Chapter 41: Gabe — Summary and Analysis

⚠️ Spoiler Warning: This guide contains detailed spoilers for the entire novel. Proceed only if you've finished reading or are comfortable knowing the plot.

Summary

The chapter opens in the immediate aftermath of El Brujo's death. Gabe runs to Tavo while Paul checks on Bimbo. Tavo is breathing heavily, his face carrying a thousand questions that are washed out by relief when he looks at El Brujo's body. Gabe cuts off any discussion, warning that the woman has fled and that others will arrive soon—they need to get out immediately.

Bimbo, however, is not ready to leave. He stumbles over to El Brujo's corpse, places his hand on the wall, screams, and begins kicking the dead man in the head. Each kick makes the head bounce, and Bimbo is stepping in the spreading black mess beneath the body. Gabe worries about what this might do to him, reflecting that things we think are dead can still hurt us. He thinks about the guy in the parking lot, Kimbo, Raúl, and now El Brujo—all ghosts haunting them. He wishes for protection prayers, for Altagracia, for gods and miracles.

Bimbo's grunting intensifies into a growl of pain, grief, hatred, and something else he can no longer control. He keeps kicking El Brujo's head, as if trying to dislodge something from his own soul. After several more kicks, he bends over and cries. When he stands, he declares that El Brujo was supposed to suffer—that this death was too merciful.

Bimbo turns the body onto its back, spots the knife on the floor, and picks it up. Meanwhile, Gabe finds his own gun on the floor. Paul lifts Raúl's gun—the same one he had pointed at Gabe's head earlier—to show he is ready. In that moment, every ounce of anger Gabe felt toward Paul snaps and vanishes. Paul had saved their asses, and the earlier bullshit no longer matters.

Bimbo kneels beside El Brujo and points at the walls with the knife, noting the markings are like the ones on Gabe's door and on the wall they saw when leaving Gabe's place. He declares that El Brujo killed Xavier and put that thing on the door, and that he killed Bimbo's mother. He deserved worse.

Bimbo cries again, then opens El Brujo's mouth with his fingers. The giant teeth are gone. He puts his fingers in the dead man's mouth. Gabe flashes to Kimbo and knows what is coming. When Paul asks what Bimbo is doing, Gabe explains he is cutting off the tongue so the ghost won't haunt them. Paul protests, but Gabe raises his hand and tells him to let Bimbo do this.

Bimbo pulls out El Brujo's tongue—resembling a fat brown snake more than a tongue—and cuts it off while sobbing. He stands, places the tongue on the floor, steps on it, and prays, though Gabe cannot make out the words.

Bimbo kneels again, places his left hand on El Brujo's forehead, pulls the right eye open, and plunges the knife into it. There is a pop. He moves the knife to the side and yanks it back, the eyeball dangling at the end of the blade. Gabe's stomach does a somersault. Bimbo opens the dead man's mouth, places the eyeball inside, closes the mouth, and pulls the knife back out. The sound of metal scraping against teeth is louder than their collective breaths.

Paul turns to the side and vomits. Gabe is grateful he cannot smell it over the stench of decay. Tavo is looking around, searching the walls for explanation. Bimbo's eyes meet Gabe's, begging for something—he wants to know he is not alone. Gabe nods, and Bimbo repeats the procedure with the left eye.

With both eyeballs stuffed into El Brujo's mouth, Gabe declares it is done and they need to leave. More violence would accomplish nothing. But instead of replying, Bimbo starts stabbing El Brujo in the face, the knife going up and down again and again, black blood catching the candlelight. He whispers