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In his head, Bruno ran over numerous possible scenarios of his family finding out where he’d been over the years. Unfortunately, them stumbling upon the remnants of his room was not one of them. When Camilo shouted over the rubble of Casita that he found his hideout, the man's heart skipped at least a few beats. His mother and sisters' unfavorable reactions to him living in the walls had always been his greatest fear. Therefore, he had no idea how to deal with an emergency family meeting that was carried out later that day.
"We don't want to draw more attention to ourselves", his Mama whispered when directing the Madrigals to an empty building. A house under construction, which still remained unfinished because of the family losing all their gifts.
They all gathered in the most spacious room, forming a twelve-people circle near the walls. With the entire family facing each other, Bruno was under the impression that all the eyes were on him. This situation was especially hard for him because, as it turned out, he had no self-soothing behaviors for such unlikely occasions. So, the man simply stood there, holding his elbow with his hand, waiting for something he didn't want to happen.
His mother stepped out to the middle of the room. In a commanding tone, she asked,
“Who knew that Bruno lived in La Casa Madrigal?”
Bruno raised his hand, and so did Mirabel. They were soon joined by Antonio and then Dolores, who elbowed her other brother.
“Okay, fine,” muttered Camilo, slowly putting his arm into the air.
“Perfect,” said Abuela with evident sarcasm. “One half of the family keeps secrets from the other.”
“Why didn’t you tell us?” asked Isabela reproachfully, pointing between herself and Luisa.
“We’ve only just found out! Like yesterday!” Mirabel put a hand on Antonio’s shoulder. The boy nodded lively.
“I’ve learned today,” admitted Camilo with a noncommittal shrug. “From Dolores.”
All the heads turned to look at the girl.
“Well,” she said a bit too loudly, pausing to clear her throat. “I’ve known from the very beginning.”
Loud whispers were exchanged between the family members. There was a commotion around the room, with people talking one over another.
“You couldn’t keep to yourself the contents of Bruno’s vision for five minutes,” stated Isabela, as she recalled the most embarrassing moments of her life,” and that’s what you decided to hide?”
“I made her promise!” shouted Bruno, drawing everyone’s attention. “I asked her not to tell.”
Isabela crossed her arms, giving her Tio a look that Mirabel knew all too well. Abuela wrinkled her forehead, her expression full of doubts.
“Did he?” The woman addressed Dolores.
“I –” Her granddaughter thought back, desperate to remember. “I don’t know. It was such a long time ago…”
Suddenly, Dolores felt someone grab her by the shoulders. Her mother turned the girl around, so that they were standing face-to-face. Pepa’s brows contorted in silent fury. Forcing herself to sound calm and collected, the woman asked,
“Dolores, dear, don’t you think that this was too – well, I don’t know – huge?! Not to tell anyone, even me or your father?”
Glancing at her Papa for support, the girl replied, “I tried! But you all kept saying that I was not supposed to talk about him! So I stopped.”
Felix patted Dolores's back with understanding. In an attempt to give her time to breathe, he drew attention to the most important aspect.
“Alright, so Dolores knew – we’ve established that. But why was Bruno here in the first place?”
All the eyes were now at the man in question. Bruno fidgeted nervously, not knowing where to begin. He knocked on the stone wall behind him. For good luck, he thought.
Instinctively, Mirabel grabbed his hand and pulled it away, so that he wouldn’t hurt himself.
“Just tell them what you told me,” she whispered encouragingly.
Bruno's chest rose and fell with every breath. He was afraid to speak up. He had so much to lose now. One false step and his family would want nothing to do with him. They’d hate him, they’d send him away – for good this time.
Or maybe not? He wasn’t sure. There were so many possible outcomes and only one future that awaited.
He felt Mirabel’s hand wrap tightly around his own. He met her eyes hidden behind the green glasses. She believed in him, trusted that he wouldn’t mess things up; Bruno could see this in the way she looked at him. This was enough to give him strength. He stood up straight, his chin high and expression determined.
“So, uhm – You see –” Bruno said, but he stopped almost immediately. He tried again, this time louder and with more confidence. “After Mirabel’s ceremony, Abuela came to me and asked to see into the future. Check if the miracle was indeed in danger. So I did – and I got scared by what I saw. I knew how things would go; I've seen it so many times before. I’d show you the vision, and you’d be all like, it’s all Mirabel’s fault, she’s gonna destroy the magic, she’s a bad omen.”
The family listened in silence. They must have known he was right because this was exactly what everyone thought the moment they saw the prophecy. Mirabel included.
“So, I destroyed the vision – and I left.”
“Why didn’t you move out?” asked another voice; Camilo’s. “I know I would.”
“And where would you go?” said Bruno with curiosity and a hint of bitterness – but no accusation. Camilo didn’t answer. “Living in the walls was not my first choice, kid. Believe me. But hey, at least I had a place to stay.”
“And you never left,” stated Pepa, stressing every syllable. She couldn’t believe the indications that crossed her mind. “You just sat back, watched us cry after you, grieve the loss of our only brother, and you did nothing? How could you?!”
“Do you think you witnessed everything from back there?” Julieta asked Bruno, putting her hand on her sister’s arm. “The kids asking where their Tio went and why he isn’t coming back? Mama staying up all night, blaming herself and waiting for you to show at the door? Your family missing your presence every single day?”
