The body of a Witch is discovered in an irrigation canal by a group of boys. Her death remains a mystery. Every person coming to view her body seems to have a story about her. Neighbors accuse Witch of every kind of misfortune bedevilling them. People are using her as a scapegoat for their adversities. The main suspect of her death is Luismi. Luismi is transgender and a former lover of Witch. Yesenia spots Luismi near the canal and believes he is the killer. Brando is another character addicted to pornography. He is torn between killing Luismi and having sex with him.
Norma is a thirteen-year-old girl and is pregnant. Luismi decides to give her a place to put up for a night after she runs away from her father. Luismi’s mother then takes Norma to the Witch to abort the unborn baby. However, abortion goes wrong, and Norma ends up in the hospital. The sequence of defective raconteurs that narrate her story always changes the story’s point of view. The narrators’ stories are full of bleakness and violence that brings dismay into play. From the stories of characters, readers get insight into a society of continuous bloodshed, unwanted pregnancies, and merciless drug lords.
The author shows the impacts of misogyny, homophobia, corruption, and drug abuse to society. All these vices are blamed on the Witch. Even though her body was discovered, villagers believe that she never died. Neighbors allege that she “transformed herself into something else” before she was killed. The book shows the desperation experienced by communities and humiliation meted out to people in poor societies.
