Summary

As Javier prepares for a second attempt at crossing the border, he grows more anxious as they wait for the rest of the people in their group. They follow the same process, walking through the dry grasses of the desert and evading the patrol helicopters that circle overhead. Some of them run into cacti and the pain is nearly unbearable. Javier feels “like there’s an earthquake inside it. I can’t stop shaking. My legs like I’m still running. Where the bigger needles dug into me, it feels like I have ice cubes there” (635).

As the sun begins to rise, they make it closer and they are found by a Mexican agent. He tells them it is their lucky day and Chino believes that he will let them go. They stay in another unfamiliar house and they do not go outside...