girl, whom Rosa deemed very cute, pointed at them with a gasp. Her mother told her off about the impolite gesture, but she rapidly tugged her child after her when her eyes landed on them.
Miguel swept his hood on, and she did the same after lowering her ponytail. It was depressing to see children, even younger than them, who were already dead. Their chances to experience life had been taken away far too soon. She got rid of her grief, she didn't want to think about dying while they were in the Land of the Dead.
"Why are they so afraid? No human has ever crossed over here indeed, and that might freak them out, but we're not gonna eat anyone. And even if we wanted to, we wouldn't have what to chew."
Her cousin snorted, nudging her.
Right then and there, Rosa felt that their bond was beginning to mend. How and why at that very moment, she couldn't grasp; it was a weird intuition thing, she might have imagined it out of desire to go back to how close they'd been once, but for a moment, it felt as if time reversed, as if fate didn't laugh in her face about what she'd lost, but rather offered her a drop of joy. A drop of pure, unbridled hope that she could truly regain Miguel's trust. That they could bond again and become inseparable. As siblings should be. Because he was more than a cousin to her. He'd always been more, even when she hadn't realised it.
With a trace of hurt, she wondered if he thought of her the same way. If he wanted what she so terribly did.
He will. If he doesn't, then he will! The spunky spirit inside her roared.
Above them, peculiar creatures zapped through the air and alighted almost wherever they liked. Some seemed more appropriate to the Living World, like foxes and cats and dogs, but others were either a combination of multiple species or came across as magnificent creatures that had been ripped from the pages of a fantasy tale. They are busy flying, eating, getting petted, and crawling.
Miguel remembered the sculptures which were on every ofrenda and in every shop that special night.
"Are those..? ¡Alebrijes! But those are–"
"Real alebrijes. Spirit creatures." Óscar spoke.
"They guide souls on their journey." Rosita further informed.
"Watch your step! They make caquitas everywhere." Felipe shooed a flying alebrije.
"So, that means not only Xolo dogs guide the dead?" Rosa became inquisitive.
"Oh, no! There are many more alebrijes than we even know. One can never predict what kind of spirit guide they'll have."
"Hm… That old history manual needs an update, right, prima?"
"Yep."
Eventually, they stepped onto solid ground, and Rosa noticed that even some of the paving stones were bone-shaped. How many more things here were different than in the Living World?
The voice of a lady announced on the megaphones:
"Welcome back to the Land of the Dead. Please have all offerings ready for re-entry. We hope you enjoyed your holiday! If you are experiencing travel issues, agents at the Department of Family Reunions are available to assist you."
A line of skeletons who'd already gathered their offerings from the other side had formed in front of them, and the Riveras joined the queue where a sign read "RE-ENTRY".
Close by to their left, skeletons exited the Land of the Dead through a gate marked "DEPARTURES". The cousins watched with big eyes as an elderly couple were congratulated by the lady dressed in a formal uniform who used a scanner to match their faces to their altar photographs from the Living World and were allowed to head over to the bridge after the monitor made a positive click.
"...And remember to return before sunrise! Enjoy your visit!" The recorded voice finalised.
"And what happens if you don't?" Miguel asked.
"Can you guys remain stuck in La Tierra de Vivos?" Rosa completed. "Has that ever happened to anyone?"
Julio sighed, looking pained. "Not anybody that we know of, mija. But there have been a few cases when people were reported missing after Día de Muertos. Rare cases, but frightful for their families. No one found out what happened to them, unfortunately, just like we don't know what happens after the Final–"
Victoria coughed noisily. "Papá… Ellos son solo niños."
Julio back-pedalled. "Lo siento, mija."
The kids exchanged looks. The Final what?
A bald, heavily-built man with braces passed through the gate at the lady's approval and kind wish, and was followed by a much leaner and taller figure.
"Yes, it is I, Frida Kahlo. Shall we skip the scanner? I'm on so many ofrendas it'll just overwhelm your blinky thingie…"
"Look, Rosa, it's Frida!" Miguel shook her arm.
The girl scowled in concentration, shaking her head sceptically. "That can't be Frida, she's not so lanky and she didn't have a gold tooth when she died. Plus, that smile… seems deceiving."
