Each of the bus passengers comes from a place of brokenness, loss, and disempowerment. Rodeo and Coyote are intentionally unhoused individuals who travel from point to point around the country as Rodeo tries desperately to avoid having to deal with the loss of his wife and daughters. Coyote does her best to deny her misery, as is pointed out by Salvador when he confronts her, asking, “I mean, maybe it works for him. But does it work for you...Coyote?” (123). Salvador, Esperanza, and Concepción are without a home, but not by intention. Esperanza has left her abusive husband, Salvador’s father, and Concepción has left her shiftless boyfriend. Their lives have no certainty and little hope. Lester is torn because the woman he loves is forcing him to move across the country to resume a relationship that is problematic at best. Val is wounded, having just expressed her deepest inner truth to her parents and having abruptly been rejected by them.

Coyote is the catalyst for each of these people boarding Yager and beginning their shared westward trek. Along the way, each person experiences at least one moment of challenge in which she or he emerges in a newly powerful way.