"Yeah, sure," said Carmencita.

"It's true, Lupe hung out at the dance school," said María.

"So how did she end up here?" asked a girl who hadn't spoken before, the shortest one of all, almost a dwarf.

María looked at her and shrugged.

"Will you come have coffee with us?" she said.

Lupe checked the watch on her right wrist and then looked at her friends.

"The thing is, I'm working."

"Just for a little while, you'll be back soon," said María.

"All right, then. Work can wait," said Lupe. "I'll see you girls later." She started to walk with María. I walked behind them.

We turned left on Magnolia, onto Avenida Jesús García. Then we walked south again, to Héroes Revolucionarios Ferrocarrileros, where we went into a coffee shop.

"Is this the kid you've been fooling around with?" I heard Lupe say to María.

María laughed again.

"He's just a friend," she said, and to me: "If Lupe's pimp shows up here, you'll have to defend us both, García Madero."

I thought she was kidding. Then it occurred to me she might be serious and, frankly, the situation started to seem appealing. Just then I couldn't imagine a better way to look good in front of María. I felt happy. We had the whole night ahead of us.

"My man is heavy," said Lupe. "He doesn't like me to be running around with strangers." It was the first time she had looked directly at me when she spoke.

"But I'm not a stranger," said María.

"No, mana. Not you."

"Do you know how I met Lupe?" said María.

"I have no idea," I said.

"At the dance school. Lupe was Paco Duarte's girlfriend. Paco is the Spanish dancer who's the head of the school."

"I went to see him once a week," said Lupe.

"I didn't know you took dance lessons," I said.

"I don't. I just went there to fuck," said Lupe.