Chapter Text
"You look nice," says Julieta. "What's the occasion?"
"Felix is taking me to a restaurant tonight," says Pepa, spinning around in front of the large mirror in their bathroom to show off her new dress.
"Tonight?" Julieta works an earring into her earlobe. "You'll be home by 7, right?"
"Why would I be home by 7?" Pepa grabs her makeup out of the cabinet and starts putting on foundation.
"Because I'm going dancing with my friends at 7. Don't you remember?"
"Wait." Pepa pauses, her eyebrows furrowed. "Didn't you have last Saturday?"
"No, last Saturday Felix took you to the art festival. You two are hanging out a lot, aren't you?" Julieta bumps her hip against Pepa's playfully.
"Wait…. but you're going out with your friends tonight? That means Bruno will be home alone!"
"That's not my fault! You said you were free tonight."
"I forgot." Pepa groans. "I'll have to talk to Felix. Maybe he can reschedule."
"Or maybe we can leave Bruno home alone with Mamá. He'll be fine."
"Are you kidding me? Of course he won't." Pepa paces back and forth, her makeup routine forgotten as a storm cloud forms above her. Julieta quickly starts pinning her hair back to protect it from the wind. "You don't know what it's like, Juli, you're always so busy in town. The way he looks at you like you just ripped his heart out… ugh!"
"What are you guys talking about?"
The girls whirl around to see the short, skinny frame of their triplet standing in the bathroom doorway. He looks like he slept in the ceremonial ruana he usually wears while doing his visions; the heavy, crisp fabric is as rumpled as the rest of his clothes. His fluffy hair forms a messy halo around his thin, exhausted face. He probably stayed up late doing visions for people and then went right to bed. Or, as Pepa recently discovered he sometimes did, just fell asleep on the floor of his creepy vision cave. But now it's Saturday morning, his one day off.
"It's my bathroom too," says Bruno, misinterpreting the pause in his sisters' conversation as either surprise that he's there or anger that he dares to enter. "I just wanna brush my teeth."
"You can come in," says Julieta, nodding at the sink. "We're just using the mirrors."
"Okay." Bruno grabs his toothbrush from the cabinet and starts carefully brushing his teeth. Pepa has to admit, even though her brother's general appearance leans toward "grimy," that kid brushes his teeth like a champ. He told her once that he brushes each individual tooth six times in the front and six times in the back, and since he has a total of 30 teeth, he does a total of 360 brushes every time he brushes his teeth. This seems to please him.
"Bruno," says Julieta, glancing at Pepa. Pepa glares at her and shakes her head, but her sister continues. "You know how I'm going dancing with my friends at 7 tonight?" Bruno nods as he works on his 360 brushes, then glances at Pepa with a smile in his eyes.
Pepa knows what that look means, even with a toothbrush in his mouth. It means, "You're on Bruno duty tonight." Of course, Bruno doesn't know about Bruno duty. But he does know that, if Julieta is going dancing, then Pepa is the one he's going to be following around all night.
She knows it's not a charitable way to think about her brother. She knows he has a reason for doing the things he does, although it's a reason she has a lot of trouble seeing. When he was five years old, he decided that Saturday was his day off and that meant he was going to enjoy every minute of it. And it turns out that what Bruno wants to do, more than almost anything else, is spend time with his sisters. Fourteen years later, and he's still doing the exact same thing.
Bruno's day off is an interesting phenomenon. During the rest of the week, if Bruno has time between doing visions and chores and eating, he seems completely content to sit up in his room and draw, read, talk to his rats… whatever it is he does up there. In fact, a lot of the time, Bruno wants to be left alone. But when he wakes up bright and early on Saturday, no matter how late he went to bed the night before, Bruno is ready to spend the whole day bothering Julieta and Pepa.
Things used to be different. Pepa used to look forward to Saturdays, since it was the one day she knew her brother would be available and interested in playing with her. They used to run around for hours, exploring the mountainous region surrounding the town, chasing each other, or playing pretend. Julieta was usually there too, of course, but Bruno and Pepa were the ones who really played like feral animals, ripping and staining their clothes and driving their Mamá up the wall.
But things are different now. They're nineteen, which means they're pretty much adults. Pepa has friends now, and a life outside of Casita. She's dating a cute guy who makes her laugh and gives her butterflies in her stomach.
And Bruno… Bruno is changing too, but in a way that makes his sisters worry about him. He can't seem to grasp the concept of growing up, and instead seems to be growing sideways, like a tree trying to find the light after being planted in the shade. He doesn't seem interested in the things a teenage boy is supposed to care about. He spends most of his time in elaborate fantasy worlds of his own creation, like his mind couldn't stop playing pretend when his sisters did. And then, every Saturday, his mental health seems to hinge on whether or not his sisters are available to spend the day with him.
"Bruno, uh…" Julieta starts as their brother tries to work a comb through his tangled hair. "Here, let me help you with that." Bruno hands her the comb and stands still as she carefully combs out his curls. "Bruno, Pepa also has plans tonight. She's going out with Felix."
"Felix?" Bruno looks at Pepa skeptically. "Didn't you go out with him last week?"
"He's my boyfriend," says Pepa. Like he would understand something like that. A few of her friends have asked if Bruno is single, and she tells them not to bother.
