Yunior lives with his brother, Rafa, in the Dominican Republic. Yunior is 9 and Rafa is 12. Although they don’t get along when they’re in Santo Domingo, the boredom of the outskirts, which is where their mother sends them during the summer, always pulls them together. In the outskirts, there’s a boy named Ysrael whose face was eaten off by a pig as a baby. He wears a mask to hide his disfigurement from everyone else. Yunior and Rafa wonder what he looks like beneath it. In the outskirts, Rafa and Yunior con their way into a bus ride and play with the other children. One day, they speak with Ysrael, who turns out to be a very friendly boy. He says that he doesn’t take his mask off because his father told him not to, but that he will soon be operated on by some American physicians. As he’s walking away, Rafa smashes him with a bottle, which causes his mask to fall and reveals his face. Rafa and Yunior are both shocked at how horrible Ysrael’s face looks. At home, Yunior hopes that Ysrael will be okay. Rafa’s certain he’ll never get fixed.