call, whoever we still remember. Some people we obviously forget. I don’t know who my great-great-great-great-grandmother was or anything.”
Julian hummed. “That seems sad.”
Yadriel lifted his shoulders in a small shrug. “I don’t think so. The way I figure it, all of their family they were close to died by now, too, right? So they get to all hang out and party in the afterlife together. There’s no need for them to come back and visit.”
“What’s the afterlife like?” Julian was trying to sound casual, but Yadriel could hear in his voice that he was worried.
“I don’t know,” Yadriel answered honestly.
Julian looked disappointed.
“But it’s got to be really nice. Everyone always comes back smiling and happy.”
“Have you ever asked one of them?”
“No, it’s kind of an … unspoken thing.”
Another long stretch of silence.
“Is there a hell?”
When Yadriel turned his head to look over at Julian, the other boy’s eyes were already staring back. He studied Julian’s face in the pale light streaming in the window.
“Well, there’s Xibalba—”
Julian’s eyes bulged.
“But you won’t end up there!” he rushed to finish. “Seriously, Lady Death makes sure of that.”
“I think I would’ve made a good brujo,” Julian told him, idly toying with Purrcaso’s tail.
Yadriel grinned. “You think so?”
“Definitely.” He nodded. “I’m into the whole portaje aesthetic. Yours is badass.”
Yadriel chuckled. “It’s more than just having a cool knife.”
“I know, I know, I know.” Julian waved him off. “But it’s the coolest part.” He grinned. “It’s really too bad I’m not a brujo.”
“A real shame,” Yadriel agreed, hiding behind a tone of sarcasm.
If Julian were a brujo, they wouldn’t be in this mess. Things would be simpler, easier. They wouldn’t be impossible. Yadriel wouldn’t have to let him go.
He wanted to stay up all night, just talking and answering Julian’s questions, but even though he fought it, eventually Yadriel started to nod off. He changed out of his binder while Julian settled down on the floor with the sleeping bag again.
Bundled up under the covers, Yadriel waited until Julian rolled onto his side, facing away from him. The blue light of his old iPhone shone through his translucent form as Julian scrolled through Yadriel’s music.
Yadriel turned to the window and pulled out Julian’s gray-and-black plaid shirt he’d stashed under his pillow. He rubbed the soft flannel between his fingers. Yadriel closed his eyes and buried his nose in the shirt. As he drifted off to sleep, he breathed in the smell of Julian, but it was already starting to fade.
NINETEEN
“I’m supposed to be in school today, and Maritza said she’d cover for me after school,” Yadriel said. As long as he was present and accounted for by the time Día de Muertos rang in on the church bells, he’d be okay. “So we have all day to do whatever you want.”
“Whatever I want?” Julian repeated, giving Yadriel a doubtful look.
“Whatever you want,” Yadriel confirmed as he combed his hair carefully into style. He didn’t remember dreaming last night, but when he woke up, there was a gaping ache in his chest and the shakiness that chased him into waking after a nightmare.
“Well, within reason,” he added. “We don’t have the time or funds to, like, fly to Hawaii or something.”
“That’s fine, I don’t like pineapple, and ‘fly on a plane’ was never on my bucket list anyways.” Julian shrugged.
“You’ve never been on a plane?” Yadriel didn’t travel all that much, and if they visited his mom’s family in Mexico, they just drove across the border. He’d only flown to Cuba a handful of times to visit his dad’s extended family, but still he was surprised.
“Tch, hell no! Get on a big metal death bird?” Julian shook his head. “Yeah, no, hard pass.”
“Well, you have some time to figure out what you want to do,” Yadriel told him as he loaded up his backpack with items they would need later that night. “We have to pick up some supplies first.”
“I still can’t believe you’re ditching school,” Julian remarked as he stood up from the floor. He was already buzzing with excitement. “You seem too straitlaced for that kind of thing.”
“I’m not straitlaced!” Yadriel scowled.
Julian cocked an eyebrow. “Have you ditched before?”
“… No.”
Julian smirked.
“Oh, shut up.” Yadriel checked his phone again as he tucked his portaje into its sheath against his lower back. He would need it later that night, when it was time to release Julian.
But he didn’t want to think about that right now. Right now, he just wanted to focus on Julian and his last