Author's notes:
1920s slang
Sing: Confess, admit secrets.
Buttons: Police
Chapter 25: How Mirabel Ran Away
'My girl is going to tell us her story now,' Pepita said. 'I better go over there in case she needs support.'
'Right behind you.' Dante said, following behind her.
The cat curled up onto Mirabel's lap.
Dante sat down next to his boy.
"It all started when I was ten years old," Mirabel began. Her fingers stroked her cat's ears. "In case you didn't catch on, my family has spiritual gifts."
"I know," Miguel said, rubbing his dog's head. "I heard your Abuelita telling my family about it. Tío Héctor told your uncle how we all found out."
"Did everyone show you their gifts?"
"Por supesto!" The boy nodded. "Luisa J. lifted a piece of furniture. She sure was a strong woman! Isabella could make the prettiest flowers ever, Camillo turned into many people, and I think your aunt Pepa made a rainbow!" He lifted his hands in the air. "It was amazing!"
Mirabel chuckled, finding his excitable complexion cute.
"Your mom said she can heal people with food and Dolores said she could hear things far away. She didn't say how far though. Antonio was the only one that didn't show off his gift."
"That's because he doesn't have it yet," Mirabel replied. "Not until he turns ten."
"How would he know his gift?"
"Well, it will go like this because it has happened before," Mirabel smiled. Her smile didn't reach her eyes. "It's what my abuela told me when I was nine…,"
"Buenos días, birds!" Mirabel beamed. She opened the window to let the morning sunshine in her room.
The birds tweeted in response.
"Looks like we're going to have a beautiful day!"
The birds continued to tweet as if they agreed with her.
When she turned to look at her calendar, her eyes brightened. It was the sixth day of March, a very special day for her.
At that moment, her grandmother walked in through the girl's bedroom door with her usual graceful expression.
"Buenos Días Abuela!"
Buenos Días, mija," Abuela smiled warmly. "Let's go on a walk, there's so much to discuss."
Mirabel smiled, knowing what the conversation would be about. "Is it going to be about a gift?"
"Oh yes!"
Later, after getting dressed and having breakfast, Abuela took her youngest granddaughter out for a stroll. She smiled warmly when the child broke out into a song.
"There's music in the treetops"
"And there's music in the vale"
"And all around the music fills the sky"
"There's music by the river"
"And there's music in the grass"
"And the music makes your heart soar in reply!"
Mirabel vocalized as she twirled around in her sailor dress. She plucked a daisy and put it in one of her old corkscrew curls. After some vocalizing, she spun around in the open field and let out a huge final note.
"That was beautiful, mija," Abuela clapped.
"Gracias!" Mirabel curtsied. "Oh, I'm so happy that today is my birthday! Abuela, am I gonna get my gift?"
"You most certainly will!"
"How will I get it?"
"I'm glad you asked," Abuela smiled. "This has happened before and it will happen again. Each Madrigal receives a dream about a door on their tenth birthday. A yellow butterfly will flutter by, dripping glitter like gold on a door with their likeness on it. Then they wake up with power at their fingertips."
The little girl was amazed. "Isabella told me how she woke up with a green thumb and a purple thumb, and her room was covered in green growth. And Luisa J. told me she accidentally pulverized several pieces of her bed!"
"Oh yes, that is true!" Abuela laughed.
"Wow, I wish that would happen to me!" Miguel marveled. He imagined what life would be like if he got a gift. Then a funny idea came upon him. "Maybe I can get a gift in invisibility, so I can play pranks on Abel and Camillo!" For the past couple of years or so, Miguel had always been a victim of the older boys' pranks and practical jokes. "That'll teach them for giving me a wedgie last month!" He also would have liked to get back at Rosa for the times she had teased him, but then he remembered that she was too smart to be fooled.
"No, Miguel!" Mirabel giggled, shaking her head. "It doesn't work like that."
"Aw, come on!" the boy huffed and frowned.
"I'm serious!"
"What's your gift?" he sighed, feeling a bit disappointed that his chances of having a gift were slim.
Mirabel's smile became crestfallen. "That's the problem. I didn't get a gift."
Miguel's eyebrows curved. His eyes widened and his jaw dropped with lips and teeth parted. "Wait, what? Por que?"
"Yo no sé," the girl shrugged. "I was so super excited for the dream. I used to wonder what my gift would be," she smiled a bit even though it didn't reach her sad eyes. "Maybe I would have fire powers. Maybe I would shapeshift into animals. Maybe I would speak and connect with machines." Her smile turned into a frown again when she recalled what happened.
"On the night of my tenth birthday, I didn't get the dream." She let out a sad sigh. "I didn't worry at first, because my sisters said they didn't get their dreams after the day of their birthdays. But two more days went by…,
"Abuela, Abuela!" The little girl ran to her grandmother who was sitting in a rocking chair in the living room. She looked up from a book she was reading.
"What's wrong, mija?"
"I didn't get a gift," the girl whined.
"What, why?" The old woman was shocked. "Qué pasa? Did you dream of anything?"
"I dreamt I saw a door," the little girl sadly replied. "But when I reached out my hand and touched the doorknob, the door crumbled up into golden dust."
"And then?"
"And then I woke up."
Abuela looked as if she saw a ghost. 'Just like Pedro…Just like Pedro!' If someone in the family didn't earn their gift, how would they protect themselves? What if she is doomed to meet the same fate as her late grandfather?
"I wonder why that happened," Miguel scratched his chin. "Maybe you are a late bloomer?"
"No!" Mirabel shook her head, her short hair swaying a bit. "Otherwise, I still would have gotten my gift. My Abuela tried everything under the sun to spark the gift-reading passages from the Bible, saying the Novena prayer, waving a candle in front of my face before bedtime, a glass of warm milk, putting a bag of glitter underneath my bed-but nothing happened." Another sad sigh escaped from her disappointed face. "Nothing at all."
"You ran away just because you didn't get a gift?" Miguel asked. He understood why Mirabel would sound sad but at the same time, it seemed a bit overkill.
