Desert Blood: The Juárez Murders

To Ivon’s annoyance, William insists they park the truck in El Paso and walk across the bridge to Juárez in case the bridge is closed later for a World Cup Championship celebration. Ivon is furious because the colonia and fairgrounds are not within walking distance of the bridge. She also resents men telling her what to do.

They walk over the bridge, and Ivon notices the disrepair of Juárez Avenue. At the Kentucky Club where she sat with Ximena, she takes out the list of places Father Francis gave her. She and William continue to argue, and Ivon goes to the bathroom so she can call Raquel to ask for a ride. She comes across the graffiti she saw the other night, only this time, it says, “Poor Juarez, so far from the Truth, so close to Jesus” (186). Raquel tells her she will be there in 45 minutes. Ivon rejoins William, who asked the bartender about the clubs on Father Francis’s list.

Ivon realizes the bathroom graffiti was written in English; taking William’s pen, she goes back and writes, “Do you know the truth? Call me” (188), along with her cell number. Back at the bar, the bartender, Gregorio Vela, tries to convince them not to go to the clubs because they are dangerous. Ivon asks him to put up one of her flyers, and he tells her to go to the Red Canary, where his sister Berta used to work, if they have trouble. Ivon realizes she had seen him at the Red Canary before when she was visiting Magda. 

Outside the Kentucky Club, a drunk man makes lewd gestures and comments to Ivon, who swears at him. William blushes.

Raquel has no intention of picking up Ivon at the Kentucky Club because she is nursing a black eye Ivon gave her. She has called out of work two days in a row and is worried that if she stays home another day, her brother Gabriel will come over and see the bruise.

Raquel chastises herself for questioning why Ariel was wearing Irene’s blue suede shoes, which led to a confrontation between Ariel and Ivon and finally to Ivon’s punching Raquel as they sat in the truck. She admits to herself that she was trying to “lure Ivon back using the same infallible trick she had always used before,” which is to make her angry. Raquel has not been able to move on because “[n]obody touches her like Ivon. Not even Ximena,” who it turns out Raquel is dating (192). Raquel enjoys being slapped or squeezed during sex, which sometimes “led to ugliness” between her and Ivon, but ultimately it led to “tenderness and so much passion” (192). This time, though Ivon had kissed her and apologized profusely, there was no passion. Raquel thinks longingly of the feel of Ivon’s lips.

She does not want Ivon to see her black eye, and she knows that if her brother sees her face, he will “beat the truth out of her” (193). He will kill her if he finds out she is seeing a woman. He threatened to beat Ivon years before, so Raquel broke up with Ivon to keep her safe.

Raquel and Ximena have been dating for four months, ever since Raquel saw her at a restaurant. She appreciates that Ximena does not pressure her to come out and that is herself “just experimenting” (194). Raquel and Ximena usually meet Wednesday afternoons to have sex at Ximena’s grandmother’s house and go to lunch, but Ximena forgot to mention that Ivon was now staying at Grandma Maggie’s and sleeping in their bed. Raquel is devastated by her continued love for Ivon, feeling as if she can “barely breathe” (194).

Irene dreams of water when she sleeps, both the pool at school and the dirty river. She also dreams a train is bearing down on her.

She can hear Junior and a man with a Texan accent speaking. The Texan—J.W.—is angry that Junior brought Irene there, saying she was “my business” (196). Junior explains they had “an order for two americanas” (196). J.W. says that “nobody does American girls without my knowing about it,” adding that he has “busloads of wets,” or wetbacks, and that the American girl “was on reserve” (196).

Junior says his partner placed the order and that it was “for the Egyptian,” whom they have to “keep quiet” (196) until Junior’s partner gets him transferred to a prison outside of Juárez. He worries that if they do not “give him what he wants until he leaves,” he will talk to the press and their “little dot-com negocio” will “become public information” (196). The Egyptian has ordered two American girls as well as “the bitch at the morgue and her daughter” (196)—referring to Rubí Reyna.

J.W. does not care about the Egyptian and insults Junior for letting himself “get pushed around by some jailbird like that” (197). He threatens to shut Junior’s operation down. Junior argues it is his money; J.W. retorts that he “brings in the goods” (197). Junior complains that “[t]hose guys from El Paso you recommended are idiotas” (197) who hurt the merchandise—the women, who “look like shit when they arrive, all bruised up” (197). When J.W. reminds him the girls are “just gonna get melted down, anyway,” Junior retorts that their clients don’t want the girls to be bruised “before we even shoot the scene” (197). The two continue to argue and threaten each other.

