Into the Beautiful North

Nine hours later, another bus pulls up and offers to take passengers to Tijuana if they are willing to stand the rest of the way. Nayeli, Tacho, Yolo, and Vampi board the new bus, and Nayeli is nauseated by the smell of her own and others' body odor. Tacho's eyes are swollen from crying, and Yolo's eyes are dark with disbelief. Vampi manages to swoon into an old cowboy's lap. Finally, the driver points out the American border. Tacho notes that the other side looks just like Mexico, and Nayeli tries to meditate.

Nayeli watches the landscape as the bus drives down into Tijuana. Shacks give way to small houses, and the bus enters the center of the city. Tacho points at the tall fence with white trucks on the other side. Nayeli thinks that the US doesn't look as nice as it does in movies. The bus stops at the far side of the city and lets them off, and Nayeli decides to call Chava so they can take showers at his house. They discover that their bags were never transferred from the last bus, and Yolo begins to cry.

When Nayeli asks a man where she can find a phone booth, he briskly tells her to use her cell phone and rushes away. Tacho suggests they go downtown to find food, and Vampi whispers to Nayeli that she started her period, and her supplies are in her missing bag. Nayeli finds a tampon in her purse, and Vampi's eyes widen: her grandmother doesn't let her use tampons, so Vampi doesn't know how to use one. Nayeli and Yolo accompany Vampi to the restroom to help her, and Tacho wonders if he's the only one aware that they're in trouble.

Tacho, Nayeli, Yolo, and Vampi pile into a taxi with two other people to go downtown. Loud music pulses out of bars and shops, and Tacho begins to think he might like Tijuana. A man in blue eye shadow calls Tacho handsome, and Vampi comments on the eye shadow. Tacho notices the soldiers with machine guns but says nothing, and finally, the group is swept into the upstairs of a restaurant. They all order beer and watch the tourists.

Tacho orders carne asada and scoffs at the idea of flour tortillas when the server asks if he wants corn or flour. The server says that he can tell Tacho is from the south and tells him to be careful. He directs Nayeli to a payphone but tells her not to call her "coyotes" from the restaurant. Tacho asks how the server knows they want to cross the border, and the server insists he's seen it a million times. When Tacho asks for advice, the server says to get a passport.

Nayeli gets coins for the payphone and admires the American women in the hallway by the phone and the bathrooms. She drops in coins and tries to dial the number Tía Irma gave her. The phone spits the coins back out, and Nayeli dials the operator. The operator insists that phone numbers haven't begun with LIB since 1964, and there are no listings for a Chavarín in Tijuana or any nearby cities. Nayeli nervously returns to the table, where Yolo and Vampi are drunk on two beers each and laughing. She shakes her head at Tacho, and Tacho turns away.