"No, I ran away because I made a terrible mistake and now my family hates me!" Mirabel replied, with narrowed eyes and a red face.
The boy was about to argue that her family didn't hate her at all. He'll die on the hill for that. But he remembered what his uncle said about being patient with his secret crush, so he thought of something different to say. "Well…, how do you know that?"
"They told me," Mirabel said a bit coolly.
"Does your running away still have anything to do with you not having a gift "
"Kind of," the girl shrugged. "It all started at school…,"
"Wow, look at him, girls!" Mirabel gushed. It was lunchtime at the New Santa Cecilia schoolhouse. She, Rosa Rivera, and Penny Proud were sitting on the grass eating their sandwiches when a tall teenage boy strutted by them. He was tall and handsome with a cocky smile. Three girls all swooned over him at the same time.
"Isn't he dreamy?" Mirabel whispered.
"You sound goofy for him," Penny teased her.
"You should talk to him!" Rosa said, excitedly.
"I don't know," Mirabel said feeling a bit shy.
"Come on, don't be shy!" Penny encouraged her.
"Do it!" Rosa encouraged her.
"Well…," the green bespectacled girl pondered. "Why not? What harm can happen if I do?"
She stood up and slowly approached Ercole, who was sitting under a tree. His hat was over his face.
The girl cleared her throat and spoke. "Hola Ercole."
Ercole didn't answer back. He snored loudly and sank further into the tree.
Sighing in dissatisfaction, Mirabel walked back to her seat. "Sorry girls, I think he is sleeping."
"Oh, what a waste of time," Rosa grumbled.
"You had a crush on Ercole!?" Miguel asked incredulously. He couldn't help but interrupt the story. "What's so great about him?" His voice showed a bit of jealousy.
Dante growled viciously the moment he heard the name of that Italian teenager.
Pepita hissed, agreeing with the boys.
"Oye, I thought he was cute!" the ward of the gangster defended herself.
"Sure," the young shoemaker scoffed. He rolled his eyes and crossed his arms. "If you like boys who have nasty front teeth and terrible mustaches."
"Can I get back to my story, por favor?" the tween girl asked, annoyed that the flow of the story was ruined.
"Fine."
LaCieanaga Boulevardez was lounging on her personalized sofa chair. Students usually sit on benches or grass for lunch but the rich girl couldn't bear to have her dress get dirty. She had brought her chair with her. At first, the teacher had told her to take it home. But then LaCienega told her that her father would withdraw his support from the school if she spoke about it. This matter was dropped in fear of being sued by Señor Boulevardez. LaCienega was now eating lunch with Dijonay Jones and Bonnie Rockwaller who were the only ones that were allowed to sit on the sofa with her.
"So how long have you two been friends?" Bonnie asked them.
"Oh LaCienega and I?" Dijonay inquired. "We go back to the sandbox. Of course, I was friends with Penny too at that time, we just were in two different kindergarten classes. I was with Penny in one and LaCienega was in the other. We got separated from each other when one of us moved, but now we are together again." She sighed happily. "It's so nice that we are both in the same school."
"If that is true then why is Proud not with us?" LaCienega frowned.
"Why not ask her yourself?" Bonnie said, referring to a girl with black pigtails who just walked by.
"Ask me what?" a young female voice asked. Right on cue, Penny approached her two old friends. She also knew Bonnie but it wasn't enough to consider her as a new friend yet, "Is it a homework question?"
"Proud, why aren't you spending time with us?" LaCienega asked with a pouting look. "I thought you'd miss me and Dijonay!"
"I am!" Penny insisted. "And I do! I just have other friends."
"Other friends!?" Dijonay questioned.
"Um, yeah!" Penny said as if it was the most obvious thing. "When I first came here, I was scared at first. But then Mirabel and Miguel made me feel welcome here and I've been friends with them ever since!"
"Well now that LaCienega and I have moved here along with our new friend, Bonnie, why not sit with us?"
"I can't Dijonay," Penny said. "How about tomorrow? I already promised someone I'd sit with them today."
"Who's that?" LaCienega asked.
Just then, Mirabel walked only to trip over Bonnie's ankle. "Aah!" The girl screamed as her face fell flat on the ground.
The girls except Penny laughed their heads off.
"That loser Madrigal girl!" Bonnie snorted, pulling her ankle back.
"She's so clumsy!" Dijonay chortled.
"And she has the stupidest dress ever!" LaCienega mocked. "Sailor dresses are so 1911!"
"Girls, that's not nice!" Penny scolded them. Alas, her words fell on deaf ears.
"Ow..," the youngest Madrigal girl whimpered, her face burning with pain. She tried to stand up but her arms shook making her lose her balance.
"Mirabel, are you okay?"
Miguel hurried toward the fallen girl. He kneeled and offered his hand.
Mirabel smiled and blushed as she took the boy's hand. She stood up and was about to thank him only to be rudely pushed aside and down to the ground again by a rude rich girl. "Ow, Hey!"
"Hola Miguel!" LaCienega smiled very widely at the Rivera boy. She had to push that Madrigal girl away or else she'd never get a chance to flirt with the cutest boy in school!
"Oh Hi LaCienega," the Rivera boy said not too enthusiastically.
"Would you like to sit next to me for lunch?" the spoiled girl said, coming up too close to Miguel. She put her hand on his chest just like she saw women do in the movies. "You can have my chocolates and we'll have some Coke."
Annoyed and uncomfortable by the lack of personal space, Miguel quickly ran away.
"Guess I'll be sitting with you girls then," Penny grumbled. One friend was down and the other one ran off.
"Oh, he must have gone off to get his lunch pail!" LaCienega assumed, going back to her seat.
Mirabel was crushed. "This stinks, why do I always get hurt?" Her best friend helped her up, only to fall down again! Why didn't her friends help her up? Just then, she was helped up by somebody.
"Ercole!?"
"Ciao, tootsie!" The teenage boy greeted her. He winked and gave her a dashing smile which made the girl blush and giggle very much.
