Summary

In Chapter 1, 15-year-old Talia hatched a plan to escape from the parochial girls' reformatory in Santander, a northern department of Colombia, where she had been remanded. She needed to get back to her father, Mauro, who was going to help her get to the United States. Talia and the other girls tied up the nun in charge that night, Sister Susana, and made their getaway, sneaking past the guards outside, climbing a fence, and disappearing into the woods. Talia eventually emerged into civilization and found a gas station, where she approached an older trucker. She told the man she needed a ride south and he agreed to take her in the morning. They both slept in the truck.

Talia was in the reformatory because she assaulted a man. She had been waiting for a friend outside of a restaurant when she saw one...