"But she has a dress and everything!"
"You mean he…"
The agent scanned the man's face. His expression shifted from one of assured success to one of bewilderment when the machine buzzed sonorously enough for everyone close to hear, and a big red "X" appeared on the monitor.
"Well, shoot! Looks like no one put up your photo, Frida…" The agent patiently waited as the man Rosa had known was behind the mask shed his colorful dress and flowered wig.
Underneath, he was wearing an unbuttoned indigo jacket with only the left sleeve left which revealed the front part of his ribcage, and a pair of torn striped brown slacks which bared his left leg almost entirely and his right kneecap. He had tape holding together his right radius and left tibia. He was also barefoot, and his height rivalled Abel's. He had a goatee and sharp bony features, which oddly reminded her of Victoria.
His appearance was overall unkempt and messy, his black hair being uncombed under the straw hat, which seemed to be the only item he was wearing that didn't look ragged.
"Okay, when I said I was Frida… just now? That… That was a lie. And I apologize for doing that."
His voice was deep, quite similar to Tío Enrique's.
"No photo on an ofrenda, no crossing the bridge."
From the way the agent lady's words came out, she must have said them plenty of times. Unfortunately.
The man wasn't discouraged. "You know what? I'm just gonna zip right over, you wouldn't even know I'm gone."
He dashed for the bridge, the cousins' jaw dropping when his body literally split in half in order to avoid getting caught by the security guard who didn't allow skeletons with no photos to go further. One half slid under the man's legs, the other over his head before reassembling.
How on earth…?!
By the way he carried himself, Rosa could tell fate hadn't been kind to him. His bones appeared brittle in comparison to the other skeletons' bones who strolled by, their yellowish, unhealthy shade making them seem faded. His way of hurtling was unsteady; he staggered with each step he took.
He reached the bridge at full speed. For a moment, she pondered if he could still pass, but he sank right into the thousands of petals, none of them glowing at his touch. He continued to advance, but struggled to keep going when he was so deep into the bridge that the petals reached his shoulders.
Could he sink through the bridge? That scenario would have been horrifying to witness.
Some skeletons put more distance between themselves and him. The ones without a photo on an altar probably weren't seen very well by society, she concluded.
Despite his efforts, the unlucky man eventually gave in, allowing the officers to tug him after them, who hadn't even hurried to grab him.
When they saw his face again, he was pissed as he spat some petals out.
"Fine, okay. Fine, who cares… Dumb flower bridge!"
They watched as the guards disappeared. Rosa turned to Miguel with an unimpressed look and a raised eyebrow.
Just another con man who wanted to break the rules.
"Did that convince you?"
He rolled his eyes. "That's one way to cross the bridge. Or try to."
"Oh, I don't know what I'd do if no one put up my photo." Rosita was forlorn, but then she hauled them forwards, as it was finally their turn.
"Welcome back, amigos! Anything to declare?" the arrivals agent asked cheerfully.
The adults tensed up as Papá Julio replied: "As a matter of fact, yes."
They pushed Miguel and Rosa at the front of the pack, stripping them of the safety from the middle of the group. The two were suddenly doing their utmost to appear small and blend in under the shield of their hoods, only for those to be pulled off their heads.
The cousins and the agent stared at one another in awkward silence, and Rosa could see questions rise in the skeleton man's mind one after another.
Miguel grinned nervously. "¡Hola!"
The Department of Family Reunions, where Mamá Imelda was supposed to be, was part of the Marigold Grand Central Station, which was similar to a normal train station.
Inside, ignoring the rude stares received from every skeleton whose eyeballs landed on their heads, Rosa surveyed a lot of case workers trying to deal with a variety of issues that travelling skeletons were facing. One woman in particular stood out in one of the corners of the lobby, her voice echoing.
"I demand to speak to the person in charge!"
Her frilled dress was Rosa's favourite hue of violet, the ribbons in her low-braided bun and her jewel choker matching the colour of the garment. She had a brown apron tied around her waist like the others, small golden earrings, and ankle-length heeled boots. The girl knew she'd died in her seventies; if she squinted her eyes, she could notice two skunk stripes on the left side of her otherwise still black hair.
