Into the Beautiful North

Nayeli dances down the streets of Tres Camarones on her way to work at the Fallen Hand. She used to be a star soccer player and is still in shape, and even though she's been out of school for a year, she still wears her school uniform skirt so she can show off her legs. As she dances, she dreams of leaving town. Nayeli desperately wants to go anywhere that she's seen in the films that play at the local cinema. She sometimes dreams about going to the United States to find her father, but she doesn't like to think about him.

Nayeli is coming from Tía Irma's campaign headquarters. Irma is running for mayor, and if she wins, will be the first female mayor. She's highly qualified, as she was the Lady Bowling Champion and therefore has leadership experience, and she believes that she can bring Mexico back from "chaos and ruin." Nayeli's job is mostly to write campaign slogans in sidewalk chalk, and she earns twenty pesos per week doing that. This is why she has her second job at the Fallen Hand, as twenty pesos isn't enough to buy tortillas.

After Scarface and the state cop have been waiting for several hours for the surfers in the Fallen Hand, the cop decides it's time to eat. The owner, Tacho, brushes off the cop's insults and slurs—he's gay, and he's heard it all. Finally, Nayeli bursts through the door, flirting with Tacho on her way in, making the narcos wonder if maybe Tacho isn't gay. Tying on an apron, Nayeli approaches the table and takes the cop's order. As she turns away, the cop grabs her hand and tells her she's under arrest for stealing his heart. Laughing, he lets her go. Nayeli's face burns, and Tacho quietly calls the cop "ugly old man."

Still laughing, Scarface and the state cop holler for drinks. Nayeli delivers two beers as fast as she can so that she doesn't have to be near the men. Scarface pulls out his pistol, lays it on the table, and winks at Nayeli as he looks her over.

The narrator explains that nobody knows if Tres Camarones is in the state of Sinaloa or Nayarit, as it boasts no major highways, police stations, or tourist destinations that would make it important. It's about as remote as a person can get and doesn't even exist on a map. The American boys who are supposed to purchase Scarface's marijuana are on spring break from college in California, and they chose to surf and camp on the beaches of Tres Camarones. The locals didn't tell them that although the beaches are beautiful, they're extremely hazardous: there are alligators, Portuguese man-of-wars, and the sand drops off suddenly just past the water line, creating a dangerous trap for swimmers or surfers.

Tres Camarones is used to Americans, as missionaries from California visit often. However, several missions failed due to a lack of converts, and one Hindu missionary left with typhoid and dysentery. The Jehovah's Witnesses left when Irma started calling them "Los Testículos de Jeová" (Jehovah's testicles).

After Scarface finishes eating his tacos, he stands and shouts about the Americans. Tacho only shrugs when Scarface asks where the surfers are, but he agrees to pass on the message that the narcos will shoot the surfers next time they see them. As Scarface and the state cop walk to their car, Scarface notes that there are no cops and no men in this town. He smiles and says that he could do very well in a town like this. They don't pay for their lunch.