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SAN PEDRO PRISON TOURS

really. I can get by. Just flash these South Americans some cash and they usually understand, hey!'

'So, you haven't seen your family for four years?' said Liz.

'Nup. I don't reckon I've even spoken to them for about two years.'

'Why not?'

'Well, it's so fucking expensive to call home from these countries, isn't it? Three minutes on the phone costs more than my daily budget.'

'What about collect call?' Jay asked.

'Collect what?'

'Reverse charges,' Liz translated.

'Oh, no, my old man ain't gonna pay. No way. I reckon he'd hang up on the operator.'

I suddenly had an idea. There was a Chilean guy in my section who rented out his mobile phone to make cheap international phone calls. You paid a set fee and you could make as many calls as you wanted to anywhere in the world in a half-hour period.

'How cheap?' asked Paul.

'Very cheap. Five dollars for half an hour,' I replied.

'That's impossible. There's no way.'

'I'm not joking, man. Seriously, you just pay the guy the money, he brings you the phone and you have it for half an hour. You can call as many times as you like to anywhere in the world.'

'How come it's so cheap?'

'I don't know exactly. The Chileans are smart, man. They are a lot more intelligent than the Bolivians in prison. I think it's because there's not much oxygen up here, so the Bolivian brains don't develop properly. This guy rewires the phone and breaks into the telephone network and he gets free calls. Every few days they cut him off. But then he does it again. What are they going to do if they catch him doing it — put him in jail?' I laughed, stealing Ricardo's joke, and everyone thought I was funny.

'But there's no risk for me? They're not going to trace the call or anything?' Paul asked.

'Hey, man, this is Bolivia.'

'Sweet as! I just have to remember my home phone number now. Bring it on!'

'OK. You wait here and I'll go get the phone. Have another line, man! It will help you talk.'