"I'm sorry, Señora, it says here, no one put up your photo." The female case worker was doing a futile job at explaining the situation, gesturing to an old computer.
The Rivera matriarch shook her head before raising to her feet from the desk.
"My family always, always puts my photo on the ofrenda! That devil box tells you nothing but lies!"
She took off one of her shoes and started thwacking the computer, the worker cringing away when it fissured.
"It's like seeing Abuelita." Miguel whispered in his cousin's ear as they were very cautiously approaching the desk.
Papá Julio mustered up the bravery to speak up, though timidly. "Mamá Imelda?"
When she turned around and pointed the boot at him, Rosa reflexively shielded her face while Julio dragged his hat over his head for protection like a turtle.
Her great-great-grandmother softened. "Oh, mi familia! They wouldn't let me cross the bridge!" - She placed her boot back in place. - "Tell this woman and her devil box that my photo is on the ofrenda."
Julio recovered. "Well, we never made it to the ofrenda…"
Imelda looked worried. "What?!"
"We ran into… um…"
The family parted to reveal the answer to her. Rosa tugged on Miguel's sleeve to make him pay attention, as he was lost in admiring the huge room.
The cousins and their oldest ancestor stared one another down. Mamá Imelda was the first to regain her composure.
"Miguel? Rosa?"
The boy grinned, fidgety. "Mamá Imelda."
Judging by his tone, he was just as nervous as Rosa herself was. She didn't know if she ought to wave or greet politely like her parents had taught her many years ago, smile or hug the woman. She didn't seem to be the affectionate type, therefore the girl went with the third option.
Imelda frowned, her hands travelling to her hips. "What is going on?"
This really is Abuelita's first version. Rosa bit back the wish to mumble to her primo.
A nearby door opened, and a short clerk eyed them over his glasses.
"You the Rivera family?"
…
"Well, you two are cursed."
The family gasped.
"Told ya." Rosa elbowed her cousin, masking her apprehension only halfway.
"Día de Muertos is a night to give to the dead. You stole from the dead." The clerk accusingly regarded both of them, taking out a sheet from the stack of papers on this desk after searching through it.
"It wasn't Rosa's fault, it was mine." Miguel stepped forward to take the blame. "But I wasn't stealing the guitar."
Mamá Imelda's eyes shot up wide. "Guitar?"
"It was our great-great-grandfather's, he would have wanted me to have it–"
"Ah-ah-ah! We do not speak of that musician! He is dead to this family." She crossed her arms with an unshakable revolted expression.
Rosa couldn't help her amusement at the bad choice of words, but quickly pretended to cough to hide her unintentional smile when her grandmother glared at her. These were no laughing matters, she reminded herself.
"Uh… you're all dead." Miguel was thinking similarly.
"But what exactly happened out there, mijos? I'm sure you've been taught about stealing. Especially on this night." Julio questioned, and the whole room went quiet.
The kids felt the blazing eyes of everybody upon them. Miguel looked at Rosa. For a split second, they communicated silently in the way only siblings could.
Don't say a word about the plan!
She would have never done that.
"Well, I wanted to take the guitar," he started.
"...and I jumped in to try to stop him. Somebody had to be good." - He scowled at her, but she dismissed it. - "Obviously, I didn't want to steal it, but I guess since I touched it and wanted to have it in order to put it back where it belonged…"
"...we both got ourselves cursed."
The skeletons stared at them for a couple more moments before either sighing in chagrin or shaking their heads.
"What were you going to do with the guitar?" Victoria quirked a brow ridge.
Rosa's heart thumped. Although their aunt's piercing gaze first targeted Miguel, her mind raced to find a plausible lie. The boy was frozen, working on the same task.
"He just wanted to get a better look at it." Rosa grinned. She didn't exactly hate herself for being deceitful right now; she only hoped their experimented eyes wouldn't pick up on the lie, though it was a pretty bad one.
Before any of them had the chance to interrogate them further, Dante began licking some of the sweets the clerk had on the edge of his desk.
