Summer of the Mariposas

Odilia and her sisters gear up to cross the border. Odilia realizes that she is not wearing one ear pendant but two. Her sister Delia compliments Odilia, saying, “You look like a gypsy, a rebel with an eye for fashion” (64). The sisters dress the dead man to make it seem like he is sleeping. Odilia uses one of her amulet wishes to ensure she and her sisters pass the customs officer on the US side. The official who stops them on the Mexico side is “older than the moon” and stares at the teen girls in a sexually predatory way. The girls make themselves personable and playfully invite him to the twins’ pretend birthday party. After the girls cross the border, Odilia’s sisters celebrate. However, Odilia warns them not to celebrate too soon, since they have a long road ahead of them.

The sisters pass through small Mexican towns and try to be as inconspicuous as possible. They bribe a Mexican official with $20 to get past a border checkpoint. Baby sister Pita and the twins begin to fight when Pita cries that she wants to go home. Odilia comes back from a food run to find Pita tied up to a tree like an animal.