Julian preened.
“Mom!” Yadriel hissed.
“But first,” she went on, as if she hadn’t heard him, taking a step back and waving toward the front of the church.
Yadriel’s dad and Lita stood on the raised altar, just below Lady Death’s alcove. Enrique and Lita were in full regalia. They wore the sacred royal headdresses that had been passed down through the brujx leaders for centuries.
Before them stood the three brujx who had turned fifteen since the last Día de Muertos. Maritza was there in her dress. She looked back over her shoulder and waved at Yadriel frantically. Hurry up! She mouthed.
This was it. Yadriel turned to Julian.
“Get ’em, brujo,” he said, nudging him with his shoulder.
Yadriel took a deep breath and shook out his tingling fingers. He stepped forward and fell into line next to Maritza, probably a bit closer than necessary.
Maritza cleared her throat and nodded with her chin. Her rose-quartz rosary was pooled in her cupped hands. Down the line, the other brujx held out their portajes.
Yadriel quickly reached back for his dagger. It slipped through his sweaty fingers. He nearly dropped it, but he scrambled to recover without losing a finger in the process. He laid it across his upturned palms, and Maritza nodded approvingly.
His dad’s chuckles made Yadriel look up.
When his dad stepped forward and held his hands aloft, the voices and laughter died down to a quiet hum. The press of the crowd behind Yadriel’s back was odd and uncomfortable. He could feel everyone’s focus directed his way.
Unable to help himself, Yadriel snuck a glance back over his shoulder. His mom gave him an encouraging smile while Julian flashed him a double thumbs-up, grinning ear to ear.
“It is an honor to have you all here on the last day of Día de Muertos as we welcome our children into their new positions within our community!” his dad said, looking out across the crowd. “Thank you for joining us and the incredible young adults who stand before you.” He stood tall, his voice booming through the cavernous church.
Yadriel was used to seeing his dad in his checkered shirts with tousled hair and tired eyes, working in the cemetery or dozing off on the couch. But tonight, dressed in his regalia, standing tall as he smiled and spoke with authority, Enrique looked like the rightful leader of the brujx.
“Let us also take a moment to thank Lady Death for allowing all of us to be here together to celebrate you tonight,” his dad said as a quiet murmur passed through the crowd. “We keep you in our thoughts, every day, until we can be together again on Día de Muertos.”
Yadriel looked up to where Lady Death stood in her alcove, draped in white. He thought of how she had looked when she appeared before him in the cave. Both beautiful and terrifying.
“Tonight our children join a long line of brujx who have served Our Lady in healing those who suffer and guiding those who are lost,” his father continued, gesturing to the four of them. Yadriel did his best to stand taller. “Tonight, we celebrate unending life. Only together is that possible.
“This is a special aquelarre for me because my son—”
Yadriel’s heart leaped into his throat.
“Our son”—his dad corrected, looking to Camila for a long moment before turning his gaze to Yadriel—“Yadriel, joins me as a brujo.”
My son.
A brujo.
How long had he been waiting to hear those words? Having them said aloud, to a room full of brujx, made Yadriel’s legs feel weak. It was like a dream, but so much better.
“I think it’s a special one for all of us, yes?” There was a murmur of agreement from the crowd. “The aquelarre celebrates transition. All of you are on the precipice between youth and adulthood,” he said to the line of young brujx. “Between uncertainty and confidence. Our traditions should grow and change with every generation. Just because we follow the ancient ways does not mean we can’t also grow. I have been shown that these past few days,” Enrique said. “I failed my son, Yadriel, as both a father and a leader,” he told the crowd.
Yadriel held his breath, frozen in place by his dad’s sincerity and candor. There were murmurs in the crowd behind him, but Enrique continued on.
“He tried to tell me who he was, but I didn’t listen, I didn’t understand.” He looked at Yadriel then. “But now I am listening, and I will learn to do better,” he promised.
Tears prickled behind Yadriel’s eyes, but he forced himself to hold it together.
“Growth isn’t a deviation from what we’ve done before, but a natural progression to honor all those who make this community strong.”
Cheers and applause ran through the crowd. Julian’s enthusiastic whooping cut through every other sound. A laugh quaked in Yadriel’s chest. His heart was so full, it would surely burst at any moment.
“It has been the joy of our lives to watch you grow into the incredible young people you have proven yourselves to be,” Enrique said, pressing his palm to his chest as he looked down at Yadriel. His brown eyes were soft, his smile adoring.
Yadriel’s chin wobbled and his eyes stung, but he smiled so big it made his cheeks hurt.
“Yadriel, you have shown great courage and strength, the likes of which no brujx has possessed in thousands of years,” his dad continued. “You sacrificed yourself to save your friends, your family, and, most telling, the lives of two strangers. To do that took more than just courage and strength. Our Lady saw the greatness in you that even I couldn’t. You will be a great brujo, and a great man, and we honor the sacrifice you made,” Enrique said in earnest.
Yadriel didn’t know how to respond. He was dumbstruck and bright red, so overwhelmed that he had to look away. Greatness? Sacrifice? He didn’t know about all that. He had just been trying to do the right thing.
“We also owe Maritza our thanks,” Enrique continued, shifting his focus to her. “She showed incredible strength in her own right.”
Unlike Yadriel, Maritza was perfectly comfortable taking praise.
She nodded in agreement with bold confidence. The proud lift of her chin eased some of Yadriel’s own nerves.
“Your healing of Yadriel was another act of great love and fortitude. Something tells me we will see great things from you both,” his dad said before addressing all four of them and adding, “From all of you.”
“He has no idea,” Maritza whispered to Yadriel from the corner of her mouth. She threw him a wink, and Yadriel grinned back.
Knowing Maritza, he certainly hadn’t heard the last of how he owed her his life, but Yadriel didn’t mind. Without her, he would be dead. And while death wasn’t the end, he wasn’t done living yet.
When Enrique spoke again, he looked at each new brujx in turn. “You are here because you have already proven you are exactly what you were meant to be. As you become full-fledged members of our community, we will help guide you to be the eyes, ears, and hands of Our Lady Death,” Enrique went on, looking at each of the four of them in turn. “We live in gratitude for the guidance and acceptance we can share with one another. We celebrate that we will move forward together as a stronger community than ever before.” He held his large hands out before him, his palms facing up. “Put your faith in Lady Death, and in your community, and we cannot falter. You have each been witness to that, and shown that to us, in your progress to this day.”