The man sneezed, making the girl wonder how skeletons could still do that. It wasn't the time to ask such questions; she assumed there were things about the Land of the Dead which she'd never understand, even when she'd come here for good one day.
"I'm sorry, who's alebrije is that?"
"That's just Dante." Miguel lifted Dante off.
Rosa snickered as he was struggling to keep the dog's tongue at bay.
"Your perro just eats everything, doesn't he, primo?"
"Yeah, Rosa, you see this desk right here? He's gonna jump on it and just munch it all."
The joke worked in alleviating some of the family's tension, except for Imelda and Victoria.
"But none of this explains why I couldn't cross over." Mamá Imelda paced around, still rightfully concerned.
Rosa shook her head imperceptibly, warning him not to show her the photo. With a timorous grin, Miguel mouthed "I have to.", before turning around, exposing the truth to everyone.
"You took my photo off the ofrenda?!" their grandmother burst, totally unprepared for what she was seeing.
"It was an accident!"
"He didn't mean to! But seriously, primo, why did you take it off?"
She translated the glance she received as: "You found the perfect time to ask, genius!", thus she shut her mouth.
Imelda threw her upper body over the surface of the desk, her fists clenched, scaring the poor clerk.
"How do we send them back?"
Photos and ofrendas really are a big deal here!
"Well, since this is a family matter…" The man collected himself. "The way to undo a family curse is to get your family's blessing."
"That's it?" Miguel looked confused.
"That's simpler than what I had in mind." Rosa voiced.
"And what did you have in mind more exactly, prima?"
"Does that really matter right now, Miguel?" She rolled her eyes.
"Actually, good point! It doesn't. Who knows what your creative brain was thinking?"
She opened her mouth, but the clerk cut her off: "Get your family's blessings and everything should go back to normal. But you gotta do it by sunrise!"
"What happens at sunrise?"
"¡Mijos! Your hands!" Julio pointed at them.
The cousins turned their gazes to their fingers; Rosa gasped, Miguel yelped. She took one of his hands and studied it. Her pinky was the one turning transparent, with her phalanges showing, while his index was the one affected firstly.
She felt him tremble, and she was fast enough to loop an arm around his back to prevent him from falling. Papá Julio came to her aid, supporting his grandson.
"Whoa, Miguel. Can't have you fainting on us." He slapped his cheeks to keep him awake.
"Come on, primo! Pull yourself together. We're fine. It's just a little bone."
A little bone that will be just the beginning of what we've gotten ourselves into if we don't fix this dang thing quicker.
Mamá Imelda was regarding them with an unimpressed air; the spitting image of Abuelita when she waited for one of them to regain their calm.
After the boy had become steady on his feet again, the clerk continued: "But not to worry! Your family's here, you can get your blessings right now."
He got off his revolving chair and started searching.
"Cempasúchil, cempasúchil… Aha! Perdón, Señora." He glanced up at Tía Rosita, who giggled when allowing him to pluck two marigold petals off her skirt, which he then handed to Imelda.
"Now, you look at one of them and say their name."
She turned to her grandson. "Miguel."
"Nailed it! Now say: I give you my blessing."
"I give you my blessing."
The petal suddenly glowed, just like the ones in the tomb did when they'd stolen the guitar.
"I give you my blessing to go home…"
The glow brightened.
"To put my photo back on the ofrenda…" Her voice sounded like she was delivering a reprimand.
Each condition made the gleam go more vivid. Miguel nodded excitedly.
"...And to never play music again."
"What?!" The cousins exclaimed in unison.
"She can't do that!" Miguel eyed at the clerk for help, but didn't receive any.
"Well, technically, she can add any conditions she wants."
The boy huffed, a tight-lipped, grumpy frown on his face.
"Mamá Imelda, couldn't you… change the blessing?"
Rosa's meek voice made everyone turn to her; her grandmother was bewildered, while her cousin was hopeful yet seemed to say: "It won't work."
Imelda's glare dispirited her, but she set her chin high with a jut. She needed to make herself listened to. It would be hard, perhaps very hard for her to abide by the burden of the blessing, but for Miguel, it'd be impossible. He wouldn't be able to bear that for five minutes, let alone for, possibly, for his entire life. If it meant that the very thought of wanting to play or listen to music would bring him back here, then…
This was awful. Very grim.
