A brief italicized prologue begins the story. An anonymous first-person narrator comments on the beauty of their hometown and the memories collected while growing up, like climbing a palm tree to get a sweet coconut for their mother. These positive details are juxtaposed with images of death and violence; the narrator also describes dried blood on concrete and corpses in the street. The unnamed narrator introduces what will be the central internal conflict of the main characters: “You plan your escape. But you’re never really ready to go” (1).

The first chapter switches to the viewpoint of a 15-year-old boy, Pulga. (Each subsequent chapter is labeled with the name of the viewpoint character.) Pulga’s mother, Consuelo, says that he has the heart of an artist, but Pulga knows that “An artist’s heart doesn’t help you survive” (6) in his town of Puerto Barrios, Guatemala. Pulga lives with his mother and a good friend, 13-year-old Chico, who lost his own mother in a violent shooting. As the action commences, Pulga tries to coach Chico to curse more effectively, as Chico is rather soft-spoken. Consuelo gets a phone call and learns that her best friend Lucia’s daughter,