Esperanza needs to find a job, since the Catholic high school is expensive. Aunt Lala finds work for her at the Peter Pan Photo Finishers on North Broadway, and Esperanza starts the next day, matching negatives with prints. At lunchtime, she does not want to eat alone in the lunchroom, so she eats her lunch in a bathroom stall. When the late-shift workers arrive, an older man talks to her and says that he will be her friend. He tells her that it is his birthday and asks for a birthday kiss, but when she puts her lips on his cheek, he grabs her face and kisses her hard on the mouth.