Two kids take a book from a trash can. They begin to read the story of a poor neighborhood in Mexico City. Carpenter Pepe "El Toro" (Infante) lives with his daughter Chachita (Munoz) and woos pretty "Chorreada" (Pavon). Around them, a group of fellows live their lives in many ways: a pair of always-drunk women known as "La Tostada" (The Toast) and "La Guayaba" (The Guava); a beautiful woman (Jurado) who always oversleeps; a hooker with pneumonia (La Tisica) with a dark past. Tragedy comes when Pepe is falsely accused of robbery and sent to the jail.

霍尔盖打小就不喜欢上学，因此常常惹得老师大发雷霆，终于，在又一次的惹怒了老师之后，霍尔盖被处罚一个礼拜不许上学，这让霍尔盖十分的闷闷不乐。在他最郁闷的时候，霍尔盖遇见了一位神秘的老妇人埃斯佩朗莎（凯蒂·乔拉杜 Katy Jurado 饰），一来二去之间，一老一少之间产生了真挚的友谊，埃斯佩朗莎让霍尔盖懂得了如何去善待和照顾他人，在埃斯佩朗莎的影响之下，霍尔盖成为了一个更好的孩子。
一晃眼数十年过去，此时的霍尔盖生活在困顿和抱怨之中，一天在电视上，他偶然看见了埃斯佩朗莎的身影，想起了她曾经给过他的一个盒子，在那里，隐藏着她的秘密。