“You think it was easy for me?” Bruno shouted back, to everyone’s astonishment – probably even his own. “That I chose this? That – that I didn’t just wanna screw it all and reveal myself? Like, almost every day?”
His voice broke. Julieta’s eyes became glassy. And so did Pepa’s. Their brother took a steadying breath before he went on.
“But I couldn’t. I just – I couldn’t. And then, you all acted like everything was better off without me. I didn’t really feel like I had a place to come back to.”
It was this speech that made Mirabel realize just how much her Tio had sacrificed for her sake. It told the girl more than his sad excuse of a room or poor mental state after years of loneliness. Even though no one had ever asked this of him, he saved her anyway. Despite huge personal and emotional costs that affected him to this very day. Mirabel didn’t believe she’d ever be able to repay her debt.
Either way, she was determined to try. She stood closer to him, communicating to the rest of the family that if they wanted to hurt her Tio, they’d have to come through her.
But no one paid her any attention. Everybody was quiet, thinking over what they’d just heard from both sides of the argument. Apparently, they didn’t know which party was in the right.
However, Pepa still refused to let go.
“What are you talking about?” She gesticulated in her brother’s general direction to emphasize her words. “Of course you had a house to return to, a family waiting for you! But instead, you chose to further distance yourself. To remain out of sight while you watched us and listened to everything we said. Without our knowledge!”
Mirabel could tell that these weren’t his true intentions. Caught off-guard, her Tio lost all his confidence, reverting to his frightened self.
“I’m sorry! It wasn’t – I didn’t…” Bruno’s feeble explanations were hardly audible, compared to the roaring accusations.
“Your room was – next to the kitchen!” stated Agustin, as if he’d just realized something. He covered his face with his hand, evidently ashamed of whatever Bruno might have witnessed.
“Oh no, you watched – everything?” Isabela recoiled, painfully aware of a terrifying truth. Whenever she thought she was alone, she probably wasn’t. “All the imperfect things you saw me do! I’m so ashamed…”
“So that’s why the rat traps didn’t work,” said Luisa thoughtfully, remembering Bruno’s pets.
“Shhh! Not in front of Antonio,” Camilo hissed, as he covered his brother’s ears.
The more people joined into the discussion, the less coherent it became. Soon, it resembled random talks at the marketplace, where every person was shouting unrelated sentences in hopes that they would land somewhere. Unable to take this rant anymore, Mirabel shouted,
“He was fixing the cracks!”
Her voice echoed around the room. The family stared first at her, then at one another, and finally at the matriarch, awaiting her reaction.
“He what?” asked Abuela with a frown.
“The cracks, the ones I saw during Antonio’s ceremony. They weren’t the first. But we never knew because Tio Bruno’s been fixing them.”
“Uhm, actually, it was Hernando,” muttered Bruno with a raised finger.
Impatiently, Pepa asked, “Who’s Hernando?”
“The guy that ruined your wedding,” said Mirabel. Her Tia glanced at her, eyes wide in confusion.
“Hermano.”
Julieta slowly approached Bruno, taking his hand in between hers. She looked deep into his big, scared eyes. With the kind of affection that she usually reserved for her daughters, the woman asked,
“You spent a decade hiding in the walls, all by yourself, only to protect my little girl?”
Her brother blinked at her. The man expected many things, but acknowledgement was not one of them. Awkwardly, he shrugged, nodding in affirmation. As if this was the most obvious thing in the world.
A second later, a pair of arms were pulling him into a tight hug.
“Thank you,” Julieta whispered, and Bruno could tell that she truly meant it. After a moment, he felt a heavy hand on his shoulder. Agustin stood next to his wife, giving him a faint smile.
Not thinking much, Mirabel embraced the three of them, beaming at her mother. Happy that at least one person saw how much good Tio Bruno did.
“How can you thank him?” asked Pepa, her anger expanding to now also include her sister. “We’re still mad! Right, Mama?”
To her disappointment, Abuela gave no response. Slowly, she approached Bruno, who recoiled when she said his name. The woman gave out a sad sigh and went on.
“Son, I don’t understand why you thought that hiding from us was your best option.”
Mirabel wanted to explain but was stopped by Abuela’s raised hand.
“However, I can see that your intentions were good,” the woman continued, “and that I was partially responsible for your decision. Can you promise that you’ll never run away again?”
Bruno stared back at his mother, his mind drawing a blank. Was she forgiving him? Did she still want him to be a part of their lives? And what about the others? He glanced around at all the familiar faces. It astonished him that he did not see any aversion nor resentment. Just a lot of pain, which he bet was a reflection of his own expression.
But there was also a glimmer of hope. A wind of change. And no reason for him not to give another try to the life he thought was forever lost.
He nodded a quiet promise. To his mother but also to himself.
No more running. No more hiding.
“Alright, then. Everything’s forgiven.” The woman cupped Bruno’s cheek, just the way she did when he was little. She turned to her daughter. “Pepa, you have something to add?”
“No, Mama,” said Pepa through gritted teeth. In an undertone, she told Bruno, “It’s going to take you much more, making me forgive you.”
And then, contrary to what she’d just said, she also hugged him tightly.
Someone else might have been concerned. Pepa knew how to hold grudges, and she apparently couldn’t wait to give her brother a piece of her mind. But Bruno wasn’t worried. All he heard was that they were still on speaking terms, and it overjoyed him to no end.
As long as they talked to one other, they’d work things out.