By the time the Sun rises over Pillotlan, many have already gotten up, and readied themselves for another day of labor. The tortilla shop where Barbara resides is no exception, the loud, industrial tortilla making machine churning loudly downstairs. Her attempts to get a few more minutes of sleep are thwarted as Eddie bangs on an iron pan like a drum with a wooden spoon.

“Wakey, wakey. Time for work.” He sings.

“Why are you doing this?” Groans Pepito, barely able to keep his eyes open.

“I don’t want to hear your whining. Get up and do your part.” Eddie throws Pepito an apron to put on. “Go help my mom, she’s downstairs.”

Pepito puts the apron on and drags his feet toward the stairs.

“You two can help with deliveries. There’s two dozen local shops that we distribute to, don’t worry about them paying you, I take care of that myself.” Eddie crosses his arms, waiting for Barbara and Ruth to get off their respective couches.

“I don’t know the city that well.” States Barbara.

“Well then, I wish you luck.” He throws two wicker baskets on the floor, similar to the barrels they used yesterday, the baskets can be worn as a backpacks.

Barbara and Ruth grab a basket and walk downstairs, they find Pepito and Herlinda busy making more mix to put into the machine, while Eddie and Alex weigh tortillas and wrap them up by the kilogram. Ruth’s basket is filled first, Eddie tells her the name of the twelve shops she has to go to, and how many kilograms of tortillas are to be left. Ruth is gone as soon as her basket is packed, meanwhile Eddie tries giving direction to where Barbara needs to go as he packs her basket as well.

With no idea of where she’s going she trudges towards the door, Alex stops her, handing her a torn piece of wrapping paper, on it, a hastily drawn map of the area, with the river as the main reference point.

“Good luck.” He says to her with a smile.

Barbara finds Alex’s map easy to read, taking her time to get a look of the city, the area Eddie’s tortilla shop is found is much nicer than the neighborhood where they were previously staying, with a wider variety of shops, and nicer looking homes. The police in the area seem to be more lax, having crossed paths with a few, she was pleasantly surprised to find that they did not recognize her or stop her for questioning.

Wanting to linger around to have a look at the different wares the shops display on their windows, she instead decides to make her way back to the tortilla shop. Upon arriving, her basket is filled again, tasked to deliver another round of tortillas to the same twelve shops she just visited.

"Again?" She complains.

"They probably already ran out of the first stock you left." Explains Eddie. "Ruth already went out on her second trip, I expect that type of haste from you too. Now, move it."

“People here sure do love tortillas.”

“Well, duh!” Says Pepito, biting down on a rolled up tortilla.

Challenging herself to use the makeshift map as sparingly as possible, Barbara makes the rounds again, confirming that most of the shops she restocked had run out of the first batch.

Relieved to have not crossed paths with the police, she makes her way back to the tortilla shop. Once there, she makes her way upstairs, dropping the wicker basket on the floor near the stairs. Her attention is drawn to the couch occupying the living room, she realizes it’s different to the one she slept on last night.

“We got you a new bed.” Proclaims Pepito, seated at the table, waiting for his plate to be served.

“Have a seat, dear.” Says Herlinda, occupied with the stove in front of her.

“We traded the old couch, and a silver necklace to get this new one.” Explains Alex, seated between Pepito and Eddie. “It extends into a bed.”

“Woah. It does?” Barbara takes a seat on the table, looking at the couch with perplexity.

Eddie reaches into his pants pocket, taking out a coin purse, he takes out a copper coin, handing it to Barbara.

“What’s this?” She asks.

“A small reward for your hard work today.” Replies Eddie.

“Really? You’re paying me?” Barbara looks at the coin in her hand with an even greater sense of perplexity.

“A small fee, you’ll get your full pay at the end of the week.” Says Eddie, nonchalantly.

Barbara jumps from her seat to wrap Eddie in a tight hug.

“Enough, already.” He complains, pushing her away.

“I’ve never had a job before.” She admits, taking her seat again.

“The way my son lounges around the house, you’d assume the same of him.” Says Herlinda, still focused on her task in front of her.

