Chapter Thirteen. Julian
THIRTEEN
JULIAN
The morning air clung to Julian’s skin, damp and crisp, as he leaned against the wall outside the cemetery gates. The heavy iron arch stretched above him, the words EL JARDíN ETERNO stark against the morning sun.
The Stingray’s low growl rounded the corner.
Julian turned and waved half-heartedly to Yadriel, who stood a few steps behind him, hoodie zipped all the way up. Maritza called to him from down the street, and Yadriel gave Julian a quick kiss.
“I’ll see you at school,” Yadriel said before cutting a look to the Stingray and adding, “Good luck.”
“Thanks,” Julian grumbled, already missing Yadriel as he walked away. “I’ll need it.”
The Stingray rolled to a stop, its black frame gleaming in the thin winter light. Julian climbed in, the passenger door creaking like it hated him personally. The seat was cold. The silence, colder.
Rio didn’t say anything. Hands gripping the wheel tight, jaw flexing as if he were chewing on broken glass.
Julian turned his gaze out the window, leaning his forehead against the cool glass as he watched the cemetery gates fade into the distance.
“Good morning to you, too,” Julian muttered, his voice cutting through the heavy quiet.
Rio’s grip on the steering wheel tightened. “Where were you last night?”
The question came out low, controlled, but Julian could feel the anger simmering beneath it.
Julian kept his tone light, as if that would help. “I told you—I was at Yadriel’s.”
“You didn’t tell me anything,” Rio snapped, eyes flicking toward him. “You just disappeared.”
Julian sank deeper into his hoodie. “I needed to talk to someone.”
Rio exhaled. “You’re my sixteen-year-old headache, Jules.”
“Love you, too,” Julian replied.
A pause.
“What did you need to talk to someone about?”
“Just … stuff,” Julian hedged. He could feel Rio’s gaze burning into the side of his face.
“Don’t bullshit me,” Rio barked. “You sneak out in the middle of the night, and you can’t even tell me why?”
Julian’s hands balled into fists inside his pocket. “Can we just drop it?”
A tense beat. Then—
“You mixed up in a gang?”
Julian barked out a laugh before he could stop himself. “No!”
“Selling drugs?”
Julian gestured emphatically down at his scuffed sneakers, the sole peeling at the edge. “Do you think I’d be wearing these shoes if I had drug money?!”
Rio sighed, long and sharp. “I can’t protect you if you don’t let me—”
“Protect me?” Julian turned toward him, guilt and frustration tangling up in his chest. “From what? From being a screwup? From being a disappointment?”
“From yourself, mostly,” Rio said. “And whatever weird shit keeps following you around.”
Julian winced. He turned back to the window, his reflection staring back at him, tired and annoyed. The silence stretched between them. Julian wanted to defend himself, to lash out, but every excuse he could think of sounded hollow, even to him.
Rio exhaled. “You look like shit.”
Julian let out a hollow laugh. “Thanks.”
“I’m serious. You’re pale. You’re skinnier than you were a month ago. You’ve got bags under your eyes. You’re not sleeping. What’s going on with you?”
Julian’s chest tightened. The exhaustion, the disconnect, the gnawing emptiness that never quite left him. Susto. But he couldn’t tell Rio that, couldn’t explain the dark spots or the voices or the weight pressing down on him like a thousand invisible hands.
“I’m fine,” Julian muttered.
“Bullshit,” Rio snapped. “You think I don’t notice? You think I don’t care?”
Julian’s throat closed up. “I’m handling it.”
Rio slammed his hand against the steering wheel, the sharp sound making Julian flinch.
“I’m your brother!” he shouted. “Of course I’m gonna worry about you! You think I want to lose you again?!”
The words landed like a body check. Heat pooled under Julian’s sternum.
“I’m not going anywhere,” he said quietly.
Rio made a frustrated noise, his grip on the wheel loosening slightly. The Stingray rolled to a stop in front of the high school, the building looming like a gray monolith in the morning light.
Julian reached for the door handle.
“Jules.”
He paused. Rio’s face had softened. Still tense, but raw now. Honest.
“Just … be careful, okay?”
Rio reached into his jacket and pulled out Julian’s phone. He tossed it to Julian, who caught it easily.
Julian nodded, fingers tight around the device. “Yeah.”
He climbed out of the car, slamming the door behind him. The Stingray roared to life and peeled off, leaving Julian alone on the sidewalk, the echo of Rio’s fear still ringing in his ears.
Lunchtime couldn’t come soon enough.
Julian spotted Yadriel and Maritza in their usual spot at the far corner of the quad, tucked away from the noise and chaos. Maritza’s pink-and-purple curls glinted in the sun, while Yadriel’s black hoodie made him look like a pocket of shadow.
“Hey, you two,” Julian said, flopping down beside them. “Miss me this morning?”
“Like a little brother I never wanted,” Maritza said wistfully.