If only they knew what he'd just been through at home…
Yet she had a feeling that they wouldn't really care. At least not much. They might have reacted just like Elena. Or worse. This was Mamá Imelda they were confronting.
"Change the blessing, mija?" The woman reiterated as the family and the short clerk watched the scene in silent astonishment.
"Yeah… Instead of "never play music again", say "never leave your family"."
She threw a knowing stare at her cousin, who pursed his lips before shrugging with a small lopsided smile sent at Imelda.
Puppy eyes won't work now, tonto!
"...And never leave your family."
The petal glimmered further.
Miguel rolled his eyes, though ruefully. Rosa sighed, rubbing her forehead. No, she wouldn't give up without a fight. This might be the fearsome Mamá Imelda she'd been told about countless of times, but Rosa was also a Rivera woman through and through. If it was for her cousin, then she'd gladly take five slaps across her face. Maybe not so gladly, but still… it wasn't in her nature to give in effortlessly, especially when it came to her family.
"¡Por favor! Isn't that what you really wanted from the start? Since you banned music from our family? For us all to always be together? Is that third condition actually necessary when you have the fourth one?"
Imelda was speechless for a minute.
"Stay out of this, mija. I know what's best for my family." Her tone was cold and sharp like a blade, though it still held a motherly kindness.
Miguel flared up, his cheeks bright red, but remained quiet. An argument was the last thing they needed.
"Pero–"
"Rosa!"
She flinched at her cousin's sudden voice. His eyes were glinting when he leaned towards her ear.
"I don't want you to get in trouble with her. I'll find a way, trust me."
"What way? This is…"
Impossible. She didn't have time to utter the heartbreaking word when he agreed to the blessing.
Miguel reached for the petal with a final glance at her and a bite of his lower lip. When he touched it, he dissolved into a plethora of cempasúchil, causing almost everyone to gasp.
"That boy is stubborn. I wonder who he takes after."
The entire family regarded the matriarch with the most obvious look possible.
"Don't you think that's clear, Mamá Imelda?" The girl blurted out, allowing a slight frown to crease her brow, her arms crossed, clearly unsatisfied with the result of her pleading.
Oh, Rosa Rivera, you'll never win a war against her…
Before Imelda could glower at her, Miguel suddenly crashed into the clerk's desk in another marigold whirlwind, bringing down the huge pile of papers. Everyone turned to him, agape.
Well, this shouldn't be a surprise.
The boy got up, quickly getting rid of the guitar-holding stance his arms were in. He resumed a brittle smile, gripping his right wrist.
"Two seconds and you already break your promise!" Imelda chastised him.
"This isn't fair, it's my life! It's our lives! You already had yours! Right, prima?"
Rosa couldn't bring herself to reply, for she feared their reaction.
Miguel grabbed another petal from the ground, approaching his great-grandfather.
"Papá Julio, I ask for your blessing."
Julio hunched his shoulders and lowered his head, his hat covering his head nearly completely.
"¿Tía Rosita?"
Rosita tugged her wig over her eyes.
"¿Óscar? ¿Felipe?"
The twins took turns hiding behind each other.
"Tía Victoria?"
Victoria simply shook her head, passive.
Miguel momentarily appeared to get discouraged. "Why are you all so afraid of her?"
This isn't the right time for your rebellion, primo!
"Don't make this hard, mijo." Imelda softened. "You go home my way, or no way."
It's like dealing with Abuelita all over again!
"You mean that he should die if he won't listen to you. That we should both die." Rosa flatly objected. For once since she'd given up on music, she wasn't daunted to call out the sanity of the rules.
Miguel looked at her in awe while everyone else, mainly the Riveras, demurred against her words.
"Mijita, how can you say that?!"
"That's not true!"
"Oh, really?" she sassed.
"That's not what I mean, Rosa, you know that." Imelda's frown was desolate rather than angry about the accusation. "I just want you both home safe, without any thoughts about guitars and curses."
