of questions about her life. She'll ask if she found her magic. Luz will have to spin some story, but it won't do much good. Maria knows her too well. She'll see straight through any lie.
"It will be easier for both of you if you don't see her at all," Will says.
Ti Jean nods. "She doesn't sound like us. If she gets involved, she'll get hurt."
"If you love her," Jack says, "you'll let her go her own way."
The Glimmer Twins nod in agreement.
Though it upsets her, she knows they're right. She'll do what they say because the last thing she wants is for Maria to be hurt in any way.
"I really miss her. We were always best friends," she says.
"Then you have to decide," Jack says, "which is more important? The work, or her?"
She knows the answer to that, though she's not sure it's the right one because the decision is made by her head, not her heart.
But fate brings them together again anyway.
Maria is laid to rest in San Miguel Cemetery. Half the barrio comes out to the graveyard, but Lucia is no more aware of the crowd here than she was back in Santa Margarita Maria. She watches as the coffin is lowered into the ground. It feels like a piece of her is being buried with Maria in that grave.
She stays long after the crowd is gone and the grave has been filled in. She knows Jack and the boys are close by, but they give her some distance.
Finally she hears a soft step in the dirt. Jack sits on his haunches beside her.
"We were supposed to be together," Jack says. His tears make tiny dark circles in the dirt at his feet.
"I didn't know until I saw her," he continues. "But as soon I did, I knew. She's my other half. We've only barely met. How can it be that she's gone?"
Luz is wondering how any of this can be real. These boys are spirits. Archetypes. They aren't real.
But Maria was. And Jack's sorrow is.
"I'm sorry," Luz says.
"That's not enough," Jack tells her.
He hands her the cigarette tin that Luz and Maria magicked all those years ago.
"Bring her back," he says, his red-rimmed eyes pleading.
Luz accepts the tin, but all she can do is stare at it in her hands, feeling helpless.
"I…I can't do that," she says. "I want to, but I wouldn't even know how to begin."
"Look," Jack says. "I know who I am now. I'm the Jack in the Green—the Robin in the green hood. My companions and I have lived a hundred lifetimes in the green wood. In many ways we are the green wood. Yet your magics were still strong enough to bring us here, weren't they?"
She nods slowly. "But I didn't know what I was doing. I wasn't trying to bring you, specifically."
"The only reason you could bring us to you was because of her ," Jack says. "Because she and I were destined to meet.
"I know how this charm works," Jack continues. "You think of Maria and you open the tin."
"And if nothing happens?"
"Something will happen," he assures her. "Every little thing we do makes something happen somewhere."
Luz looks at the tin. She remembers that night, rapping on Maria's window. She remembers the promise it held. She remembers how they took the tin to the bottle tree man's yard and buried it under the glass pebbles.
"Was it her magic or mine?" she asks, her voice soft.
"Does it matter? Open the tin."
She does and the world goes away.
Jack is ready this time. He catches Luz before she can fall over. He sits cross-legged and rests her head on his lap.
And like he did with Maria, he waits.
The green shocks Luz.
Jack and the boys are always talking about this ancient green wood of theirs, but she never thought it would be so verdant and lush.
She's used to cities like L.A., or the desert. Brown places with a horizon that lies in the far distance and a sky that stretches forever. Here, she can barely see the sky for the overhanging boughs of giant, mossy trees. The foliage has the wavy edges of oak leaves, but these are far bigger than any oak trees she's ever seen. The grass is thick underfoot. She would wonder about that—how it can grow
"It will be easier for both of you if you don't see her at all," Will says.
Ti Jean nods. "She doesn't sound like us. If she gets involved, she'll get hurt."
"If you love her," Jack says, "you'll let her go her own way."
The Glimmer Twins nod in agreement.
Though it upsets her, she knows they're right. She'll do what they say because the last thing she wants is for Maria to be hurt in any way.
"I really miss her. We were always best friends," she says.
"Then you have to decide," Jack says, "which is more important? The work, or her?"
She knows the answer to that, though she's not sure it's the right one because the decision is made by her head, not her heart.
But fate brings them together again anyway.
Maria is laid to rest in San Miguel Cemetery. Half the barrio comes out to the graveyard, but Lucia is no more aware of the crowd here than she was back in Santa Margarita Maria. She watches as the coffin is lowered into the ground. It feels like a piece of her is being buried with Maria in that grave.
She stays long after the crowd is gone and the grave has been filled in. She knows Jack and the boys are close by, but they give her some distance.
Finally she hears a soft step in the dirt. Jack sits on his haunches beside her.
"We were supposed to be together," Jack says. His tears make tiny dark circles in the dirt at his feet.
"I didn't know until I saw her," he continues. "But as soon I did, I knew. She's my other half. We've only barely met. How can it be that she's gone?"
Luz is wondering how any of this can be real. These boys are spirits. Archetypes. They aren't real.
But Maria was. And Jack's sorrow is.
"I'm sorry," Luz says.
"That's not enough," Jack tells her.
He hands her the cigarette tin that Luz and Maria magicked all those years ago.
"Bring her back," he says, his red-rimmed eyes pleading.
Luz accepts the tin, but all she can do is stare at it in her hands, feeling helpless.
"I…I can't do that," she says. "I want to, but I wouldn't even know how to begin."
"Look," Jack says. "I know who I am now. I'm the Jack in the Green—the Robin in the green hood. My companions and I have lived a hundred lifetimes in the green wood. In many ways we are the green wood. Yet your magics were still strong enough to bring us here, weren't they?"
She nods slowly. "But I didn't know what I was doing. I wasn't trying to bring you, specifically."
"The only reason you could bring us to you was because of her ," Jack says. "Because she and I were destined to meet.
"I know how this charm works," Jack continues. "You think of Maria and you open the tin."
"And if nothing happens?"
"Something will happen," he assures her. "Every little thing we do makes something happen somewhere."
Luz looks at the tin. She remembers that night, rapping on Maria's window. She remembers the promise it held. She remembers how they took the tin to the bottle tree man's yard and buried it under the glass pebbles.
"Was it her magic or mine?" she asks, her voice soft.
"Does it matter? Open the tin."
She does and the world goes away.
Jack is ready this time. He catches Luz before she can fall over. He sits cross-legged and rests her head on his lap.
And like he did with Maria, he waits.
The green shocks Luz.
Jack and the boys are always talking about this ancient green wood of theirs, but she never thought it would be so verdant and lush.
She's used to cities like L.A., or the desert. Brown places with a horizon that lies in the far distance and a sky that stretches forever. Here, she can barely see the sky for the overhanging boughs of giant, mossy trees. The foliage has the wavy edges of oak leaves, but these are far bigger than any oak trees she's ever seen. The grass is thick underfoot. She would wonder about that—how it can grow
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