“He did what?!” Her eyes filled with fire.
Manolo pressed on, saying, “Yeah! With a two-headed snake!”
La Muerte’s eyes narrowed and her jaw tightened. The ground began to shake from her anger. Her power filled the room.
“You might want to cover your ears right now!” the Candle Maker warned the others as La Muerte shrieked:
“XIIIIII-BAALLL-BAAA!”
There was a massive flash of lightning, and Xibalba appeared, holding two glasses and a fancy bottle. He smiled at La Muerte, clearly unaware of what was about to happen.
“Yes, my”—he spotted Manolo—“dear. Ooooh.”
La Muerte was furious. “You misbegotten son of a leprous donkey! You cheated! Again!”
“I did no such thing!” Xibalba’s words weren’t convincing.
La Muerte reached into his beard and pulled out the two-headed snake.
“Oh, that. It has a mind of its own.” Xibalba quickly turned it into a cane. “Or two.” He laughed nervously.
“That is unforgiveable,” La Muerte said. Each word was like a threat.
Xibalba wasn’t backing down. “Oh, please! I never sent that snake to Maria, and I never gave the medal to Joaquin—” He froze, realizing he’d said too much.
“What medal?” La Muerte asked in pointed tones.
Xibalba tried to correct himself. “The one I never gave him! Ever. At all. Never. Who is this Joaquin?” He was making a bigger mess, and he knew it.
La Muerte grabbed the whiskers on his face and tugged hard. “You gave Joaquin the Medal of Everlasting Life?”
In a tiny voice he said, “Yes?”
“Medal of Everlasting Life?” Manolo repeated. He hadn’t heard of it.
“Whoever wears the medal cannot die or be injured,” La Muerte explained.
“Tee-hee,” Xibalba squealed.
La Muerte was ready to crush Xibalba into dust, when Carmen tugged on the base of La Muerte’s dress. She asked, “Please, can you help me up?”
La Muerte levitated Carmen up so that she was right in front of Xibalba’s face. With all the strength in her skeleton body, she smacked him three times.
She turned to La Muerte. “Thank you.”
“Can I get a slap too?” the Candle Maker asked with a small grin.
“My son did not deserve this,” Carmen said.
“Come on. I have to go back,” Manolo demanded of Xibalba.
“It’s only fair,” La Muerte agreed.
Xibalba crossed his arms stubbornly.
“Please, Balby,” La Muerte said, caressing her husband’s skeleton face.
The entire Sanchez family was surprised. “Balby?” they repeated together.
“No. Never.” Xibalba refused.
La Muerte’s temper flared. “You better do this,” she said through clenched teeth.
“No,” he said again.
“Hey, how about a wager?” Manolo was willing to do anything to see Maria again.
That got their attention. “A wager?” the two rulers said in unison.
“If I win, you give me my life back.”
Xibalba laughed at the suggestion. “You have nothing that I want,” he said.
“I’ll back Manolo,” La Muerte put in. “If you win, Xibalba, you can rule both lands.”
Manolo was determined. “You lay the terms. Any test you want, and I’ll beat you.” But Xibalba was still not convinced, so Manolo tried egging him on some more. “What?” he goaded. “Are you afraid you might lose?”
“What are you doing, kid?” the Candle Maker asked. He couldn’t believe what he was hearing!
Manolo ignored him. “Do we have a deal?” he asked Xibalba.
Xibalba smiled. “We have a deal. Now . . .” He moved inches from Manolo’s face. “Tell me, boy, what keeps you up at night? What eats at you from the inside? What, do tell, is your worst fear?”
Manolo’s eyes went wide as thunder crashed down from above. Xibalba’s face stretched into a wicked grin. “Got it.”
Xibalba snapped his fingers and Manolo immediately found himself in a massive bullring, dressed for a fight.
The Sanchez ancestors sat in the judge’s box. Across from them Xibalba, La Muerte, and the Candle Maker looked on expectantly.
Xibalba shouted the rules. “Manolo Sanchez. You will have to defeat every bull the Sanchez family ever finished in the ring.”
“That would be thousands!” Luis said with wide eyes.
