Page 54 of Cemetery Boys

Lita ushered him forward, and Yadriel moved to the other side of the room, angling himself so Lita and the brujas turned their backs on the living room.

“Are you hungry?” Lita asked. “We’re making tamales!”

The brujas lined the counter, making an assembly line of tamales. One of them spread the masa into the corn husk, the next laid the filling, the third wrapped the husk and then handed it to Lita, who placed it in a large pot to be steamed.

“Uh,” Yadriel hesitated. Julian peeked at him around the corner, waiting for his instructions. He needed to get their attention.

He knew what’d do that trick.

“Save me a tamal for later? I’m not hungry.” All four women looked up at him. “I’m not feeling so good.”

The whole room broke into chatter as they converged on him. As they asked him what was wrong, everyone touching his cheeks and checking his forehead for a temperature, Yadriel forced himself not to squirm away.

“I have vivaporú in my bag!”

“I’ll brew some manzanilla!”

He gave Julian a subtle jerk of his head, and Julian crept toward the door.

“Take off your shirt,” Lita ordered him. “I’ll get an egg!” She made to turn toward the fridge, but Julian was only halfway across the room, in clear sight.

“No!” Yadriel shouted, and everyone jumped, including Julian.

Lita clutched her rosary and stared at Yadriel. “No?” she repeated, clearly offended.

“I’m—I’m okay, really,” Yadriel stammered.

Taking the hint, Julian ran for the door and slipped out.

A cold wave of relief crashed over Yadriel.

“But—” Lita began to argue.

“Really, I’m fine,” he told her, conjuring up a smile. “And I’m in a rush, I have to go meet Maritza.”

Lita frowned.

“We have important school stuff to do,” he added, knowing school was a fail-safe excuse. “Big project.”

The brujas turned to Lita, and she thought for a moment, lips pursed. But, eventually, she nodded. “Fine—”

Yadriel bolted for the door.

“No staying out after dark!” Lita called after him.

“We won’t!”

“And we’re putting vivaporú on you when you get back!” her voice followed as Yadriel ran outside and down the steps.

Julian waited for him by a seafoam-green mausoleum. “All good?” he asked, falling into step alongside him.

“Yeah, though I think I just doomed myself to getting slathered in Vaporub tonight,” Yadriel said.

“Ah.” Julian smirked. “The Latinx cure-all.”

“Seriously,” he agreed with a laugh. Voices caught Yadriel’s attention, and he craned his head to the right. Immediately, he recognized the back of his dad’s head.

“My dad used to—”