I walked along looking at the buffet table. It was a shambles. The shrimp had been devastated. The crudités were scattered. The dips and chips had been thoroughly attacked. It was obvious an army had marched through the ballroom. I looked around the ballroom and saw the army in full retreat now that the free food was gone.

I was in San Diego for a three-day economic conference. It looked to be interesting. Well, as interesting as economics could ever be I suppose. The President of the Federal Reserve district was scheduled to speak, as was the former head of the Council of Economic Advisors to the President. High powered speakers certainly. I hoped the conference lived up to its billing.

The welcome buffet was put on the evening before the conference officially started for those who had traveled in. I mingled looking for someone I knew to no avail. I checked my watch, 8 p.m. Time for some entertainment.

Grabbing a cab, I rode to the nearest trolley station. The trolley runs from San Diego to the Mexican border. From there it's a short walk across the border to Tijuana. Stepping across the painted line, United States/Mexico was a bit of an unsettling experience. In one step I lost all of the protections I took for granted and mostly never even noticed. There was no Constitution anymore. My language wasn't the official language. I felt vulnerable for a moment. But two more steps and the feeling started to fade replaced by excitement. I was in a foreign country and just a few minutes away from the famous fleshpots of TJ. La Zona Rosa. The pink zone. Oh yes, TJ, renown for the donkey shows and other decadent displays. Clubs where the women were available for your pleasure. And right next door were hotels with rooms available by the half-hour or hour. And you even got a towel with the room. What more could you ask? Unlike the US with its backward laws it was all legal. No worrying about a police sting.

A line of decrepit cabs were waiting. I walked up to one and leaned in the window. "Adelita's?"

The hack smiled, "Si"

"How much?"

"Five," he answered holding up five fingers.

I jumped in the front seat. In my research on the TJ scene I had read that you should always sit in the front seat of a cab. Jumping in the back is almost an insult, as if you think of the cabby as a menial. "Let's go," I said smiling.

"You been to Tijuana before?"

"No. My first time."

"Go to Chicago Club. Mas better Chicas at Chicago Club."

"I know. I want to see Adelita's first. Then I'll walk over to Chicago."

The cabby smiled. "Si si. You want to see all the buenas Chicas."

I laughed. "Si, SI!"

The cab crossed the Tijuana River, a fetid and polluted stream, and raced into downtown. We screamed around a corner and were headed up the Ave Revolucion, the main drag of Tijuana. The driver swerved around traffic that was stopped in the street by having two wheels on the curb barely missing the sidewalk vendors and then through some run down areas on the Ave Coahuila. I was tempted to close my eyes but if I was going to die, I wanted to die with my eyes open. A quick squeal of the tires and we stopped in front of a garish building. Adelita's. I handed the cabby seven bucks. "How long you stay?"

"I don't know. Until the right girl comes along."

He laughed again handing me a card. "You call. I come pick you up. Safe ride back."

I took the card. "Gracias."

"De nada," and he roared away.

I turned and looked at Adelita's. Las Vegas it wasn't. But it also wasn't as rundown as I had feared. A nice dive is how I'd describe it. A large lighted white sign surrounded by bright red, Adelita's Bar with cacti as the background. Below a garish blue light ran the length of the sign. On it was a woman holding a rifle. Now you might be wondering why a woman with a rifle. It seems that during the Mexican revolution women accompanied the men on their campaign. The women came to be called Adelita's. I guess they were the Florence Nightingale's of Mexico. Except they weren't nurses. Different men fight for different reasons.

I took a deep breath and entered. The interior was dark and the music was blaring. I waited just inside until my eyes adjusted to the gloom. The place was filled with stale cigarette smoke. A girl, maybe twenty, was starting to dance to the music over by the bar. She was looking at the ceiling as she shimmied unconvincingly. I walked around to an open table and grabbed a seat. Most of the girls were over on one side. The dancer was slowly revealing her breasts as she continued to shimmy. She would look as interested if she were mopping a floor.

The waiter arrived. "Que quiere de tomar?" he asked.

"Si. A Carta Blanca por favor."