When the 16-year-old boy walked away, Mirabel sighed dreamily. "He touched me, ah!" Hearts in her eyes, she melted into a puddle.
"Ooo, is that her boyfriend?" Bonnie whispered to Penny.
"Nah, he's just some guy that Mirabel has a crush on," the black girl answered.
"A crush, huh?" the Buolvedarz girl murmured. "Does he know that she like likes him?"
"Nope!" Penny shook her head. "But if he does, I'm sure he'll like her!" She shrugged and took a bite out of her sandwich.
Once Penny was done with her lunch, she stood up and went to throw her napkin in the garbage. While she was away, the other three girls huddled together as they watched Ercole talking to another boy who wore a black jacket with an embroidered skull on it.
"Okay, Sid, I helped that big bug eyed girl up," Ercole frowned. He extended his hand out. "Now can you please give me a dollar?"
"You actually helped that freak up?" Sid asked in disbelief. "Ha, what a joke!"
"Seriously!" Ercole snapped, stretching his hand out.
"Okay, okay, okay!" Sid grumbled, pulling a dollar out of his breast pocket. "You're lucky that my mom gave me an allowance today!"
"And I am sure she'll give you more money tomorrow," Ercole smirked.
Upon hearing the exchange between the two boys, a seed of evil was planted in LaCienega's pretty little head.
"How interesting," she thought.
"Dang, I can't believe he didn't like her!" Dijonay gasped.
"Why am I not surprised?" Bonnie replied in a snarky voice. "She is a loser after all"
"Girls, I have the greatest idea ever!" LaCienega smiled so wide that it looked creepy.
The next day, Mirabel and Penny arrived at school together.
"It's too bad that Miguel is sick," Penny said.
"Yes," Mirabel sighed. "Otherwise he wouldn't miss Isabella's quinceañera."
"What's that?"
The two girls went to their desks. Mirabel was about to answer Penny's question when she suddenly saw something on her desk. It was an envelope with a red heart on it.
"Who's that from?" Penny asked.
"I don't know," Mirabel shrugged. "It can't be Valentine's Day, right?"
"No, that was last February, silly!" Penny stood up. "I'll be right back, I am going to get a drink from the well."
"Okay," the young actress said absentmindedly. Her eyes were still on the envelope. The girl ripped off the seal and opened the letter….
Outside of the schoolhouse, while Penny was pumping the well for a drink, her ears perked up at the sound of giggles. She looked to see it was LaCienega, Bonnie, and Dijonay huddled in a group.
"Hey girls, what's so funny?" the Proud girl smiled. She found herself laughing too. Whatever it was, their giggling was contagious.
"We just made the funniest prank ever!" Dijonay said loudly. She was quickly shushed by the leader of the group.
"Quiet, she'll hear you!" LaCienega hissed.
"Who?" Penny asked, still giggling.
"Mirabel got a letter," Bonnie smiled, meanly.
"She thinks it's from Ercole but we're the ones that wrote it!" Dijoany blurted out.
Penny's giggling was immediately replaced with shock. "What!? Dang!"
"Silencio!" LaCienega hissed, covering her friend's mouth.
"No, nuh-uh, this is low!" Penny argued, removing her so-called friend's hands away from her mouth. "Even for you! I'm gonna tell Mirabel!"
"Are we going to have a problem?" LaCienega barked at the black girl. "You got a bone to pick? We've come so far, why are you messing with my clique?" She pushed the girl down to prevent her from taking any step further. "I'd normally slap your face off in front of the whole school, but I am feeling nice so listen up fool! I like being rich, pretty, and popular!"
"Yeah!" Bonnie and Dijonay added.
"I like scaring other girls, kissing boys, and pushing little kids down on the ground!"
"Why?" Penny asked incredulously.
"Because I am a rich girl who can get away with everything! I even make my classmates do my homework-speak of the devil, ROSA RIVERA!"
Rosa came running, panting. Her hair was a bit unkempt and her low ponytail with a pink bow was loose. Her glasses dangled as if they were about to fall off from her nose. "Yes?" she said, breathlessly. She was still catching her breath.
"Where is my homework?" LaCienega snapped.
"Right here," Rosa whimpered, taking the girl's assignment out of her bag. Ever since the Boulvedarzes had been in California, the rich girl had been making smart kids like Rosa do her homework because she found the work too hard.
Rosa got a paper cut when the mean girl snatched it from her fingertips.
"It better be good Rivera," the Boulvedarz girl snarled. "I hate to fail math."
Rosa cowered and shook in her kneecaps. She wobbled over to the well and cried to herself, quietly.
"Proud, you can't be friends with everyone, you just got to choose your friends," the rich girl continued. "After all, you were always befriending kids who are a bad influence." She struck her finger in Penny's chest. "If you say one word about this I will hurt you!" LaCienega threatened. "Understand?"
"Penny, look!"
Mirabel ran out of the schoolhouse with a big smile on her face. She showed the letter to Penny. "Ercole wrote me a love letter!" She cried enthusiastically. "Isn't it romantic?"
Penny opened her mouth to say something. Her eyes widened like saucers at LaCienega holding a stick over her. That's a sign of what would happen to her if she spoke up.
"Um…Yeah," the poor girl gulped. "What a…surprise." She smiled a nervous smile.
"I'm so happy!" Mirabel squeaked, hugging the letter close to her chest.
The bell rang so everyone had to go inside.
Mirabel ran back inside but the others stayed behind.
Penny's fake smile quickly turned upside down. 'Dang, I can't believe I lied to her!'
"She's going to be-" Bonnie started to laugh.
"Shut up, Bonnie!" Dijonay said, clamping her mouth shut.
"And as for you, Rivera!" The Boulevardez chick turned to Rosa, who just came back from the well. "Your assignment is to do my English paper!" She smashed a heavy book onto the startled Rosa's hands. "It's due tomorrow, and you better do it if you want me to stay away from Miguel, understand!?"
"Y-yes, LaCienega!" Rosa shivered. Then she scurried away.
"Girl, you're still going to talk to Miguel," Penny bitterly grumbled. "So why make her do your homework?"
