After Lucas discovers that his wife, Reina, is having an affair with his partner and friend, he divorces her and leaves Puerto Rico with their young son Fernando. Placing Fernando in a boarding school, Lucas travels abroad for some time. But after gambling away most of his money, Lucas returns to San Juan.

When cornered by a police lieutenant, Eddie Randall advises the officer that he has a gun, then tells him how he came to this moment: Eddie relocated to New York's Spanish Harlem and was seduced by Rita Felton, who offers him work in her import/export business.