"Anyway," says Julieta, "Pepa and I are both going to be gone tonight. Okay?"
"Okay," says Bruno. He gives them a thumbs-up. "No problem."
"Great!" Julieta arches her eyebrows and smiles at Pepa, like she's saying, see? Pepa glowers at her and shakes her head.
As the triplets start cleaning the kitchen, Pepa is baffled at Julieta's lack of awareness that Bruno is having a complete nervous breakdown. First of all, he drops two separate plates in two different situations. Normally, when Bruno breaks something, he screams and jumps because he's afraid of loud noises. But this time he has almost no reaction. He just looks at the plate, looking tired and sad, then walks over to grab the broom and dustpan and clean it up. Like he's given up on caring about a broken dish.
He starts filling the mop bucket with water unprompted, which is significant because the triplets usually argue over who has to mop. Then, as he's mopping, he has this rigid look on his face that he gets when he's trying to control his facial expression. All signs that he's miserable and trying to hide it.
Bruno's strange behavior continues all morning. Usually on Saturdays Bruno tries to get his sisters to play cards with him, or go swimming down at the river, or he'll ask them about their lives and friends and listen in a fascinated way as if he's studying a different species. And, in a way, he is a different species, so it makes sense for him to be fascinated by normal human behavior.
Today he doesn't do any of that stuff. He doesn't talk to his sisters at all. But he doesn't go up into his room, either, the way he does every other day of the week. He just lurks around downstairs, doing his daily routine of walking along the walls of each room and knocking every six paces, then sitting in various rooms looking like he's pensively waiting for something. Every time Pepa walks into a darkened room, her brother seems to already be in there, just staring into space. It drives her crazy.
Lunch is agonizing. Pepa can't look away as Bruno chokes down his food like it's made of wet cement, chewing each bite of his tamale and swallowing with a look of nausea and grim determination on his face. She knows Bruno loses his appetite when he's unhappy, but under the watchful eye of their mother, he has no choice but to force it down.
"What is going on with you three?" Alma asks, looking suspiciously at each of her children as they eat silently. "Brunito, aren't you hungry?" She puts her hand to his clammy forehead.
"I'm fine, Mamá," he says, backing away from her touch. "Everything is normal."
"I don't think everything is normal. Pepa?" Alma turns to glare at her. "Why do you have a cloud?"
"No reason!" says Pepa. Aw, crap. "I just… didn't sleep very well last night." She fakes a loud yawn. "I think I'll take a nap this afternoon."
"Yes, please do that." Alma looks at Julieta, who smiles serenely like absolutely nothing is wrong. "Julieta, please keep an eye on your siblings today."
"Of course, Mamá. But you know, they're adults too. I'm sure if they say they're fine, you can trust them." She shoots Pepa a look. Pepa glares back.
"Why did you tell him I had a date with Felix tonight?" Pepa growls at Julieta as they put the dishes away. She looks around the kitchen and dining room to make sure their brother isn't lurking somewhere. "I was going to cancel it, but now it's too late. He'll know something is up. And he's driving me totally crazy."
"You're driving yourself totally crazy," Julieta replies. "Bruno has barely said a word to you. I did you a favor. Go on your date with Felix. Enjoy your night."
"But you've seen how he's acting! He's so--ARGH!" Pepa clenches her fists as Bruno appears in the doorway. "Bruno! Stop doing that!" Thunder crackles and rain starts pouring down on the triplets.
"I'm not doing anything," says Bruno, shielding his eyes from the rain. "Pepa, what is your problem? You've been acting super weird all day. Did I do something to you?"
"You're the one who's being weird!" says Pepa. "Ever since this morning you've just been going around… looking depressed. Why won't you just talk to me about it?"
"I didn't know I needed your permission to 'look depressed,'" Bruno snaps. "Or that it was any of your business anyway. But, you know, since you're already assuming everything is about you, have you considered that maybe I'm trying to give you space so you can get ready for your date tonight?"
"See? I knew you were obsessed with my date with Felix! Well, I'm an adult, and for your information, I can go on a date whenever I want. Even if it is the same night Julieta's going dancing."
"Pepa, what the hell are you talking about? When did I say you couldn't do that?"
"You didn't have to say it. I knew right away how disappointed you were when Julieta told you. And I was right, because look at how miserable you've been all day."
"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't realize you were allowed to read my mind and then get mad at me about the things you see in there. Maybe it's none of your business how I feel."
"But this is all Julieta's fault! I was going to cancel my date with Felix to hang out with you, but now I can't because Julieta told you about it!"
"You were gonna… wait." Bruno closes his eyes and rubs his temples with his fingers. "I need to process this. You're mad at Juli for telling me about your date with Felix. Because you were going to cancel it, without telling me about it, so you could stay home with me and prevent me from being sad. And this is some kind of arrangement you have with Julieta." He opens his eyes. "Holy shit, Pepa."
"Bruno, wait–"
"You don't like spending time with me at all. You just… take turns babysitting me." He looks back and forth between his two sisters, who both look away. "Holy…. holy shit."
"It's not like that," says Pepa as Julieta reaches out to touch Bruno's shoulder. He dodges her hand, his eyes wide and furious.
"Do not. Fucking touch me. I need to get out of here." He turns on his heel and walks away.