"Because the work is too hard!" The mean girl retorted. "Besides as much as I love Miguel, I won't visit him because I can't afford to get sick."
The bell rang, it was time for lunch. Kids and teens stepped out of the schoolhouse to sit down for their daily meal.
Mirabel went outside to find Ercole. So in love, she didn't notice her friend make an attempt to stop her only to be shushed by the school's mean girl.
It took a while to get around the big yard but Mitaby finally spotted Ercole talking to his group of buddies by the tree. "Excuse me, Ercole."
The boy turned away from his group and looked at the bespectacled girl in a sailor dress. He looked like he was bothered and annoyed. "Yeah, what?"
"I know what you have been thinking about me," the girl smiled sweetly.
"You do?" The teen was confused. One of his friends gave him a questioning look and Ercole shrugged his shoulders.
"And the answer is yes!" Mirabel squealed.
There was a pregnant pause among the boys.
"…..What?" Ercole finally spoke. It sounded forced.
Meanwhile, all the other children surrounding the awkward girl and the popular boy were giggling.
"I love you too!" the girl cried, joyfully. "Of course, I will be your novia!"
The kids' laughter increased as the Italian teen scowled and blushed.
Mirabel closed her eyes and puckered up her lips. Standing up on her tippy toes, she began to lean in. But before her lips could even get close to his, she felt a sharp pain in the face that forced her head to swing in response. She held her burning cheek with her hand.
Ercole had screeched. "What the hell was that for?"
"Didn't you send me a love letter?" Mirabel asked.
"You're joking, right?" Ercole barked. When he was shown the love letter, he pushed it away from her.
"I didn't write this letter, stupid!"
"But it has your name on it!" Mirabel said.
"Bullshit!" Ercole snapped. "Why in the world would I write a love letter to the dorkiest girl ever?" The thought of doing that made him want to throw up. "You're the ugliest girl I ever met! You'd think I'd ever date you? No!"
"Why are you being so mean to me?" Mirabel whimpered.
"If it weren't for those ridiculous glasses or that lame sailor dress, then maybe I'd find you pretty, but you're not!" Ercole sneered at her. "Come back when you can walk down the streets like your sister!" Ercole turned his face away in disgust. "This is so embarrassing, I'm out of here!" Just then the other girls laugh at Mirabel.
All the while that exchange happened, the whole student body was still laughing their heads off.
"Yeah!" Lacienga laughed. "She's so ugly!"
"And so weird!" Dijonay added, giving her friend a high five.
"Weird!" Bonnie taunted. "Weird, weird, weird, weird!"
"No comprendo," Mirabel said in her breaking voice. "If Ercole didn't write it to me then who did?"
"Um, Mirabel?" Penny spoke, timidly. She was twirling one of her braids. "I-I know who did it. It was my friends. LaCienega , Diojany, and Bonnie."
"Qué!?" Mirabel was appalled. "I don't believe you!"
"That was the funniest thing I've ever seen!" LaCienega cackled. "Proud, aren't you glad that you didn't sing?"
"Penny, why didn't you tell me?" Mirabel cried. "I can't believe you!"
"Mirabel, I can explain!" the black girl said.
"I don't want to hear it!" Mirable shook her head. "We're through!"
Humiliated and hurt, the Madrigal ran away from the school playground. Her friend called out to her but the girl did not answer. She wanted to get away as much as she could. Finding a river, Mirabel sat down and cried. Going back inside the schoolhouse was out of the question but so was going home early. She stayed there until it was 3:00 pm.
Later when she came home, Mirabel didn't get to tell anyone about her day. The mansion was bustling around with the rest of the family, trying to get ready for Isabella's birthday party.
Felix was trying to hold a banner that read 'Feliz Cumpleanos Isabella!' on an open doorway in which the main hallway leads to the living room. He was holding one end of the banner trying to get it up. The other end was slipping off despite the tape.
"Camillo, we need another Felix" Abuela ordered. She was holding a book with her pen in it.
"Right!" Camillo saluted, transforming himself into his father. He lifted the end of the banner that was slipping off, by adding extra tape.
Luisa J. was carrying some chairs and put them by the dining table.
"Luisa, can you please help Dolores with the balloons?" Pepa asked. "She gets very nervous around them."
"Sure," Luisa J. smiled. While sprinting in the other direction, she bumped her little sister into a pole. "Sorry, sister!"
Mirabel went to the kitchen. "Mama?"
"Hi, Mirabel!" Julieta responded a bit distractedly. She was busy pouring ingredients into a bowl for a birthday cake. The mother glanced into the recipe book. "Did I add enough sugar?"
"Mamá, can I talk to you-"
"Not now, mija," Julieta said, feeling disturbed. Her daughter was like a bug that she's was trying to flick off. "I'm quite busy here!"
Mirabel sighed. It's not like she wanted to talk about her bad day to anyone. She turned around and accidentally bumped into her other sister.
"Oye!" Isabella huffed. "Watch where you're going!"
"Sorry," the youngest girl mumbled, heading on.
Isabella huffed, and continued walking. "Abuela, have you seen my dress?"
"It's hanging in your closet, mija," Alma smiled. "I just finished ironing it."
"Are the Riveras coming over today?" Camillo asked. He was dusting the bookshelf. "I want to know if Rosa and Abel will be here."
"It's not your birthday!" Isabella huffed. "It's my party and I requested family only!" In truth, she wanted to have a group of friends over. But there was no one whom she could consider a friend other than Dolores and Luisa J. Other girls resented the eldest Madrigal granddaughter for always being the prettiest one in town and for always "stealing" their boyfriends.
"The Riveras won't be here today, anyway," Dolores reminded her brother. "Miguel is sick and Doña Elena didn't want to leave him all home alone."
"What does he have?
"A cold."
"Not surprised," Abuela sighed. "Elena is my best friend and I adore her but I wish she would not be so protective of her children."
"Well, in her defense, she's afraid that it might be the flu," Felix added. "Remember the time when the world got sick?" He shivered, as his mind recalled the dreadful event in 1918 in which there was an outbreak of severe flu viruses.