After the drink arrived so did the first chica. Maybe 30 years old. She had a round face and a round butt. I give her a 4 on a scale of one to ten. She had a nice cleavage on display as the dress was cut low and tight. I would bet that she was wearing a miracle bra. If she breathed too deeply the dress would have split open. "Hi. You first time?" she said as she slid into the booth with me.

"No. Been before."

She slid her hand up my thigh and rested it on my crotch. Starting a gentle massage she asked, "Honey, you want to buy me drink?"

Great. A hustle. A 'drink' would be colored water at $8 of which the girl would get a cut. No way did I want to blow money on colored water. "Maybe later," I said noncommittally.

She gave a last squeeze. "Ok. I see you later. And Honey, I can suck you until you cry out. Like a vacuum." Whoa. I'm not in Kansas anymore. She wandered over to the other girls and they chatted. One girl was giving me the eye but again she wasn't my type so I looked away. I was starting to feel uncomfortable. What the hell was I doing? Maybe I should leave. I downed the beer and thought about getting a cab and getting the hell back to the good old US of A.

That's when I saw her. Her eyes were cast down at the floor. She had dark hair that fell across her shoulders and part way down her back. She had on a form fitting dark blue mini-dress. Her face captivated me. She was pale with fine sharply drawn features. She looked more Spanish than Indian. She appeared too young to be hanging out in a bar. She wasn't exactly beautiful. But I was captivated. She had a youthful freshness that made her doubly attractive. What was she doing there? I was staring at this vision when the waiter showed up.

Having watched and realizing I was a gringo he asked in English this time, "You like another drink?" he asked.

"Yes. Another Carta Blanca por favor. And send a drink to the girl in the dress."

He looked over at the wall. "Which?"

I pointed. "The one in the blue dress with her eyes down."

"Ah, si. Isabella." The way he said her name sounded musical with the long vowels. Esaaaaabellaaaaa. I threw a twenty on his tray to encourage him. He headed off to the bar. He brought my beer quickly and then took a glass of colored water over to the girl. They talked and he pointed my way. I smiled as she looked at me. She turned and walked toward the back of the bar. I was shocked and disappointed. She was walking away. Damn. She started talking to one of the other ladies with her back to me. I just got snubbed. I looked at the beer. I took two swigs and set it down. It didn't taste all that wonderful anymore. I was about to get up and head home when I looked up to see Isabella and the other lady sitting down in the booth.

"You want to see Isabella?" the older lady asked.

"Yes. She speaks no English?"

"Yes, she speak English. But it is her first night at Adelita's and she ask me to help her." I wondered if that was true. She did look young and innocent. More likely it was a ploy to get a higher price. I'd heard the stories about the kid on the street corner. 'Hey Mister. You try my seester. She is a virgin. Everyone say so.'

I looked at Isabella. She was very pretty. Up close I was surprised by how young she looked. I knew bar girls had to be eighteen in order to get the prostitute's work permit. But she was a young looking eighteen. "Oh. Yes, I'd like to see her."

"How long you wish to see her?"

Without thinking I blurted out, "Three days." Like I said, I was captivated.

The girl looked surprised and I saw Isabella's eyes get wide. So, she did understand English. The other girl looked at me with narrowed eyes sizing me up. "You stay here for three days?"

"No I'm in San Diego for a conference."

There followed a quick whispered conference. They didn't need to whisper because I certainly didn't have the Spanish to follow the conversation. The older girl looked at me again. "You are nice man?"

"Yes."

"You will be good to her?"

I smiled, "Yes."

"Bueno. How much you pay?"

"Three hundred."

The girl shook her head. "Eight."

"Four." I countered.

"Seven."

"Four fifty."

"Six."

"Five."

"Five fifty."

"Five," I said with finality.

She looked over at Isabella. "Five hundred, up front."

"Three now, two at the end. Also, I tip very well for her if she is nice for me." Christ, I was starting to speak pigeon English.

The girl nodded to Isabella and said something in Spanish. Isabella slid off the chair and headed off. "She get her things." I nodded. I reached into my pocket and took out a twenty and handed it to the girl. She looked surprised.

"Gracias," I said.