"You really hate music that much?" Miguel stressed.
"I won't let you go down the same path he did."
In her eyes, Rosa noticed pain. Buried deep enough that one could easily miss it or mistake it for another emotion. After so many decades, what had happened was still hurting her, which was proof of her innate kindliness.
Miguel dropped the petal. He turned his back to them, taking out the picture to examine the headless man. His prima could see the little cogwheels spin inside his head.
"The same path he did. He's family…"
Rosa tensed up. No. No! He couldn't possibly consider…
The family huddled around him.
"Listen to your Mamá Imelda." Victoria advised, unusually soft for herself.
"She's just looking out for you." Óscar strengthened.
"Be reasonable." Rosita said.
Miguel backed away from them and towards the door.
"Con permiso, I… need to visit the restroom."
With a deceiving grin, he was out the door.
"Be right back!"
They stared after him, jaws open.
"Uh, should we tell him there are no restrooms in the Land of the Dead?" The clerk intervened.
Rosa recovered. "Could you give us a moment, please? ¡Gracias!"
Without waiting for a response, she flashed a grin before bolting out of the office, scanning her surroundings for the familiar red hoodie. She hurriedly took the stairs and hid with him at the bottom of the staircase, Dante in tow.
"I can't believe they fell for that!" he sniggered.
"What do you think you're doing here?!"
"Running away from the family for the second time tonight. This is a record!"
"Miguel, this is serious! And dangerous! ¡Venga! Let's go back!"
"No way!" He yanked his arm away. "Go back and live your life without music if that's what you want, prima! You didn't seem to have a big problem with it these past months. You would definitely rock at it!"
There it was. His bitterness greeted her at the worst time in the worst place.
He spotted their relatives giving niceties to a patrol woman about them, who passed the details further on a walkie-talkie.
Miguel adjusted his hood to cover his fleshy face, and Rosa drew hers over her eyes. Dante padded along as she followed him.
"Miguel, they'll be worried!"
"They didn't fight her when Mamá Imelda said she'd rather let us die than listen to music again. She didn't even complain when I stole from the dead, but she flipped out when I said "guitar"."
She could tell he was wounded. She'd been surprised by their grandmother's strictness too. Negatively so. Abuelita might have been strict their whole lives, but Imelda seemed to be over-the-top.
"Be honest with me, prima! Do you really, truly want to never have to do anything with music ever, ever again? Do you seriously believe you could handle it for decades to come? Like them? Because I know you've been turning on the radio or humming when you thought no one could hear you."
The intensity of his gaze was nearly overwhelming.
"Tell me!"
The word was stuck in her throat. The rebellious, fiery, passionate, forgotten side of her heart which she'd had to suppress screamed.
Say no. SAY NO!
"I…"
Family comes first.
"¡Vámos a bailar, prima!"
Dreaming is beautiful, but reality won't allow you too much of it.
"I…"
It's not meant to be, Miguel.
I made a promise…
Music will take you away from us…
I trusted you, Rosa!
"Just forget it! They'll catch up to us until you decide."
He strayed away, but she trailed after him.
"I want to be a musician, I need a musician's blessing. We gotta find our great-great-grandpa!"
Two hands clasped their shoulders.
"Hold it, muchachos!"
They turned around to face a patrolman. Miguel met his suspicious look with another one of the grins he displayed when he tried to get out of trouble.
The man squealed, almost dropping his walkie-talkie before turning it on.
"I found those living kids!"
A large family passed between the young Riveras and the skeleton, blocking his view.
"Come on!" Miguel clutched her fingers. They fled together, hiding in a corridor.
"Miguel, why are you doing this?" Rosa breathed.
"Doing what?"
"Keeping me with you? I thought you didn't want anything to do with me anymore."
She had to ask that. It was burning in her chest.
He sighed. "I don't hate you, if that's what you think, Rosa. I'm just… disappointed. In us, you know. I'm sad… about you."
Her eyes broadened.
"But you're my cousin. You've always been like a sister to me. I don't wanna leave you behind. I know how much music makes you happy too."
Rosa didn't consider herself a highly sensitive person, yet her eyes watered.