Agustin nodded as he remembered it. He looked at his youngest daughter who was drudging upstairs. "Speaking of which, is something wrong with Mirabel?"
"No," Alma responded non distractedly, checking her book. "Por que?"
"She didn't say hello to anyone when she came home like she usually does," Agustin observed.
"Oh, she's probably tired from school," Abuela waved it off. "You know how kids are."
Agustin nodded and shrugged. He hope it was just her tiredness.
The matriarch looked at the grandfather clock, a treasure of her late husband. "You two keep on decorating, I have to go and get flowers from the flower shop. Frida, can you please come along with me?"
"Certainly, Mamá"
Abuela thanked her daughter and turned her attention back to her least favorite son-in-law.
"Agustin, I do not want any trouble while I am gone, Comprehende?"
"Compreendido," the man sighed. He a sinking feeling that she was referring to his youngest daughter. And he wished that his mother-in-law would stop treating her as if she were a bad kid.
Mirabel placed each candle on each decorative piece of paper in front of every bedroom door. It was her tradition that she started whenever it was time to celebrate a family member's birthday. It was the least she could do without "being in the way" as her grandmother (and sometimes her sisters) always said. 'Even though this morning was awful, I hope the evening will go well.' But as much as she tried to remain hopeful, the girl was still fighting back tears. 'Why is someone always trying to ruin my life? I don't know who to blame, Penny, Ercole, or Lacienaga? Probably the latter! It's bad enough that Isabella hates me, Camillo picks on me, and Dolores and Luisa don't understand me. Now I have to worry about another selfish, entitled princess!?' Consumed in her angry thoughts, the girl didn't pay attention to what she was doing. Otherwise she would have noticed that some of the candles were not in the center of the colored paper. Nor did she hear her sisters coming into the hallway.
"Gracias for helping me with my dress, Luisa," Isabella smiled.
"No problemo," Luisa J. nodded. "What are sisters for?"
"You're the only one that does a good job on tightening the strings of my corsets."
"Yeah, but it gets tiring for my fingers sometimes," the second sister sighed. "Can't we get a brasserie?"
"Those things don't look supportive enough."
"You're just saying that because Abuela said that!"
"That's not true!"
"You're always parroting everything Abulea says!"
"That's not true, either!" Isabella denied.
While the girls were conversing, Mirabel opened her door, wanting to go in to be left alone. She opened the door with such a force that it knocked the candle and its flames caught onto Luisa J's skirt.
"Luisa!" the birthday girl gasped. She was the first to notice. "Your skirt is on fire!"
"Aaah, my skirt!" the second eldest shrieked. She turned around and bumped into Isabella whose skirt also caught on fire.
"Huh?" Mirabel snapped out of her thoughts. Her sister's screams brought her back to reality. "Girls?" She gasped horribly at the sight of her two sisters slowly being engulfed in flames! Before she could do or say something, her sisters ran downstairs like a couple of rabbits.
"FIRE! HELP! FIRE! HELP!"
Luisa J.'s foot stepped on Isabella's long pink skirt and the two formed into a ball and rolled down throughout the house.
First the girls bumped into Dolores, whose skirt also caught on fire!
"Aaaah!" She screamed (as much as a very quiet person could).
Next, the girls rolled down and ran into Camillo, whose suit caught on fire! The teenage boy screamed in a variety of high pitches as his face morphed between a baby's face and a face that looked like Clara Bow.
"Qué está pasando?" Félix said as he came down the hallway. His eyes widened like pancakes at the sight of the incoming ball of fiery teenagers. Before he could turn around, the ball ran over him and now he got stuck rolling along with them. "AAAHH!"
"What's going on here?" Pepa asked, coming out from the nursery. "I just put Antonio down for a nap and now he's crying!" The burning family members slammed into her causing her to strike a lighting bolt onto her clumsy brother-in-law in the rear who jumped and yelped in pain.
Agustin would have run if he wasn't rubbing his rear, which was how he immediately got caught up in the rolling ball of the burning family members.
Julieta appeared from the kitchen, carrying a cake. She put it down on the table. From the corner of her eye, she saw a trail of fire coming. Horrified, she hopped back and filled a big pail of water from the sink. "Thank goodness for sinks!" she said to herself.
The big burning ball rolled around into the dining room. The family members inside of it were shrieking as they knocked over everything from the balloons to the chairs. Finally, they crashed into a long table by breaking one of its legs. Dishes broke and food spilled everywhere! The whole cake fell off the table and plopped on the floor!
Meanwhile, Alma and Frida were walking back to their mansion and studio with a bouquet of roses. Alma grumbled, "I can't believe how much time we had to wait to make sure the florist made the rose arrangements!"
"You kept telling Mrs. Darling that the roses she picked weren't perfect enough," Frida chuckled in her usual good-mannered tone.
"I wanted everything for my favorite granddaughter to be perfect!" the old woman huffed. "It is her quinceañera after all, and I don't want any mistakes!" When the two women opened the door to step back in, they were horrified.
"Oh my!" Frida gasped.
"What's going on here?" Abuela shrieked. How could things go wrong the moment she decided to step outside? "Somebody get water!"
Juileta had been pouring a lot of water on the fire as much as she could. But she was only able to burn half of it. "Pepa make a rain cloud! Quick!"
Pepa made a huge rain cloud inside the house. The rain came pouring down from it, putting all the fire out.
Everybody sighed feeling the cold water putting out the flames.
"Who did this?"Alma demanded. "Who is responsible for this fire?"
"It was me!" Mirable said, her eyes stinging with tears. All eyes landed on Mirabel. "I-I-did it."
Isabella and Luisa J. glared daggers at her. Their dresses had holes in them and there were burnt marks on their arms and faces.
Pepa looked absolutely furious at her niece. She was completely drenched thanks to her rain cloud. Which was still pouring rain over the entire dining room.
Felix looked really annoyed. The fire had burned his whole curly hair, leaving him bald.
Camillo narrowed his eyebrows at her. One side of his head was bald with a burning mark.