She took the money. She took my hand and looked at me earnestly. "Listen. Isabella a sweet girl. You be nice to her. I tell you this and it is true. Today is her first day." I'm sure I looked a little unconvinced. "I know many girls say this. I not say this to get more money. Really. Is her first day. Please, you be good to her."

"Thank you. Yes, I will treat her very nice." She patted my hand.

Isabella returned with a small bag. I stood and pulled out the card. "Could you call?" I asked handing the card to the girl who had been the negotiator.

"Si." And headed off to the bar.

The cab picked us up at the curb. He smiled as I jumped in the front and Isabella got in back. He looked at her and then gave me an approving look. We roared off to the border. At the border crossing I put my arm around Isabella and walked through to the U.S. side. I had left my wallet at the hotel just taking as much cash as I would need carefully split among different pockets. For ID I had my passport. The customs inspector looked at the passport, me and my arm around Isabella and waived us through. By his look I could tell he knew she wasn't immigrating.

Once on the U.S. side, I let go of her shoulder and walked over to the trolley. Isabella followed along. The trolley was getting ready to leave so I pulled her in. There were plenty of seats. The trolley started off as we found a seat in the front. Isabella looked out the window watching the darkness intently. She followed all the stops as we rolled into San Diego. We hadn't exchanged a word on the trip north.

"So this is how I go to Mexico?" she asked.

I pointed at the other tracks. "This one will go straight to the border." She nodded.

I grabbed a cab to the hotel. It was only a few blocks but I didn't feel like walking that late at night. Once there, I helped Isabella out. She followed me into the hotel. On the elevator up to my room I looked at her. She was even prettier in the light. I was sure most of the girls at Adelita's would be better looking in the dark. Isabella was an exception. She saw me looking at her and blushed as she cast her eyes down.

On my floor she followed me down the hall to my room. I opened the door to let her enter first. She stood still looking into the room her bag held in both hands in front of her. She looked demur and uncertain. I waited. She looked back down the hall at the elevator and then turned toward the room and walked in. I followed. She stopped in the middle of the room and looked around. I went over to the window and opened the curtain. The bay was spread before us. Across the bay, San Diego created a bright panorama of lights.

She hadn't moved. "Isabella." She looked intently at me. "We have to talk to each other you know. You haven't said hardly anything since we left Adelita's."

"Si."

"No," I said shaking my head. "English. I know you understand English."

Her gaze fell again. Then, still looking down, she said, "Yes. But my English is no so good."

I laughed. "Your English is MUCH better than my Spanish. Gracias." My awful pronunciation of that one word finally made her smile. "Please, set your bag down. Are you hungry?"

Setting her bag down she answered, "Si... Yes."

"What would you like?"

"I don't know. This is my first time to los Estados Unidos."

"Ok. Let's go find a nice American restaurant." I walked toward the door. Isabella looked back at her bag. "Leave your bag. It will be fine." She followed me out to the elevators.

In the lobby, I headed off to the restaurants. There were three open. I skipped the cafe and the snooty overpriced restaurant. That left a nice California Brasserie. The hostess seated us far in the back in a secluded table. I wasn't sure if she did that for our comfort or to hide us from the respectable guests. I have a feeling the hostess had seen other gentlemen with their 'nieces' in the cafe before.

We ordered a couple of appetizers, as neither of us was all that hungry. I've always heard that a chef will put more time into his appetizers than the entrees because they are often his signature dish. An entree is an entree. But an appetizer can be a work of art. I've found that to be true at better restaurants and have gotten in the habit of ordering several appetizers and skipping the entree. This restaurant followed the rule. Each dish was presented beautifully. Bellisimo. I shared my dishes with Isabella. She did a better job of cleaning the plates than I did. She was smiling and complimenting my choices by the end of the meal.

After the meal we headed back to the room. I let her in first. Again, she stood alone in the middle of the room. Thinking to make it slightly more romantic, I turned off the room lights. The lights from the city across the bay and the hotel floodlights on the beach provided enough light in the room to see. She was looking intently at me again. I walked over to the window. "Come. Come look at the city."

