I push past a group of businessmen, and when I come out on the other side, I see her. She’s slowing down a little, probably getting tired, but I keep running as fast as I can. I stretch out a hand, and as soon as I touch her shoulder, she stops and turns around to face me with tears in her eyes.

I wrap her in my arms, sinking my face into her hair. The world around me disappears, and all I know is that her entire body is shaking—or maybe it’s both of us. We’re both trembling.

“Why are you running? Why are you—” I can’t even finish my sentence. Hot tears start falling down my face, and I sink to my knees in front of Sophie, pulling her closer to me.

“I don’t wanna be here anymore,” she whispers into my ear, her chest heaving uncontrollably. “I want to go to Mexico. I just wanna be with Ma and Pa.”

“You can, Sophie,” I say. “You can go be with them.”

“That’s not what you’ve said. You all keep saying that I—”

“It’s different now.”

“How is it different?”

“I just spoke to Pa. He—he called me, and he said yes. He said we can go live with him and Ma.”

“I don’t believe you.”

“I’m telling the truth, Sophie.”

She pulls away and looks at me. In her eyes, I see all the pain from the last few months. I know she’s trying to believe me, to be hopeful, but she can’t. With tears falling from her eyes, she silently begs me to tell her the truth, to not make any more promises that I can’t keep.

But then, as suddenly as she stepped away from me, she falls into my arms again.

“I’m here, Sophie,” I whisper into her hair. “I’m here.”

I feel weak, exhausted. All I want is to collapse on the spot, yet somehow, I manage to keep my arms around my sister, feeling the way her chest shakes as she cries into my shoulder.

“We’re okay,” I say. “We’re gonna be okay.”

I have no idea how long we remain there in the middle of the station. People keep moving around us, and voices overhead make announcements about safety, and platform changes, and train delays, but none of that matters. The only thing I care about is right here in my arms.

At some point, Sophie speaks up. “Can we get out of here?”

I nod, looking into her eyes. For the first time in a while, they’re a little less sad.

She leads the way toward the exit. Holding her with one hand and wiping my tears with the other, we step into the warm night air.

27