You're like my sister.
So, he does see me as a sibling!
Dante wandered off into a room nearby, and they followed. They concealed themselves in a corner, overhearing two men talking in a cubicle.
Judging by the first man's words and authoritative tone, he was an officer.
"...disturbing the peace, fleeing an officer, falsifying a unibrow…"
"That's illegal?" The cousins whispered at the same time with the accused man.
"Wait. This is the guy who sank through the bridge." Rosa realised with a pang of nonplus.
"Very illegal."
"Sir, that's a pleonasm!" she spoke more loudly than intended.
Miguel shushed her. "Do you have to be offended by any error of speech?"
"You need to clean up your act, amigo." the policeman continued.
"¿Amigo?" The other skeleton was shocked. "Oh, that's so nice, to hear you say that, because… I've just had a really hard Día de Muertos, and I could really use an amigo right now. And amigos, they help their amigos."
"You see, Miguel? That is called mock emotion, used for deceiving people."
"Dios, Rosa, calm down! Maybe he must cross that bridge. Who knows who's waiting for him on the other side?"
"How can they be waiting for him if they didn't put up his photo? Clearly, they didn't bother much to remember him."
She regretted the words instantly. The boy was temporarily appalled by that phrase.
"Maybe there's more to his story than we know, so stop judging him, will you?"
That was the first wise thing her primo had said in the entire evening.
"Listen," the guy proceeded, "you get me across that bridge tonight and I'll make it worth your while. Oh, you like De la Cruz? He and I go way back!"
Miguel brightened at the mention of the name.
Oh, no, don't you even think about it!
"De la Cruz has a show?!"
"Breathe, Miguel."
"I can get you front row seats to his Sunrise Spectacular Show!"
The officer seemingly turned down the idea, as the other skeleton pressed on more feverishly: "I'll– I'll get you backstage, you can meet him! You just gotta let me cross that bridge!"
"I should lock you up for the rest of the holiday!" the officer said. "But my shift's almost up, and I wanna visit my living family… so I'm letting you off with a warning."
Annoyed, the man accepted the paper, which rustled in his hand when he took it.
"Can I at least get my costume back?"
The Frida costume, obviously.
"Uh, no."
Upon receiving the negative reply, he apathetically huffed as he limped towards the exit.
"Some amigo…"
The cousins huddled closer into one another, Miguel pulling Dante with him. But they weren't noticed.
He turned to her with a small sneaky smile. "This is our chance. What do you say?"
"¿Estás loco? He's a criminal, primo! He's not to be trusted! You saw it, he's a manipulator!"
"Will you stop acting like Abuelita for once and just think? He could get us to De la Cruz and we'd get his blessing. It's either this guy or Mamá Imelda."
Rosa raised her glasses to rub her eyes. "If we stooped so low to actually choose between our great-great-grandmother and him…"
Miguel apparently took that as a yes, since he heaved her up before they loped over his traces, rounding a few corners until they saw him in the huge hallway of the station crumpling the warning paper before letting it plummet to the floor. They approached him.
"Hey. Hey! You really know de la Cruz?"
The man's irritated expression shifted to one of terror when he faced them. "Who wants to– Ah! You're alive!"
They dragged him into a phonebooth by his arms and the suspenders of his pants before anyone would have observed their presence.
A small part of Rosa's mind registered just how frightened he'd been of them. It was as if he hadn't seen living people for years.
The man pushed himself into a corner of the cabin, as far from them as possible, his face scrunched up in consternation.
Miguel spoke. "Yeah, we're alive. And if we wanna get back to the Land of the Living, we need de la Cruz's blessing."
"That's weirdly specific." he cocked a brow, his front gold tooth glinting from the dull light penetrating the narrow windows.
"He's our great-great-grandfather."
Well, that was blunt, primo.
"He's your wha-whaat…?"
His eyeballs dropped into his mouth. Rosa was grossed out, just like her cousin was, but the vigilant part of her was wowed to see no tongue inside. It made sense, because he was a skeleton, but she marvelled at how skeletons could still talk; evidently, the magic in the Land of the Dead had many sides.