We stood looking at the lights across the bay. I reached up and put my arms on her shoulders from behind. I felt the tension in her muscles. I started a light massage of her shoulders and neck. She relaxed so I leaned down and gently kissed her neck. Isabella squirmed out of my hands and moved away from the window.

"What?"

"No," she answered.

"No what?" I asked.

"This is not right."

"Oh." I was very disappointed. But there was nothing to be done. "I understand. I will take you back to Adelita's."

"Oh no. I do not want to go to Adelita's I hate it this place." She was twisting her hands together, obviously distressed.

"Isabella. Come. Sit here and tell me what is going on." She continued to wring her hands. "Please. Maybe I can help."

"I don't know..."

"Come. Sit." I motioned to a chair by the window. She came over and sat. I took a chair on the other side of the window leaving the lights off for the anonymity the half-light provided. "Tell me."

"Tonight is the first night."

"Yes," I said. "Your friend at the bar said so."

"No. I mean the first night. Not at Adelita's. Ever."

I was surprised. "You mean ever with a man?"

"Si."

"Why are you working at Adelita's?"

"Mi familia is from a very poor place. It is small place and there is no money. Mi Padre get a friend to take me here to work in the factory. It pays the money. Mi familia need to send them money. Then the factory they say they don't need so many girls and the young girls, out the door."

"Why the young girls?" I asked.

"I do not know this. But all the girls who are not a certain age they are no longer to work," she said a touch angrily.

"So you try Adelita's."

"Si. I have a friend at the factory. She work there before and she go back. She help me. Introduce me to the lady who manage... yes, manage Adelita's."

"Isabella. This is a very hard job. Many women can not do it." I remembered that to get a work permit women were supposed to be eighteen in Tijuana. But now I wondered. "Isabella, how old are you?"

She looked puzzled and then said, "I no have the word." She held up ten finger followed by seven.

"Seventeen?" I asked.

"Si."

"But to get a permit..." my voice trailed off.

"No, this is easy. Mi amiga she take me to la policía and we give him some money and I have these permit, yes."

"Isabella you are too young..."

She cut me off. "No," she said with an air of determination. "I am a woman. If other can do this, I can do this. But, it is hard. I thought my first time..."

I felt like a shit. Here is this young girl forced into doing something that she doesn't want to do. I felt like an accomplice in her... I don't know what. Jesus Christ! What a mess. I decided to take her back to TJ that night.

"Isabella. I'll take you back to Tijuana. You don't have to..."

Loudly, "NO." And then more evenly, "You do not understand. I must."

"But I cannot. I mean, I'll feel like I'm... I mean, I just can't."

"Why can you not? You are not strange huh? I have heard of the men who like niños."

I crimsoned. I could feel the heat in my face. "I'm not gay and I don't like little boys" She was smiling at me knowing she had gotten to me. I continued as if I hadn't been gotten to at all, "But I cannot do something if you do not want to. I would feel like I was doing it against your will. Almost like it was rape."

"Ah, I understand. You think because it is my first time I do not want to."

"That's what you said," I answered confused. Isn't that what she said, I asked myself.

"Please, at the window. Maybe I am little frighten. I am sorry. I am sad that my first time will not be with a boyfriend. As a niña I thought many times what it would be like, my first time. I never thought it would be... like this. You understand. It was just for that moment. But that does not mean I am not a woman. I too wish to know what it like. To have a man hold me in his arms and make me a woman. In my village we niñas would sneak out at night and listen. I have heard women crying out when their men takes them. Yes I have heard them shout out their passion. Yes, I need the money too. I want to know that passion too." She paused and looked off into the distance. "Please, be my boyfriend for this night. It will be good for you to be my boyfriend." She ended looking deeply into my eyes holding them with her own. The last line lanced deeply into my soul and with it; she took possession of my soul. Just as women have taken possession of men from time immemorial.

"Are you sure?" I asked in a last bid of some control over my fate.

Seizing me completely by surrendering she answered, "Yes. Make me a woman."

I walked over to her and held out my hand. She took it and I led her to the bed. I leaned down and kissed her. She returned the kiss her arms entwining themselves around my neck her body melding against mine.