“All at once!” Xibalba added, making it even harder. “If you complete the task, you will live again.” Then there was the final decree. “And if you fail, you’ll be forgotten. Forever.”
“This is impossible. It can’t be done.” The Candle Maker shivered.
The gates around the stadium began to open. The ground shook like an earthquake. In an instant, the ring was filled with bulls.
There was only one thing to do. He had no choice. “Vamos, toro! Venga!” Manolo started to fight.
“Olé! Olé!” the crowd cheered.
“You can do it,” Carmelo shouted.
Manolo managed to dodge the first few bulls, but they quickly began to overtake him as he was hit from all sides. It wasn’t a fair fight.
Manolo kept getting hit over and over, until he finally fell to the ground.
In San Angel, Ignacio and Luka came running out of the forest by the hill where Manolo had proposed. A bandit was chasing them.
Suddenly, Carlos stepped out from behind the tree and knocked the bandit out. “Are you two all right?” he asked the orphans.
“Chakal is coming! With a whole army behind him!” Ignacio announced, voice shaking.
“You boys warn the town.” Carlos looked into the distance. “I will buy you some time.”
A large group of bandidos, all holding torches, emerged from the darkness.
Carlos took out two swords and faced the men. “Who wants to go first?”
Chato let out a sinister laugh as the crowd of bandidos parted to reveal their leader, Chakal. Carlos sighed as he looked upon the bandit king.
Chakal was at least twice the size of any of his men. His bandits cowered in fear and reverence as he stepped forward and said, “I hate bullfighters.”
“Then come and get some,” Carlos roared. Then, raising his swords, he charged at Chakal.
In the Cave of Souls a candle flickered, then went out.
*****
Skeleton Carlos arrived at the bullfight just in time to see Manolo get thrashed by the bulls. La Muerte gasped as she watched her champion being defeated.
Carlos leaned over and asked her, “What is happening?”
Carmen knew that beloved voice. “Carlos?” She rushed forward to hug him.
“Carmen!”
The Candle Maker shouted from the judge’s box, “Manolo! Your father is here!”
Manolo managed to get to his feet. “Papa?”
With a heavy heart, Carlos shouted the terrible news to his son. “Chakal and his men are at the gates of San Angel!”
“You must hurry, my son!” Carmen said.
Stumbling forward, Manolo swung his cape, but now there weren’t thousands of massive skeleton bulls. They were quickly combining into one gigantic monster beast. The beast roared so loudly that it blew the sombreros off the heads of the people watching.
“Man, this is a whole lotta bull,” the Candle Maker remarked.
*****
Unaware that the town was about to be attacked, Maria and Joaquin were getting married.
A single tear rolled down Maria’s face as Father Domingo asked her, “Maria Posada, do you take Joaquin to be your husband?”
Maria said honestly, “Yes. For San Angel, I do.”
“And Joaquin, do you take Maria to be your wife?” Joaquin paused. He looked at Maria, but she wouldn’t meet his eye. General Posada sat in the pews, his foot tapping as he waited for Joaquin’s reply. Joaquin knew that Maria was only marrying him to protect the town. This wasn’t
how things were supposed to happen. Manolo was her true love, he thought sadly.
“I—” Joaquin was about to speak, when the stained-glass window at the back of the chapel exploded into a million tiny shards.
Ignacio and Luka ran into the church. They announced, “Chakal is here!”
Joaquin took one look at the uniform he’d chosen to wear to the wedding. There were a lot of ribbons and awards pinned onto the jacket, but not what he needed. “My medal. It’s on my other suit! I gotta go.” He raced out of the chapel without looking back.
General Posada turned to his daughter. “But Maria, Joaquin is the only one who can defeat Chakal!”
“We can fight them together, Papa,” Maria replied, tearing off her veil.
*****
“Toro! Toro, venga!” Manolo faced the enormous monster bull. “Venga, toro, venga!” he called.
The bull charged. Manolo was surprised by its speed and when the bull smacked him, he was smashed backward into the arena wall.
“Get up and fight like a Sanchez,” Luis shouted.
