The Amazing Mexican Secret - Jeff Brown [2]
“You know Carlos?!” said Stanley, surprised.
“He is my cousin,” the woman said, nodding.
“Then you must know Carmen del Junco, the famous bullfighter!”
The woman looked confused. Then she smiled for the first time. “I do,” she admitted.
“Julio!” she called suddenly to a man nearby. She said something in Spanish and then turned back to Stanley. “You are my guest here,” she said. “Julio will take care of you. I will join you after.”
“After what?” asked Stanley.
Without answering, the woman opened the huge door to the stadium and slipped inside.
The crowd’s roar got louder.
Julio led Stanley to another, smaller door and then through a maze of corridors. They came out among the seats of the crowded stadium. There must have been tens of thousands of people. Julio directed Stanley to a lone empty seat in the front row.
In the center of the ring was the woman who had opened Stanley’s envelope. She waved a red cape in the air as a bull ran into the ring.
Stanley slapped his head with a clap: She was the famous matador!
The bull charged. Stanley held his breath as Carmen del Junco, the great bullfighter, calmly stepped around it, swinging her cape before its eyes. Her long brown hair flowed through the air.
The bull came at her again and again. Stanley could see the side of the bull brushing against her as it sped past.
Carmen turned and gestured up to Stanley with a flourish. She was looking right at him!
Stanley jumped up and waved. Someone in the row behind him slapped him on the back enthusiastically.
That made Stanley lose his balance. He fell forward into the ring.
Carmen waved her cape at the bull, but suddenly it wasn’t looking at her.
It was looking at Stanley.
And Stanley was wearing all red!
The bull charged. It looked much bigger, faster, and madder than Arthur. Its hooves shook the ground. Its eyes blazed.
Suddenly, Stanley felt a hand on his shoulder. He looked up and saw Carmen. Effortlessly, she hoisted him overhead with one hand as the bull raced by.
Stanley’s heart was beating so hard, his whole body was rippling.
“Smile,” Carmen del Junco called up to him, as thousands of cameras flashed from the stands.
3
La Fiesta
As the sun set over Mexico City, Stanley stood in the courtyard of Carmen’s home, where her family had gathered to celebrate after the bullfight. Stanley had never known a person with so many brothers, sisters, cousins, uncles, aunts, in-laws, nieces, nephews, and godchildren.
An older woman with enormous eyeglasses rushed up and squealed at Stanley. She reached out to squeeze his cheeks, but pinched the sides of his head instead. He tried to smile.
“Bienvenidos,” the woman cried. “¡Bienvenidos!”
Stanley looked around for Carmen to translate.
“Bien means ‘well’,” a voice said. It was an older boy, the first signs of a mustache sprouting on his lip. “Venidos comes from the verb venir, ‘to come’. Bienvenidos means—”
“Well—come. Welcome!” Stanley said. “You speak English!”
“I am Eduardo,” the boy said, nodding. “We are excited to meet you.” He stepped aside to reveal a group of children.
“Está liso como un plato,” a little girl said, gasping, wide-eyed.
“She says you are flat as a pancake,” said Eduardo. He grabbed Stanley and led him through the crowd.
A moment later, Stanley and Eduardo stood in a corner of the courtyard, the other children arranged around them on the grass. Eduardo said they were eager to hear Stanley’s stories of adventure. Eduardo would translate.
The children ooohed as Stanley told them how he had used his body as a lever to rescue his friend Calamity Jane from a gold mine. They aaahed as he described how he had used his elbows as lethal weapons to defeat ruthless villains in Japan. They gasped when he told them he could fly like a jet plane using nothing but his muscled, aerodynamic body.
Stanley did not tell them that his brother, Arthur, had helped save Calamity Jane. He did not tell them that neither the villains