Julian clutched his chest dramatically. “Wow. Wounded.”
“How are you holding up?” Yadriel asked, eyes scanning him with quiet concern.
Julian shook his head, knee bouncing with leftover adrenaline. “Rio’s driving me nuts. He’s pissed at me for sneaking out so now he’s got this hawk-eye thing going on. I swear, if I breathe wrong, he clocks it.”
“Tell me about it,” Yadriel muttered, nudging his stained Tupperware of tamal toward Julian in silent offering. “This is already hard without our families Bubble Wrapping us.”
“Hard how?” Julian asked.
“Spirits,” Yadriel said, voice low. “They’re … not showing up the way they should. Lita says a few haven’t answered when called. Offerings sit untouched. A couple of usuals went quiet.”
A quick, stupid flicker of panic licked up Julian’s spine. What if the regulars he joked with by the gates, the ones who always seemed curious about him, had gone quiet, too? He shoved the thought down for now.
Julian’s jaw tightened. “You think it’s connected? To me? To Luca?”
“Maybe,” Yadriel said. “But the elders are tight-lipped.”
“Feels personal,” Julian muttered, picking a thread on his sleeve. “Like whatever’s out there knows where to press.”
“Then we push back,” Yadriel said. “We’ll figure it out.”
“Sure, if Rio doesn’t ground me into the next century first,” Julian muttered. “He’s got me GPS-tracked.”
“Then don’t let him track you,” Maritza said, a little annoyed like this was obvious.
“Easy for you to say. You don’t have a big brother who can sniff out your lies like a bloodhound.”
“Jules, Jules, Jules,” she chided in a singsong voice, fishing out her phone from the pocket of her puffer jacket. With a few swipes, she held it up, showing him the screen. “Location services. Turn ’em off.”
Julian squinted at the little gray arrow on her phone. “Wait, you can just … do that?”
“How d’you think I’ve avoided getting grounded for eighty years with all the shit we get up to?
” She winked, the mischief in her eyes sparking a glimmer of hope in Julian’s chest. “Just go to where you say you’ll be so it clocks you at the location, then shut off the location services.
It won’t update your location until you turn it on again, so it’ll look like you’re still there. ”
“Wait, so, I just … snip the digital leash?” His mind raced, possibilities blooming like fireworks.
“Snip, snip,” Maritza confirmed, mimicking scissors with her fingers. “Gimme your phone,” she said, holding out her hand.
Maritza walked him through it like it was second nature. When she handed the phone back, Julian stared at it as if she’d just handed him the keys to a getaway car.
Julian laughed, actual relief bubbling up in his chest. “Damn. Why didn’t I think of that?”
“’Cause you’re not as smart as me,” Maritza said, flipping her hair with exaggerated flair.
Julian leaned back against the quad bench, the relief from Maritza’s quick tech fix starting to lift his spirits. He turned his phone over in his hand, inspecting it like it was suddenly a treasure chest full of possibilities.
“Okay. No more GPS babysitter,” he said, turning the screen off. “But I’m still basically on house arrest. One wrong move, and Rio’s shipping me off to boot camp.”
Yadriel shot him a dry look, mid-bite of his tamal. “You’re being dramatic.”
“I second that,” Maritza added. “There’s no way Rio could afford military school. More likely he ships you somewhere cheaper.”
Julian frowned. “Like what?”
Maritza’s grin widened. “Like one of those weird farming boot camps where they make you dig potatoes all day.”
Julian squinted at her. “That’s not a real thing,” he said flatly.
“Oh, it’s real,” she replied with an exaggerated nod. “One potato, two potatoes, three potatoes, jail—”
Yadriel rolled his eyes. “Please stop.”
“I’m just saying!” she teased, leaning into him with a wicked smile.
“Honestly,” Yadriel said, changing the subject, “all things considered? Rio’s being kind of chill.”
Julian sat up so fast he nearly toppled off the bench. “WHAT?!”
“Think about it,” Yadriel replied with a shrug, carefully peeling back the foil from the husk of his tamal. “If my dad ever caught me sneaking out at night? I’d be dead. Like, literally. Six feet under. He’d bury me in the cemetery himself.”
Maritza nodded in agreement. “Oh yeah, absolutely. If my mom caught me? Forget it. I’d never see the light of day again. She’d lock me in my room, and I’d have to learn Morse code with a flashlight out the window to communicate with people.”
“You guys are NOT making me feel better,” Julian muttered, slumping in his seat. “And I don’t need Rio getting any ideas about burying me alive or potato boot camp!”
Yadriel smothered a smile behind his hand. “Well, look, maybe I can help. I could come over after school today. We’ve been at my place a lot. If I start showing up at yours more, maybe he’ll chill.”
Julian’s eyes lit up. “That’s genius! Emotional camouflage! He won’t go full dad mode if you’re around—you’re like the ultimate good influence!”