Prayers for the Stolen

Ladydi arrives at the Santa Marta prison in Mexico City, which she describes as “the biggest beauty parlor in the world” (157). This is due to the smell of hair dyes, sprays, and nail polish permeating the building. Ladydi has to share a cell with a short, one-armed woman from Guatemala named Luna who is in prison for multiple murders. She is placed with a non-Mexican woman to lessen the chances of her being attacked by someone associated with the trafficker she is accused of killing. She also meets an aggressive woman named Violeta who has killed at least four men.

The next day, Luna tells Ladydi her story. She explains that she rode a migrant train that travels from the South of Mexico to the US border. She tied herself to the handrail to avoid falling off when she fell asleep. However, while she was asleep, she slipped, and the train tore off her arm, almost killing her. They meet Aurora, a sick woman whose job is to fumigate the beds to kills insects. Luna puts Ladydi in contact with a British prisoner named Georgia who can lend her a cell phone. Ladydi then manages to speak with her mother, who says she will come and visit in two days and bring Ladydi’s birth certificate so that she can prove her age and get her transferred to a juvenile prison.