Isabella broke the kiss and took a step back. Holding my eye, she reached behind her and slowly unzipped her dress. She shrugged it off her shoulders. She was wearing panties but no bra and her breasts stood proudly open to my gaze. They were perfect, lighter toned than the surrounding skin, rounded with an erect nipple topping them and just the right size to fit in my hand or my lips.

She did a little pirouette for me and stood smiling at my appreciation. "You like?"

"Oh my God. Bonita Isabella. You are so beautiful."

Her face lit up and she responded. "Now please. You are my boyfriend yes? I should see you," she said motioning to my clothes.

"Si," I said laughing. I threw off my shirt and quickly followed that with shoes, socks and pants. Isabella had kicked off her panties. Her eyes were cast down at my erection bouncing in concert with my rapid heartbeat. "Do you wish to touch it?" I asked.

Her hand wrapped around my cock and she slowly stroked it. Stepping close to me our lips touched as she continued slowly stroking my cock. She pulled away and crawled onto the bed looking back as if to say, what are you waiting for? I jumped onto the bed, threw myself at her and continued kissing her, our kisses growing more fevered and passionate. I had to stop myself from mounting her right then reminding myself that this was her first time.

I kissed her neck and ears and then back to her lips for more kisses. I kissed down across her collarbone and down to her breast, first circling it with my tongue before laving it with licks, bites and sucks. I circled to her other tit and then back for more kisses. Isabella attacked my mouth with her kisses and pushed her tits against my chest as we kissed. I went back for another round of kissing and sucking her nipples and breasts and back for more kisses. The next time I skipped her tits and kissed across her belly and down to her triangle of dense black hair. As I got close I could sense her arousal and as I kissed down along her thigh I could smell it, the heady aroma of aroused woman. Settling between her legs I kissed along the inside of her thigh closer and closer to the apex. Isabella shivered as my tongue almost touched her lips and then veered away. A small moan sounded from deep inside her. I planted my tongue at the bottom of her pussy and let it work its way up, parting the folds of her labia as it slid up. As it reached her clitoris her body shivered and she hunched up mashing her pussy into my face. I sucked her clitoris into my mouth lashing it with my tongue and massaging the base with my lips. Isabella's body shuddered and her stomach muscles rippled with a rhythm matching my lips fucking her clitoris. Her fingers were clutching at the sheets.

I slid up over her body and my cock found the entrance to her pussy. I kissed her gently as the head of my cock parted the folds of her pussy. Is there any moment as wonderful as that moment when you first enter a woman, that moment when the hot wetness of her pussy surrounds your cock and welcomes it inside? I worked my cock slowly back and forth, coating it with her juices and working deeper with each down stroke. As I pushed into her I felt a momentary resistance. I pushed harder and then my cock slid all the way into her tight pussy.

"Aiyee," Isabella moaned. I held still as her eyes opened. "Oh, this hurt." She moved her pussy around my cock. "Si, mi novio, You are fill me so much." She reached up and put her hand on my cheek and said, "Gracias, mi boyfriend. Now we are lovers."

I kissed her passionately as I started sliding my cock in and out of her. I tried to hold myself to a slow rhythm and wait for her but it felt so incredible that my climax couldn't be denied. I picked up speed fucking into my little chica. Her body responded to mine her fingers digging into my back. That sent me over the edge and the cum poured from my balls and into her waiting pussy. "Oh Isabella, I am cumming..."

"Madre de Dios!" she shouted as I emptied myself. Her fingers scraped across my back and her teeth buried themselves in my chest as her pussy pulsed around my cock coaxing the last drops of cum out.

Spent, I collapsed on her. I could feel the last vestiges of her climax on my cock. When her body relaxed I let my cock slip from her pussy and falling to the side I pulled her to me. She snuggled into my arms. She pulled my face to hers for a kiss, affectionate rather than passionate. "Now I know how the women feel when they shout in the night. You are so good lover." as she kissed me again.

"You are the good lover," I answered. "Mi chica, that was the best ever." Isabella smiled and snuggled into my chest.

