Shops and bars, thought Paula. That's all Juarez is.

She didn't like the border city. There was something about the looseness of both residents and visitors which threatened her. She couldn't put her finger on exactly what it was that made her uneasy, but it did affect her. She would be glad to leave in the morning and get back home to Tulsa.

"Senorita?"

"What?" Paula asked without looking down at the boy.

"You want souvenir of Juarez?"

"I already have a souvenir, thank you."

"Not this kind, senorita. Look… look what I got."

Reluctantly Paula glanced down. He was handsome, despite his smug grin. She allowed a half-smile to cross her delicate face, showing her white teeth as her unpainted lips parted and curled almost warmly.

"Peechers," the boy said, reaching into his shirt pocket and coming out with an envelope, opening it and extracting a small stack of photographs. "Really good peechers, senorita. You want see them?"

Having no idea what kind of pictures the boy was going to show her, Paula nodded naively and held out her hand. "What are they of, the bullfights?"

"Much hotter than bullfights, senorita," he laughed. "You look. I sell them to you cheap. Ten dollars."

Paula scowled as she took the small stack of photographs. She knew she wasn't going to buy them at that price, but she had to see what he thought was worth so much money. When she turned the pictures over and got a look at the first one, the smile instantly vanished from her lovely face. She gasped audibly, her hands beginning to tremble and her knees feeling weak.

"You like, senorita?"

"No. It's obscene," she whispered, tearing her gaze from the photo and glancing nervously around as she pushed them at him.

But he was ignoring her, looking down at her shoe as he worked at it with a worn brush.