Agustin and Julieta sighed and huffed, shaking their heads. The father was wiping his glasses with his handkerchief. The mother was sweeping up the fallen cake with her broom and dust pan.
Dolores was in the corner, covering her ears and rocking back and forth. Her hair was a mess and her red ribbon was loose. Her dress looked like the color of mud.
Frida slowly shook her head. "Tsk, tsk, tsk. I've never seen such chaos."
Abuela's face turned a violent shade of red and her fists clenched so tightly that she cracked her knuckles. "How?" she said in a seething voice.
"What did you do?" Pepa barked.
"I was doing a tradition," Mirabel stuttered. "I was putting candles on paper and-"
"How many times have I told you?" Alma roared. "Stay out of the way!"
"I was trying to help!" The girl protested.
"Help!?" Alma parroted. "Help with what!? Who told you to set the house on fire!?"
"YEAH WHO TOLD YOU TO SET ME ON FIRE? PENNY PROUD!?" Isabella spat venomously. "You did that on purpose just because you're jealous of me! I HATE YOU!"
"Why did you ruin my skirt?" Luisa J. cried. "Whatever did I do to you?"
"Girls, it was an accident!" Mirabel defended herself. Her sisters' words hurt her but she understood that they were scared. "I was trying to decorate-"
"Decorate!?" Isabella exclaimed incredibly. "Don't make me laugh, you are always trying to ruin everything!"
"Tell me about it!" Pepa grumbled. If it weren't for Julieta's prescience, she would have strangled her niece.
"You tried to kill me!" Luisa J. wailed, pointing her finger at her little sister.
"No, I didn't!" Mirabel shook her head. "I was only putting candles on decorations, honest!"
"You're such a disease!" Isabella barked.
Camilo didn't say one word. His narrowed eyes, gnashing teeth, darkened red face, and crossed arms showed how furious he felt. He was seething so much that steam came out of his ears.
"Enough!" Abuelita screamed. "This is the last straw Mirabel! You ruined your sister's birthday! You ruined the decorations, you ruined your mother's cake, and you ruined the family? Are you happy now?"
"Whoa there!" Agustin gasped. Although he was still angry at his daughter, this was beginning to become overkill.
"Why am I cursed with an ungrateful and hateful wench?" The old woman continued.
"Mother stop!" Julieta pleaded.
"I don't know why you never got a gift Mirabel, but it is not an excuse to hurt your sisters or the rest of this family!" Abeula shouted.
"Um, Madre?" Frida spoke a bit sheepishly.
"Every time you make a mistake, I lose faith in you!" The matriarch wasn't finished yet. "It's bad enough that your uncle ran away because he was a useless bum who hates this family! Now I have a granddaughter who's also useless!? Shame on you!"
"I'm not useless!" Mirabel cried. Tears were flowing down from her eyes. Her heart felt like it was breaking into pieces.
"Oh trust me, you'll never be good enough!" Abuela spat bitterly. "You are going to end up like your grandfather!" The old woman's eyes widened as a gasp escaped from her lips.
"What?" The sobbing girl could only muster.
Abuela looked at her granddaughter and saw her husband crying as he fell down onto his knees from a gunshot.
"Go to your room."
"But-"
"Go to your room!"
Mirabel felt as if she had been kicked in the stomach. It hurt just as bad as Ercole's slap in the face. Not wanting anyone to berate her for shedding tears, she ran upstairs to her bedroom, sobbing.
"Serves you right!" Isabella called at her. "Maybe next time stop being so jealous of me!"
"My skirt!" Luisa J. was still wailing. "Why did she make me so ugly?"
"Why did she ruin my makeup?" Dolores whimpered, wiping her smeared face.
"At least you girls still have hair!" Camilo snapped. "I looked like I went to a barber shop and the barber didn't finish cutting my hair!"
"Kids, stop!" Julieta commanded. "Help me clean up this mess that you made!"
"It was Mirabel's fault!" her eldest child protested. She, her sister, and her cousins shrank back when her mother gave her an icy glare. Immediately, everyone got to work cleaning up.
"So…no cake?" Frida asked, innocently.
Everybody stopped what they were doing and slowly turned their heads to the loony member of the family with narrowed eyes.
"What?" Frida shrugged, "I have a sweet tooth."
Shock. Confusion. Sadness. Heartbreak. These were the feelings that were rushing through Mirabel. It's like her nerves were all over the place. Sitting on top of her bed, late at night, she couldn't help but replay those horrible words that everyone had been saying to her.
"I hate you!" Isabella's venomous voice echoed.
"Why did you ruin my skirt?" Luisa J.'s voice rang.
"If it weren't for those ridiculous glasses or that lame sailor dress, then maybe I'd find you pretty, but you're not!" Ercole sneered at her.
"Yeah," Lacienga laughed. "She's soooo ugly!"
"Weird, weird, weird, weird!" Bonnie taunted.
"I don't know why you never got a gift Mirabel, but it is not an excuse to hurt your sisters or the rest of this family!" Abeula shouted.
Mirabel shook her head, trying to rid of these thoughts. Just the thought of them made her angry. How could Ercole reject her so coldly? How could Isabella talk to her like that? How could Abuela accuse her for ruining Isabella's birthday. Sure, she was jealous, but maybe if Abuela wasn't always comparing her unfavorably to them, she wouldn't be!
"Stop it!" she chastised herself. It wasn't Isabella's fault or Luisa J.'s. The last thing she wanted to do was blame them for something that she did. It wasn't that she was careless. Her mind was on what happened at school so much that she didn't pay attention to what she was doing. The girl could have defended herself a bit more but with her family yelling at her nonstop, it was impossible to speak up.
Maybe when the family finished cleaning up and cooled down, she could tell them what happened at school. A defeated sigh escaped from her lips. What does it matter? They'd still tell her that it's no excuse. They'd ask her what school bullies have to do with her messing up her sister's party. Heck, Isabella might even agree with LaCienega and praise her for the prank. The thought made her stomach curl. "Maybe Abuela was right," she thought to herself. "Maybe there is something that is wrong with me. Maybe I am a curse." If she is cursed, then she could do one thing for her family.