Beside them, Grandma Sanchez popped into the box, shook her head, and set down her knitting.
Luis turned around.
“Mama?! What are you doing here?” Luis asked.
“Meh.” She shrugged. “Cholesterol.”
*****
Chakal and his men crossed the bridge into San Angel. He casually strolled through the town. His men followed, laughing as they destroyed everything in their path.
Maria and General Posada tried to calm the townsfolk.
Having changed out of her wedding dress, Maria was ready for battle, now wearing her traditional folkloric skirt.
“Everyone! Calm down and listen up!” She spoke to the crowd.
Pancho played tense music. Pepe whacked him with his hat.
“I know you’re scared, but look around you. Do you know what I see?” Maria asked. The cowardly soldiers looked at each other nervously. “I see proud people ready to fight for their beloved town.”
The nuns all held each other’s hands while Father Domingo hid behind them.
Maria raised a sword in one hand and a pitchfork in the other. “And I see that inside each of you is a strength that cannot be measured.” She glanced at the Rodriguez brothers. “Yes, even in you, Pepe.” She stood up on her tiptoes and kissed Pepe on the cheek.
Pepe blushed.
Chakal and his men were getting closer to the church. Maria could hear them coming. She said, “This Day of the Dead will never be forgotten.”
Father Domingo took off his priest hat and put on a colorful lucha libre wrestling mask instead. He was ready to protect his town.
“We will teach Chakal that he is messing with the wrong town.” Maria raised her sword. Her hair and dress blew in the wind. She looked like a mighty warrior. “San Angel, I swear by those before us, we will not fall, not today.”
General Posada stood by her side. Chuy howled like a coyote.
The town was ready.
Chakal and the bandidos now stood at the edge of the cemetery. “Medal!” Chakal shouted.
Maria and the general faced them, raising their swords. “Not today!” Maria said again. The townspeople cheered.
The battle was about to begin when Joaquin appeared—tall and proud atop his white horse. His medals glinted in the sunlight.
“Joooaaaquin!” He shouted his own name as he jumped off his horse. After a quick pause to straighten his sombrero, Joaquin joined the others at the front line.
“Where have you been?” Maria asked.
Before Joaquin could answer, General Posada said, “Thank goodness you are here.”
Chakal’s patience had run out. “You give me that medal. Right now!”
“All this is about a stupid medal? Are you kidding me?” Maria grabbed Joaquin’s jacket and ripped it open, revealing the Medal of Everlasting Life.
Joaquin brushed her off, “Not now, Maria. It’s Joaquin time.”
With a giant leap forward, Joaquin rolled like a gymnast, getting close enough to Chakal to throw a heavy punch. But the bandit king took a swipe at Joaquin, knocking the medal to the other side of the cemetery.
The two stared at each other for a tense moment before Joaquin said, “Uh, hey, buddy, let’s talk about this—” Wham! Before Joaquin could finish, Chakal landed a knockout punch that sent Joaquin flying across the cemetery.
“Joaquin?!” General Posada called uncertainly.
The townspeople and bandits were all stunned at this change. The hero was down.
“Toro! Venga, toro!” With unwavering resolve, Manolo faced the monster bull.
The bull charged, swinging its huge head at Manolo.
Manolo pulled off an unbelievable move and dodged away. The weight of the bull propelled it forward—and into the wall with a crash.
The crowd went wild!
“The beast is out!” Luis had never been so happy.
“Time to finish this,” Carmelo said.
The whole arena cheered for Manolo as he hurried to get his weapons.
The swords lay next to his guitar. Manolo reached for them, but when he saw his reflection in the metal, he paused. With a quick glance up, he caught the eye of his mother in the stands. He nodded, then left the swords, grabbing his guitar instead.
The crowd gasped in horror.
“What is he doing?!” Luis was stunned.
Carmelo groaned.
But Jorge and Carmen saw something the others missed. They smiled as Manolo approached the fallen bull.
The bull was rising, snorting and angry, shaking off the dust from the arena wall. Fire came from his mouth and nostrils, like a dragon.
