The Only Road

Waking up underneath the abandoned car where they have sought shelter, the cousins are surprised and delighted to find that Vida has followed their trail and brought Xavi, Rafa, and Joaquín to them. The friends are thrilled to reunite and exchange stories of their journeys. Jaime is momentarily put out when he learns that the boys who rode on top of the train had food thrown to them by kind-hearted residents of towns as they passed through, but then he is grateful to have that food shared with him.

Following a tip, they head toward a bridge where they meet a man who has lost both legs at the knee to the train. In exchange for the last of their food, he gives them advice on which trains they can find where and which are the safest to try to board. They ask him about the smuggler they are supposed to find, and the man says the smuggler was recently killed. He directs them to another bridge where they can find good Samaritans with a food truck and maybe another way north.

This next bridge is near a market, and Xavi decides to try to sell his phone charger. The rest of the kids look for work, with varying degrees of success. After a few hours of labor, they have earned some scraps of food; as they reminisce about favorite meals from home, Rafa comes running out of the market, chased by an old man. The children flee; when they are safely away, they learn that Rafa stole cigarettes and bubble gum when the old man refused to pay him for his work. Some of the children are disappointed in him, but Jaime sees some wisdom in his actions despite knowing they were wrong.

The people gathered at this bridge are a desperate group: “One man had had all his clothes stolen hours before and sat naked, asking everyone who came if they had a spare pair of pants” (113). Jaime realizes they are all effectively homeless but is distracted from that thought by a full meal from the volunteers on the food truck.

The children find a place to settle down and share their stories. Xavi reluctantly tells how he, Rafa, and Joaquín survived the trip on top of the train. He describes the trains as being run by gangs who beat and kill people and rape a young girl. When Jaime asks how Xavi and the rest survived, Xavi is ashamed to say that he helped out a man they had met at Padre Kevin’s church, a man who had made the trip so many times he became friendly with the gangs and gave them information about where other migrants were hiding in exchange for his own safety. Ángela tries to tell Xavi he did the right thing so they could be reunited, but Xavi is not certain: “I hate feeling so helpless, like I have no choice. Is it worth going against your morals just to stay alive?” (117).

The children sleep, only to be awakened by a young man with a gun who wants one of them to do him a favor and smuggle something—likely drugs—across the border. Rafa volunteers to go with them, sparing the lives of the rest of the children. He leaves “with one last attempt of his carefree tone” (119), but no one is fooled. They all realize it is unlikely they will ever see him again.

Xavi, Ángela, Jaime, Joaquín, and Vida follow train tracks north to the next town, where the legless man told them it would be easier to board a train. Jaime, bored, finds a shoe on the track and kicks it, only to discover the shoe has a foot still in it. Two officers are nearby, discussing what to do with the rest of the corpse; they agree to leave it, just photographing the head in case anyone ever comes to ask about the man, though one says, “[t]hey never do” (121).

Once the group arrives at the place where they might be able to board the train, they find a dozen or so other people already there. There is nothing to do but tell stories and eat a little. They discuss their destinations, and for the first time Xavi tells them about his family, all of whom were executed by their own government.

They all use the bushes as a bathroom, and something causes Joaquín to become upset and need Ángela’s attention. Neither he nor Ángela will discuss it when they return to camp. Joaquín is determined to board the next train that comes through, and while Ángela and Xavi both try to get Joaquín to travel with them, Xavi offering to take Joaquín wherever he wants to go, the child insists on traveling alone. As they see Joaquín off, the little boy waving from atop the train, Jaime finally realizes that Joaquín is a girl disguised as a boy.

When the train to Ciudad Juárez comes through, Jaime must face his fears in order to board. He knows “he could trip and get swallowed by the train. He could trip and have the train bit off his arms or legs. He could trip and get left behind” (127). Boarding the train is difficult and dangerous: Jaime must grab a ladder that is over his head and then haul himself up without getting caught in the wheels. Motivated by his desperation, Jaime makes it. He finds Ángela and Xavi have too, and there they are atop a train, having taken yet another step on their long journey north.