She packed a few clothes, a toothbrush, a lantern, an Apple, and bread in her bag. The tween took her locket with her so she could always have her family with her. The Madrigals may not love her anymore but she still cared about them. The girl closed her colorful bag. Next, she took her bed sheets and tied them up to make a long climbing rope. Opening the back window, she threw her tied up bed sheets over it. Slowly and sneakily, the girl climbed down the long rope making sure she stayed as quiet as a mouse. Good thing her family was asleep, otherwise they'd hear her. The child landed on her two feet. Clutching her bag, she took one last look at the house. Then she turned around and left.
Meanwhile, Dolores's ears perked up. She thought she heard the slightest movement of feet. Inside or outside, her mind was too sleepy and tired to decipher. Sleep overtook her and kept her in dreamland.
Mirabel traveled quietly, using the moonlight and her lantern as guidance. She didn't know where to go or who to stay with. Her mind suggested the Riveras. She and her family knew them for so many years that they are like a second family to her. That would be nice. She can play the accordion with Abel, play dolls with Rosa, play peek-a-boo with the twins, and dance with Miguel. And she can talk with Tia Gloria and Mama Coco about anything. But as pleasant as that idea sounded, Mirabel crossed that out. Miguel's grandmother, who is more strict than Abuela, would send her home right away, even if she had a fight with her family.
Sighing sadly, Mirabel traveled on. She can't stay with the Prouds because they are about to move out of their house. Not to mention that she is still mad at Penny.
She can't stay with the Darlings, the Milnes, or any of the new British kids because she doesn't really know them well.
And staying with the Boulverdarzes is out of the question; it's like signing up for misery.
The more Mirabel walked and passed the houses, the lower her options were. Where could she stay?
Her feet led her beyond the hills, through the downtown area, through the alley, and over the forbidden line. 'My family doesn't love me. They don't care about me.' The girl wiped tears from her eyes. 'We used to be so happy. We used to laugh and run. Even when we were busy making movies, we still found time to spend together. Now I don't even exist in the family, all because I have no gift. I'm like a ghost who is in the room but never acknowledged. I know I am the only one who still goes to school because I have no gift but that doesn't give them the right to ignore me or berate me!' So caught up in her sorrows, she hadn't realized that she had stepped into the East Side's territory. Noticing that there were no more streetlights, she looked up. "Where am I?"
"Hey, sweet little thing," a creepy voice reached her ears.
Startled, Mirabel turned and saw two pairs of yellow eyes glaring at her in the dark. They came out of the dark alley and revealed themselves to be two large ugly men in smelly rags. Their faces were like the faces of a cat waiting to pounce on a mouse. "Why don't you come here and we'll show you a good time?"
The girl felt panic surging through her body. It was like she couldn't breathe.
One of the sleazy men reached out and roughly grabbed her skirt.
Mirabel felt blood draining from her face. Her brain told her to leave. She fled, and her skirt was partially ripped.
The tween ran as fast as she could through the dark alley of tall buildings. She was trying to get away from those two men who were not too far from behind her.
When one man grabbed her roughly by the arm, she screamed.
"Quiet, you little tramp!" The man sneered, pulling her close to him. He trailed his finger around her cheek, making her uncomfortable.
"Let go of me!" Mirabel hollered. "Help! Somebody help me!"
"Shut up!" the man barked. "Hey, Chino, open her bag!"
Chino looked through her bag. "There's no money in here, Bernardo! Just a toothbrush, a lantern, and food!"
"Then eat the food, stupid!"
"Hey, who's there?" A loud voice shouted in the darkness. He was carrying a lantern.
"Oh no, it is the Buttons!" Bernardo said looking back. That gave his victim the opportunity to kick him in the stomach. Bernardo felt a blow to his stomach, dropped the girl and held himself.
Mirabel dashed the heck out of there, as much as she could. She was lucky that the other guy was too busy eating his food to catch her.
While running, the child scanned the area looking for a place to hide. Then she came upon a hill with a house on top. The mansion looked very spooky but it was a great place to hide. No one would dare to follow her! She ran up the stairs, never daring to stop, even when her feet ached.
She sighed heatedly that she was that the gate was locked. The girl ran around trying to find another way to get in. Looking down, she found a hole underneath the gate. She got down to her knees and crawled through the hole. She slipped through the slippery hole and slid downward into a big garden full of flowers and exotic plants.
No longer scared, the child was followed with curiosity and wonder. The garden was huge with a lot of greenery, with plants and flowers all over the place.
"What is this place
"Filled with so many wonders?" The girl sang quietly.
"Casting its spell"
"That I am now under"
Everywhere Mirabel looked, there were many flowers and plants. True, she had seen roses from Isabella's garden, but never had she seen a variety of roses in different colors besides pink. Her eyes spotted many types of flowers like daisies, daffodils, lilies, and lavender. A few animals were spotted roaming around the garden. It was early in the morning and the animals were waking up to start their day.
"Squirrels in the trees"
"And the cute little bunnies"
Mirabel looked up above to see a blue bird getting a worm for her babies.
"Birds flying free"
The girl spotted a white gazebo which was in the center of the garden. She walked into it, amazed by its comfort and designs. Another wonderful thing the child saw was a tree with a beehive, full of swarming bees. Their tree was the only plant that was enclosed inside a small white gate with a sign that read, "Beehives, Be careful."
"And bees with their honey"
"Hooooonneeeeeeey!"
"Oooh, what a magical place"
"And I owe it all to my great long race"
"If I knew the ground had so much up its sleeve"
"I'd have come here sooner, and never leave"
"Yes, I love ev-er-ythiiiiing!" She sang out the last note.
Happy that she found a place to relax and be happy, Mirabel spun around in her sailor dress inside the gazebo. She stopped in the middle of her twirl when those two men spotted her through the gates.
"There she is Bernardo!"
"Let's get her, Chino!"
They climbed up and jumped over the gates like a couple of spiders.