The man only needed to punch his jaw for his eyes to emerge back into their sockets.
"Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. Wait, wait…"
We're waiting, dude. She had to bite the inside of her cheek to shut up.
He gasped, but the comprehension which appeared to have settled in immediately vanished.
"Wait, no, wait, wait, wait. Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait?"
You've gotta be kidding me.
Sensing her impatience, Miguel poked her side to keep quiet.
With a huge smile, the man finally gathered his thoughts. "Oh, yes! You're going back to the Land of the Living?!"
He roughly seized their hoodies, excitedly jerking them close to his face.
"Whoa! Take it easy!" Rosa released her sweater from his grip, his grin faltering.
Miguel did the same. "You know what? Maybe this isn't such a good idea."
He grabbed her hand, and they exited the phone booth. Yet the man snapped his fingers swiftly to get their attention.
"No, niños, niños, niños." He scooted in front of them. "I can help you! You can help me. We can help each other! But most importantly, you can help me."
The girl frowned, glancing at her primo in doubt. He was equally puzzled about their next move. She shook her head at him; he shrugged.
"He's selfish." she mouthed, not caring if the skeleton would pick up on her rude words.
Miguel was about to say something, but he caught sight of Mamá Imelda and the rest of the Riveras climbing down the main staircase. To their horror, she spotted him too; she yelled his name, causing him to gasp.
The man didn't seem to perceive the alarmed gesture. "I'm Héctor." He offered a large hand.
"That's nice!" Miguel clenched his and Rosa's forearms.
Both the skeleton and the girl yelped when he forcefully towed them after him, towards the revolving doors. Alongside Dante, the kids then rushed down the outside stairs.
"Miguel, stop!"
They came to a halt when Rosa pointed to the bony arm he was holding. The only part of Héctor that was still with them.
"Yikes! Do skeletons always do this? It turns my stomach upside down."
The younger Rivera was also a bit disgusted, but he didn't let the arm go as it snapped its fingers again.
"¡Espérame, niños!"
For a brief moment, it looked to Rosa as if he was running from something - or someone - as well, but it was just an assumption she didn't dwell on.
He placed his arm back into his shoulder as if the whole detaching thing hadn't harmed him in any way, which probably wasn't so detrimental, now that she thought more carefully about it, since skeletons didn't have muscles and ligaments and skin anymore.
Close to her dear cousin, Rosa hoped Mamá Imelda wouldn't catch up to them as they disappeared into the vast crowd before them.
Deep down, she felt a sense of betrayal, but also of joy, getting entangled.
After the family eventually made it out of the station, Imelda surveyed the area, but didn't find whom she was looking for.
"Ay, they are going to get themselves killed!"
For a moment, she'd believed she'd seen her estranged husband. She prayed it hadn't really been him, for his presence was the last thing she needed right now, when two of her beloved grandchildren could have been in danger.
What had happened? It wasn't in their nature to run away like that. Miguel might have been rebellious, but he was still a very good kid. They both were. And Rosa… What had gotten into her? She'd always been obedient and careful, almost never reckless or defiant of her family.
However, Imelda also knew that the girl could be fiercely protective and supportive of her cousin; she'd been witnessing that for several Día de Muertos.
They were just naive kids, they were the same age, for crying out loud! For one to join the other in trouble probably shouldn't have been such a bombshell, as she'd watched them do sometimes; both had an adventurous character that was sometimes hard to tame.
"I need my spirit guide. Pepita."
She whistled sonorously to the night sky. Her strong, loyal alebrije descended from a tower, landing in front of her. Imelda petted her colourful winged jaguar, making Pepita purr.
"Who has the petal Miguel touched?"
Julio skittishly advanced towards the enormous feline, bringing the petal up to Pepita's muzzle. The alebrije sniffed it. She snuffled around until her eyes narrowed in recognition of the route the boy had taken. She released a roar before taking off.
Imelda smiled. "¡Vámonos! Let's get our hijos home!"
A/N: Obviously, I have no clue what happens to skeletons who remain trapped in the Land of the Living. I presume it might be similar to the Final Death? I don't know, though... that would be very sad.
Thanks for reading!
Thoughts?