They go upstairs to the room where Irene is hidden; J.W. does not know she is there. He says Bob Russell is there, “looking through our records to make sure we’ve got all the registered sex offenders in our database,” and reminds Junior to “honor the deal we made” (198). Before leaving, the Texan orders him to “make sure she’s fucking melted down when you’re through with her” (198) so there is no face or fingerprints. As they leave the room, Irene cries into the rag in her mouth.

As Ivon and William wait outside the Kentucky Club, a paper boy passes, calling for people to “[r]ead about the Egyptian’s privileges in the CeReSo,” his rehabilitation center (199). Among other privileges, Amen Hakim Hassan was able to call Rubí Reyna’s television show to defend himself.

Ivon realizes that Raquel is not coming, so she and William go into the Red Canary. There, Magda tells her that one of the Red Canary’s dancers, Julie, was approached by three men, one of whom had a video camera. Julie went off with them, and her body was found 10 days later. Ivon writes her cell number on the back of a flyer for Magda. When she asks Magda whether she knows what “Poor Juárez, so far from the Truth, so close to Jesus” means (203), Magda insists she does not know, but Ivon suspects she does.

Ivon and William look for the clubs on Father Francis’s list. Prostitutes, some as young as 10 years old, heckle them. In an alley, they see a graffitied red bus with the words “La Cruz Roja,” or the Red Cross, written on it. William thinks he sees someone moving inside.

Looking for Casa Colorada, Ivon and William walk the maze of streets in vain. Remembering Magda’s mention of the video camera, Ivon concludes that the girls must be taken for pornographic movies. They ask two transvestites where Casa Colorada is; they believe it is nicknamed Casa Roja—red, for its color—and say it has been condemned. Ivon shows them the flyer, and one recognizes the man in the cowboy hat in the photo’s background. Ivon feels like she has seen him before but cannot place where. The transvestite refuses to offer any more information. 

When they ask a parking attendant about Casa Roja, believing it to be the same place as Casa Colorada, he says they are not the same place and that Casa Colorada is a few blocks away. Inside, Ivon goes to the bathroom, where she finds two sentences of graffiti: “No cholas or maqui-locas here” and “The new governor sucks the Border Patrol’s cock” (211). She recalls the little boy selling “maqui-loca” Barbie dolls, and Ximena telling her “that was the vernacular way of referring to maquiladora workers who become Americanized and turn into whores” (211). Ivon wondered whether they actually became prostitutes or if that is “just how people perceive them because they have jobs outside the home” (211).

Ivon’s cell phone rings. A woman says, in Spanish, “It’s a factory close to Jesus” before the signal cuts off. When she leaves the bathroom, two policemen ask her and William if they are “looking for trouble” (211).

Ivon tells the officers, whom she believes are state police, that they are looking for her sister, but the officers insist they were seen selling drugs to transvestites. As they are arrested, Ivon tells William not to say anything, but William continues to protest that he is a Mormon and an American citizen and that what they are doing is illegal. The officers empty William’s wallet and remove them from the bar.

In the police car, William is angry with Ivon, saying he “can’t believe that this is happening” and that he’s “a family man” (214). An officer holds up a bag of marijuana and claims he found it in Irene’s backpack, which Ivon still had. When Ivon says he planted it there, the officer says they are going to the station. Ivon whispers to William that the officers are taking them out to the desert, terrifying him. She tells him she will do all the talking.

Ivon asks the officers where they are going. She repeats that they are looking for her sister and that they made a report at PREVIAS. The officers appear unnerved at her mention of the agency. She reminds them that they have been searching the Mariscal and that many people saw them and know who they are. She also says the detective helping them, Pete, knows they are there and will contact the FBI if they go missing. She takes her money clip out of her pocket and asks how much their fine is. When the officer says it is more than what they have, Ivon sees Rubí Reyna’s business card and suggests her “friend” Rubí can help make up the difference. 

The officers stop the car and force Ivon and William out. They give Ivon the backpack but keep her phone and her stapler, then drive off. Ivon and William can see the American Smelting and Refining Company (ASARCO) refinery on the other side of the border. They look around at the depressed town, which reminds William of “Kuwait after a bombing” (219). As they walk toward a “dilapidated little bar” (220), the red bus they saw in the alley almost hits them as it speeds past. William thinks he saw Irene in the van, and Ivon says he is hallucinating from sunstroke.