Manolo didn’t waver. He took a deep breath and began to play. He made up the words to the song as he went along. Each word was an apology for the many years his family had wronged bulls in the ring.
Xibalba thought victory was his. The bull would never let the singer live like this. It was ridiculous.
The bull roared as he came close to Manolo. He raised his foot and snorted. But instead of stomping on Manolo, he slammed his hoof down on the ground nearby. When the dust settled, Manolo dropped to his knees in front of the bull.
The bull bowed in return.
Xibalba’s skeletal jaw fell off from the shock.
La Muerte smiled as the crowd’s cheers rose louder than ever before.
Very gently, Manolo set his hand against the creature’s nose. The bull softly began to break up, crumble into dust, and float away like flower petals in the wind.
“He did it!” The Candle Maker jumped up with joy.
“Yes, he did,” La Muerte agreed, grinning.
Xibalba grunted. “Yeah. I’ll give him that.”
Tears ran down Carlos’s face as Carmen hugged him.
“But how did Manolo do this?” Carlos wondered.
“He’s a Sanchez,” his wife replied.
All of the Sanchez family rushed into the ring: Carmen and Carlos, Jorge and Carmelo, Grandma and Luis. It was a grand celebration.
*****
Mary Beth told the children at the museum, “Xibalba had been wrong. Manolo’s fear was never bullfighting.”
*****
Carlos told his son, “I told you a Sanchez man never apologizes.”
“Papa, I—” Manolo began.
But his father cut in, saying, “But you just changed that. I should have been a better father. I am very sorry.”
“No. You only wanted what was best for me,” Manolo said.
“I am so proud of you, son,” Carlos said, sweeping Manolo into a grand hug.
“I love you, Papa,” Manolo told his father.
All the Sanchez ancestors hugged in one big family group.
*****
Mary Beth said, “At that moment, Manolo conquered his greatest fear: being himself.”
*****
The crowd was screaming with excitement and calling Manolo’s name. Their shouts and laughter would
have gone on forever if Manolo wasn’t in such a hurry to get back to San Angel. The ancient gods interrupted the applause.
“In accordance with the ancient rules,” the Candle Maker began.
Xibalba and La Muerte continued together, “We give you life.”
A bright light extended from their clasped hands.
Manolo shielded himself. Then suddenly, he began to rise. In a dazzling flash of light, he was transformed into a living man.
*****
Back in the Land of the Living the people of San Angel fought valiantly, but by sunset they had lost the battle.
Joaquin was lying beaten on the ground, pinned by several bandits. “Just spare them,” Joaquin begged.
The Medal of Everlasting Life was lying at Chakal’s feet. He picked it up and roared victoriously. “Yes! The medal is mine!”
CRACK!
The cemetery ground split wide open and smoke billowed out. Everyone was blown back by the force. The explosion sent the medal flying out of Chakal’s outstretched hand.
Manolo appeared in the cemetery, landing in perfect form.
“What?” Chakal blinked at the figure standing before him.
“Manolo?” Maria didn’t understand how he could be there.
He quickly walked to her and helped her up, then grabbed her by the waist and swept her into his arms. Manolo kissed Maria with all the love he had in his heart.
“But—” Chakal started.
Manolo put his hand up, shushing Chakal without even looking. Chakal was so caught off guard, he actually stopped talking.
Manolo took his time finishing his passionate kiss, then he let Maria go. Turning to Joaquin, he said, “Hold this for me, amigo.” He tossed his guitar to his friend.
Raising two heavy swords, Manolo faced Chakal. “So, my father tells me you hate bullfighters.”
Chakal had two swords as well. He raised them to match Manolo and spit on the ground. “I hate everyone,” he snarled.
“Okay, let’s do this.” Manolo swiped a sword through the air.
“You and what army?” Chakal laughed.
“Yeah, man!” Chato started chuckling. The bandits laughed too.
That was when the army arrived: Skeletons Carlos, Jorge, Carmelo, Luis, Carmen, the Adelita twins, Uncle Chucho, and Grandma magically appeared.
The bandits didn’t know what to do as the skeleton army formed a protective wall around the town.
The Book of Life Movie Novelization Page 7
