Free Jack In The Green by Charles De Lint

waits to see if he has anything to add. Finally she turns around and starts for the door again. She expects a bullet in the back at any moment.
    "And, chica ," Pena calls after her.
    She stops, but doesn't turn her head in his direction.
    "I'll shit wherever I want—¿ tú entiendes ?"
    Maria leaves without acknowledging him.
    She welcomes the sun on her face when she steps outside. A shiver starts up in the pit of her stomach and goes through her entire body.
    Up close to La Mano Grande as she'd been, she'd seen the edge of crazy in his eyes. But was she any less loco than Pena, she wonders to herself.
    What had she hoped to accomplish in there, anyway?
    She realizes she has no idea, and continues down Calle Adelanto to Mission Street.
    Maybe she just wanted to look into the face of the enemy before she helped bring him down.

    Maria is filled with anxiety when the bus stops at San Miguel Cemetery. She thinks she'd rather be walking back into Luna Diablo than face what is to come. She feels so guilty for what she put her family and friends through. Mamá and Papá will be devastated. Pablo will be so angry. Connie and Veronica…
    Who else will be there?
    How can she even begin to explain being back?
    But when she walks through the gates she sees only Luz, Jack and the boys standing around a mound of fresh earth, heads bowed. Will is the first to notice her. He gives a shout and then they're all running towards her, grinning. As Jack's gaze meets hers her panic ebbs, replaced by a sudden shyness. But he gives her no chance to be reticent. He catches her up in his arms and lifts her, turning in a circle, holding her close.
    Maria responds gladly. The shyness goes the way of the panic and she's glad to be back with them all again. Their voices are a babble of happy sounds all around her, everybody taking their turn to give her a hug.
    For the first time since she came back she feels real. She looks at Luz, who is grinning from ear to ear.
    It takes awhile for everything to calm down. Then Maria asks the question that has been lying under her happiness to trouble her:
    "Where is everyone else? Did only you come?"
    Will smiles. "Oh, girl. You should have seen it. The church was packed from front to back, and half the barrio came to the cemetery for the service here. Who knows how many people will show up at the community center for the potluck?"
    "Your funeral was awesome," one of the Glimmer Twins agrees.
    "And my parents…my family…"
    "They were all here," Luz says. "They're really broken up."
    Maria nods. "I have to go see them—to let them know I'm…you know…"
    "Not dead," Ti Jean says.
    Maria nods again.
    "It's weird that you didn't come back when I did," Luz says.
    "Maybe I did," Maria says. "When you took my hand everything spun away and I found myself back where I died."
    Jack gives her shoulders a sympathetic squeeze.
    "That must have been hard," he says.
    "No, it was okay," she says. "But then I did something stupid."
    She tells them about the old woman seeing her appear where she'd died, and how she went into Luna Diablo to confront La Mano Grande. They're all quiet when she's done. She's grateful that no one points out how crazy she was to go there.
    "Twenty-four hours," Will finally says. "That's not a lot of time."
    Jack nods. "But doable. And now we know whose money it was." He smiles at Maria. "You go to the community center. See your family. We'll deal with this."
    "Deal with it?" she says. "This isn't just robbing some house. This is the cartels. You're just five guys."
    "Yeah," Ti Jean says with a wink, "but we're mythic, so we'll be okay."
    "It's not a joke," Maria starts, but Luz lays a hand on her arm.
    "I'll go with you to see your family," she says.
    "But…"
    "Let the boys handle it."

    "Twenty-four hours," Ti Jean says as they watch the girls leave the cemetery. "The bandas aren't going to wait any twenty-four hours."
    Jack nods. "I know. They're giving her just long enough to go to her family.