Cemetery Boys(60)

While Lita was distracted, he backed away and followed the outer wall, slinking through the shadows to make an escape. He stopped short, however, when he came upon familiar voices.

His dad and his tío stood next to one of the archways. Tío Catriz stood facing his younger brother, his expression calm save for a small crease in his heavy brow. His father’s back was to him, but Yadriel could see the tense set of his shoulders.

Yadriel crept closer, stopping behind a pillar so he could hear what they were saying.

“Times are changing, hermano,” his tío said, earnest and almost pleading. “We need to make changes in order to survive. Our lineage is faced with ever weakening magic.”

Yadriel strained his ears. What were they talking about? He shifted a bit closer, and the movement caught Catriz’s attention. His dark eyes flicked to Yadriel. He moved to shrink back, embarrassed at being caught eavesdropping, but something in Tío Catriz’s expression shifted.

He focused back on his brother. “We should be embracing differences, even if it scares us,” Catriz implored. “Not rejecting them and pushing them aside.”

Pride and gratitude swelled in Yadriel’s chest. Was Cartiz talking about him? The concept of having a transgender brujx in their community was still baffling to most, and his dad clearly didn’t know what to do with him.

Yadriel smiled. Finally, someone was fighting for him. Of course, of all people, his uncle would stick up for him. Catriz knew what it was like to be cast aside because you didn’t fit into the traditional expectations of the brujx.

Anticipation and excitement thrummed in his veins. He rounded the pillar and took an uneasy step closer. Should he just tell them? Was now the right moment? With his tío on his side, would his dad listen? He could tell them how he and Maritza had performed his own quinces. How Lady Death had accepted him as a brujo and blessed him and bound him to his portaje.

Determination propelled him forward another step, and he reached for his dagger.

“Catriz.”

Yadriel stopped, fingers pressed to the hilt.

His father’s tone was firm, verging on angry. Enrique said his brother’s name like a warning, his expression stony. “I don’t want to hear it anymore.”

Yadriel’s stomach plummeted to his feet.

Catriz pressed his palms together. “I implore you to be more open-minded, hermano,” he continued. “If we close ourselves off to the possibilities that lie outside of what tradition has dictated—”

“Catriz—”

“We are destined for extinction.”

The words hung in the air for a moment. Catriz’s and Enrique’s eyes remained locked.

When his father spoke, he didn’t raise his voice, but his words were unyielding. “I already told you my decision. I will not change my mind.”

As Tío Catriz’s expression fell to one of defeat, Yadriel’s hope fell with it.

Catriz held his hands up in submission, conceding with a slight bow of his head.

Shame simmered under Yadriel’s skin and pricked his eyes.

His tío looked at him, an apology in his eyes.

When Enrique turned to follow his gaze, Yadriel didn’t stick around to see his reaction. He did his best to hold his head up high and walk confidently away, even though he could feel his heart breaking. He braced himself, expecting to hear his father call for him to stop, for him to offer some sort of excuse or another forced apology.

But no one called after him. Not when he wove through the sea of brujx. Not when he left the church. Only the dead watched as he ran through the tombstones and back to the house, and they stayed silent as well.





THIRTEEN


When Yadriel slipped back into his room, he found Julian lying on his bed. He was stretched out lazily like a jungle cat, one hand tucked behind his head. Purrcaso was curled up on the windowsill, her tail slowly swaying like the pendulum of a clock. Julian stared out the glass. Lights blinked from the hills in the distance, beyond the cemetery walls. They were the closest thing they had to stars in the city. The garden of tombstones and mausoleums stretched out into the dark. Yadriel’s old iPhone lay on the pillow next to Julian, the earbud right next to his ear. He tossed a balled-up piece of paper into the air and caught it over and over.

When the door closed behind Yadriel with a click, Julian turned.

His skin was bathed in a silvery glow. Yadriel wasn’t sure if it was the moon sharing some of her light, or the effects of being a spirit. Julian watched him with silent regard, the ball of paper held in his hand.

For the first time, Yadriel couldn’t immediately tell what he was thinking by the look on his usually expressive face.

“Listening to my shitty music?” Yadriel asked as he tugged off his hoodie and tossed it into the closet.

“Mmm,” Julian hummed in reply.

Yadriel removed his portaje and tucked the dagger into his backpack before sitting down on the edge of the bed. Looking down at Julian, he raised an eyebrow. “How is it?”

“Still shitty,” Julian said, but a small grin tugged the corner of his lips, teasing a dimple.

Yadriel exhaled a short laugh. When Julian shifted closer to the window, he lay down and tucked the other earbud into his own ear. A breathy voice sang softly through dreamy chords. Julian went back to tossing the paper ball in the air.