Chapter 16 Summary

The boys take turns driving and sleeping all day, until they reach the Valley. They see the Rio Grande for the first time, and immediately after crossing the bridge to Matamoros, a boy jumps on their running board and offers them girls and dirty movies. They agree and follow his contorted directions, amazed at how different Mexico is from Thalia. Matamoros's streets are teeming with people. They pull up in front of a house, and their guide leads them inside past an old woman stirring something in a pot and an old man playing dominos at a table. They enter a bedroom where three little Mexican boys are fast asleep, and they make Sonny feel uncomfortable. They pay fifteen dollars to watch a dirty movie, but Sonny insists that they be away from the sleeping boys. They are taken outside and shown the...