The Second Day

The next thing I remembered was the buzzer. I disengaged myself from the naked sleeping body next to mine and cut off the alarm. Low sunlight streamed in through the window. I climbed out of bed and went it to pee and start the shower.

I was lathered up when the curtain was pulled back and I was joined by a squirming naked woman. We spent the time getting certain critical body parts washed very well. Very well indeed. When we stepped from the shower I was hard as a rock.

A quick wipe down and I pulled her into the bedroom before pouncing on her naked body. As much as I wanted to fuck her I knew she might be sore from the night before. So I pulled her thighs apart and kissed up her thighs to her bush. I spread the lips and worked my tongue into her pussy. I was greeted with a moan and soon after with a flood of her juices.

Unlike last night, I didn't stop licking and sucking on her pussy as she approached her climax. I continued sucking her clitoris until she spasmed under me. Her cum poured from her pussy and ran down her ass. Her thighs clamped around my head holding me away from her pussy as the last tremors coursed through her body.

After her body relaxed, I kissed her and went back in to wash my face. I left Isabella in the room curled up in the bed with a smile on her face. I told her I'd be back for lunch and to wait for me. Jaysus, but the morning dragged along. I kept having visions of her. Scenes from the night before flitted through my mind. The speaker was talking about unemployment rates and GDP deflators and I was having pants inflation thinking about kissing Isabella's breast. At the morning break I had to restrain myself from going up to the room just so I could hold her in my arms and kiss her.

When lunch finally rolled around I couldn't stand it any longer. I bolted from the conference room and headed up the elevator. When I opened the door Isabella was sitting over by the window. She turned as I entered and smiled a radiant smile. I hurried over and pulled her into my arms, kissing her almost violently. She returned the kiss with passion.

"I missed you."

"Ah, si. I miss you. The morning, it has been long while I sit here."

I kissed her again this time gently nibbling at her lips. She smiled as I broke away. I looked down and realized that she was wearing the same dress as the night before. I hadn't even noticed when I walked in. I hadn't thought about that the night before. She had brought only one small bag. "Is this dress all you brought?"

"I do not bring other dress. This is all I have." I could tell from her eyes that she was feeling uncomfortable. Whether it was because it was the second day in the same dress or because it wasn't exactly a dress to wear around the town I didn't know.

"It doesn't matter." Then a thought. "Listen. I have an excellent idea. There is a store just down the street. I will take you there."

"Oh no. Clothes, they are muy esspensive in the los Estados Unidos."

"No. They are very inexpensive at this store. They are free. Come." She looked at me dubiously. I grabbed her hand and led her out. Her shoes were not made for hiking so I grabbed a cab even though it was just a few blocks. I remembered seeing a store on the way to the hotel but couldn't remember what it was. Turned out to be a Target. Oh well. Not Saks Fifth Avenue but we could get her some casual clothes.

I held her hand as we went into the store and then lead her straight over to the ladies department. She was like a kid on Christmas. "I have never seen so many clothes. We have a store but it has just one room for the clothes. Oh..." she said looking at the aisles of clothes.

"You need a bathing suit and some casual clothes to wear during the day." I lead her over to the sports wear. I saw a bikini that would look wonderful against her olive skin. I held it up against her.

"Ai. You will like this no?"

"Yes. I will like to see you in this. You are very beautiful." She looked down for second and then looked into my eyes. We held each other's eyes for a long time. I handed her the suit. "Try it on to make sure it fits."

She looked at the suit and saw the price tag. "You said this store is free. I could not buy this. I must send money to mi familia."

"Isabella sweetheart. It is free." She looked at me with disbelieving eyes. "Really. You'll see. I won't give the girl at the front any money. You'll see."

We spent the next few hours picking out several outfits for her. Enough for the next two days certainly. Unlike shopping with an American lady who never seems to like anything, Isabella liked everything. The hard part was narrowing down the choices. As much fun as it certainly was to please her I admit to wearing down after several hours of shopping. I pulled her away finally and toward the checkout.

I threw the clothes on the checkout. The girl started to ring them up and I could see Isabella getting antsy. "Watch." I said. I ran my debit card through the machine as the checker finished. Isabella started to look at me suspiciously.