16. El Juan Pablo

Although the full extension of the boulevard connecting the city to the airport is officially named Vial Juan Pablo II, in honor of the Polish Pope who visited Chihuahua in 1990, the last several kilometers ending at the airport are known informally as Boulevard Aeropuerto. Two of the four main roads linking Chihuahua to the outside converge in this area; namely, Highway 45 to Mexico City and Highway 16 to the border crossing at Ojinaga. The land surrounding the boulevard is very green because much of it lies over a wetland. Where its wide shoulders and median are not overgrown with tall native Sacatón grass, they are shaded by Huisache and Eucalyptus trees. Traffic is fast even at peak business hours because of the rural character of the neighborhood. The only significant destination there after the terminal closes is a small military barrack next to the airport. The traffic is even faster on the weekends when the races start after the night clubs close.

"Wow, it got crowded right away," Chonito told a group of young men gathered around a truck with oversized wheels, "I came by here just an hour ago and there were only a few güeyes here."


"Look who's here. Chonito, you're still alive," said a stout, squat, shirtless man in a wide straw hat, "you haven't shown yourself in weeks."

"Juan Pablo, of course it's me," said Chonito, "I've been working, güey, like you should be doing."

"I work, too, güey," the man responded, "I just don't have to get out of circulation to do it."

"Sí, your work requires that you be in constant circulation. No?" said Chonito.

"It's not true what they say," said Juan Pablo, "people are just jealous that all the women want to be around me." He reached into a metal tub in the back of the pickup and pulled out a twist-off Carta Blanca and pitched it to Chonito."

"Well, I don't care too much what the people say, but I also don't see any women here with you," said Chonito, "only güeyes who have you here in the dark."

"Of course, any woman coming out here will kept be busy rustling the bushes," Juan Pablo explained, "am I right, güeyes?"

Nobody spoke up.

"That's fine," said Chonito, "as long as you're not here with any of those güeyes who'd call you El Juan Pablo."

There was a long silence.

"What?" a deep voice in the crowd said.