Eddie crosses his arms, mumbling a retort low enough for no one to hear.

“Pepito, how about we go to a carpenter shop and ask for a couple of practice swords?” Suggests Barbara.

Pepito’s eyes widen, his mouth hanging open, he nods. Behind him, Azucena’s door is cracked open. In front of him, his plate of mashed potatoes, beans, and rice is served.

“I won’t let you eat in there, all by yourself.” Says Herlinda.

“Come on, Azucena. Join us.” Says Pepito.

There’s a brief pause before Azucena fully opens the door, slowly walking towards the table, eyes set on the ground. She takes a seat next to Alex, in front of Barbara. Azucena brushes strands of hair off of her face with two delicate fingers. Barbara can’t help but smile at the little girl.

“Glad you could join us.” Says Alex.

Azucena blushes, too shy to say anything. Her plate is placed in front of her, she looks around, looking for something, Barbara notices a missing element as well.

“Where’s Ruth?” Asks Barbara.

“She said she’d be back later.” Replies Pepito, mouth full of food.

“Always the busy one. How about it, Azucena? I promised to teach you how to sword fight too.”

Azucena looks around the room, everyone’s attention focused on her, she simply nods, taking her first spoonful of food into her mouth.

“Fighting with swords is so barbaric. Nothing like the regal style of wrestling to truly test one’s might.” Eddie finishes with a flex of his biceps.

“Oh, get over yourself.” Says Herlinda, placing his plate in front of him.

With everyone served, Herlinda joins them at the table, with only a small portion of beans on her plate. Barbara is asked how her day went, she explains she didn’t have much trouble finding her way about town, praising the quality of the tortillas and their propensity to sell at a fast rate.

“Mama might be a grumpy old lady, but her tortillas are equal to none.” Says Eddie, to Herlinda’s lack of amusement.

After everyone is finished eating, Herlinda picks up all the plates.

“Want to come with us to the carpenter’s shop?” Barbara asks Azucena.

Azucena looks up at Alex, then back at Barbara, shaking her head.

“In that case, why don’t you help me wash the dishes.” Says Herlinda.

Without a complaint, Azucena rolls up the sleeves of her nightgown, drying the plates Herlinda passes to her with a cloth.

Barbara and Pepito exit the tortilla shop, with Pepito leading the way, they head to the nearest woodworker available. Their request is simple enough for the woman attending the shop to get them what they need in a matter of minutes. While they wait for her to finish, they take a stroll around the block. Barbara stops on her tracks, her eyes locked on a set of dresses, traditional make, with flowers embroidered along the edges.

“I didn’t take you for someone that liked to wear dresses.” Says Pepito.

“I’ve only ever owned one.” She admits. “I left it back home.”

Pepito waits for her to continue, only to be met with silence. After a few minutes of ogling at the finely clothed mannequins, they head back to the carpenter. Pepito takes the initiative to pay with his own copper coin.

“I don’t want you spending your money on things we could have easily stolen.” He says.

Barbara rolls her eyes with a smile, taking the bundle of practice swords in both her arms.

“How come so many?” Asks Pepito.

“We’re probably going to break a few during practice.” She admits.

With the sun hidden behind the mountains, painting the sky in pink and indigo, their trip back home is cut short. Amongst the crowd, in the distance, they spot Ruth walking towards the tortilla shop, an officer who seems to purposefully keep his distance, follows.

“Oh, no. They found us.” Says Pepito.

“We can’t let Ruth lead him back to the tortilla shop.”

“Way ahead of you.” Pepito runs into the nearest alleyway, jumping from wall to wall, he makes it to the rooftops.

Barbara, keeping her eyes on Ruth, expects Pepito to throw a rock or something at her to get her attention, instead, he loudly imitates what Barbara could only interpret as the cries of a dying byson. It seemed to have worked, because Ruth turns around, alarmed, looking around the crowd, she spots the officer tailing her, and quickly darts towards the alley nearest to her.

“Hey! Wait!” Yells the officer.