In reply to Robin.

I think the key factor was that the girls were from the community next door, though I do think their age didn't help things. However, I also felt like the local ladies attacked Maricela and Elisea as though they were a really serious threat to something. They didn't admonish them like they were little girls stepping out of place. At least that's the way I interpreted it, which may not have been entirely accurate since I didn't understand a lot of the exchanges. Whatever happened it was quite the onion of a problem, many layers of things rather than just one silly little thing.