Mirabel screamed.
The animals made scared noises and hid in the trees and in the burrows or bushes.
"Hey, who's out there?" A loud male voice shouted from the mansion. The person that yelled, came out of the house from the back door, followed by a woman. The man had long black curls and wore red and white plaid pajamas. The woman wore her long purple dress made of silk.
The two attackers shrank while the girl hid inside a large winter creeper. There was no hiding spot inside the gazebo so she picked those bushes that were behind it.
"Oh, it's my…daughter," Bernardo lied.
"She is?" Chino asked stupidly. He was elbowed by his partner. "Oh, she is!"
"I'm not his daughter!" Mirabel yelled from below.
Thankfully, the woman and the man were too clever to be fooled by a bunch of sleazy men. "Bruno, kick these two culos out of my garden."
"Yes, Imelda," Bruno nodded. He inched toward the two goons. When they attempted to punch him, he smacked them on the heads with a crowbar.
"Ow!" The two guys yelled, clutching their heads.
Bruno grabbed them by their collars and dragged them out. "Chicarron, open the gate!"
"Right away, Bruno!" The old man saluted. He got his key out and opened the door. for the man to throw the two invaders out.
Bruno tossed the two invaders out and wiped his hands.
The two guys stood up and attempted to run back in.
"Don't make me pull out my Tommy gun!" Bruno warned them. When they didn't listen, he pulled it out from his sheath.
The two goons stopped dead in their tracks and froze.
Bruno aimed his gun and shot toward their feet a few times until the two goons ran away. "And don't come back!" He yelled, slamming the gate shut. Right on cue, Chicarron locked it.
Bruno put his Tommy gun into his sheath. He walked back to find his boss kneeling.
"Come out of my wintercreeper little girl," Imelda gently coaxed her. "Por favor, come out. I won't hurt you." She turned to her lackey who looked curious. "I'm talking to the little girl. I wanted to know who she was and why she came here. And how she got in." The woman looked back to her Wintercreeper, sensing the girl peeking out. But when she did, the girl quickly shrank back inside the bush.
"Maybe you can talk to her," Imelda suggested.
"I'll try," the former actor nodded. "Little girl, please come out."
Mirabel shook. The woman's voice was unrecognizable. But she knew who that woman was, Dolores had read many newspapers about the Princesa De Mafia. Camilo told her that she locks up kids in her cages for sneaking into her garden. What if this woman locks her up in a cage too? Her ears perked up at the sound of the male voice. Why does he sound familiar? Cautiously, she peeked out. "Tío Bruno!?" she gasped. She thought the guy ran away to Hollywood.
"It's okay, we are not going to hurt you," her uncle spoke, softly. He reached his hand out to her. "Let me help you out from the shrub."
"Bruno, I'm scared!" The girl squeaked.
"You don't have to be," the man answered, gently. "Por favor, take my hand."
The girl was still unsure about all of this. She didn't know who to trust anymore, except for that one man who had been her favorite uncle. And still is her favorite. She took his hand and was helped out of the shrub. That was when. Mirabel realized that perhaps she was safe.
Imelda and Bruno took the girl inside the mansion.
Bruno sat his niece down on a little couch. When he asked her what happened, the child didn't know how to respond. He listened quietly as she recanted her whole day. How she was bullied at school, how she accidentally ruined her sister's birthday, how the family reacted, how she ran away, and how she ended up in the East Side.
The pain was still so raw and fresh that the girl couldn't help but break down crying.
Bruno's jaw tightened and his fists clenched. 'How dare she!' He thought furiously. He was so angry that he could spit. 'How could mother do this to her? Yes, Mira made a
mistake but Mama's reaction was overkill!'
He wanted to smash something or break anything! But if he did, his boss would hit him with a shoe and make him sleep in the garden.
Hearing that his niece was sobbing, he attempted to pick her up in his arms. His heart squeezed in pain when his niece shrank back.
"Don't touch me!" She whined.
"Oh no," Bruno gasped, fear swelling up in him. He studied her torn dress and messy bow carefully. "What do those two men do to you?" He had heard horror stories about women who were sexually harassed. As a response, they couldn't bear to be touched by another man. His eyes blinked back tears. His niece was losing her innocence too soon. The best thing he could do was offer her his handkerchief.
"Imelda, can she stay?" He dared to ask. "I know it's your house-"
"Por supuesto!" Imelda nodded. "She can stay here as long as she needs." The woman looked at the sobbing girl who was dabbing her eyes with her uncle's handkerchief. "You can stay in my guest room or with Bruno."
"How do I know I can trust you to protect me?" Mirabel inquired.
"I'm a friend of your uncle's," Imelda kindly answered. "And anyone that is a relative of Bruno's is under my protection."
"…And I have been living here since then," Mirabel concluded her tale.
Pepita meowed, putting her paw on her leg.
Fighting back tears, Mirabel hugged her cat.
"That's so sad," Miguel spoke after a long pause. He rubbed his watery eyes. "No wonder you ran away. No wonder you don't want to come home." His body was shaking. He wished he could think of something to say to comfort her but what could he say? His voice was breaking. "If only I wasn't sick on that day!" he cried.
Dante whimpered and his eyes watered.
"No Miguel!" his secret crush shook her head. Her voice was breaking too. "Don't blame yourself. It wasn't your fault!"
"But I wasn't there to protect you!" He sniffled, wiping his tears. He hugged his dog for comfort. "Why didn't you come to me? My family would have helped you!"
"No, I didn't want to give you and your family any trouble," Mirabel smiled, sadly. "Besides, you were sick." More tears spilled from her eyes. She was startled when Miguel gave her his handkerchief.
"Take it," he urged gently. "My Papá always tells me to give my handkerchief to a girl who needs it."
Gratefully, the girl took it. "I'll wash it when I'm done."
Miguel enveloped her into a hug as she put her head on his shoulder. Now he knew the whole story, the boy decided that he would not force her to come back to the West Side. From now on, he'll make sure that his friend is safe. He continued to hold her in his arms.