I head into the barn when I see a kid standing at the sink washing his hands. "Hey," I call out. The kid looks up, a scared look in his eye. He tries to rush off, but I stop him. "Wait, hold on," I stop him. "What happened to you? Are you okay," I question. He's quiet. I glance down at his arm to see it all scratched up with dried blood on it. "I can clean those up for you, if you want. Why don't you come inside? No one's gonna hurt you, I promise," I assure him.
Once I've gained his trust, we head to the house. First, I make him some bacon and eggs because he looks hungry. "Alright, we've got milk, orange juice, and lemonade," I say, opening the fridge.
"Orange juice, please," he answers making me smile.
"So does he speak," I say, grabbing the orange juice and pouring some into a glass for him.
"Sorry."
"Don't be. What's your name?"
"Javier."
"Well, Javier, I'm Callie," I nod. "So, why don't you tell me how you got all scraped up and why you were hiding in our barn?"
"Please promise you won't call the police," he says.
"Why would I call the police? You haven't done anything wrong," I point out.
"I ran away from that farm down the road," he admits.
"Jed McNalley's?"
"If I ever wanted to see my mom again, I had to escape from that place," he nods.
"You act like the farm is a prison."
"It is. No one was allowed to leave. There's barely enough to eat. My friend and I, Francisco, tried to escape," he starts, sighing. "But we started running and there was a really loud rumble and then, he was gone," he continues.
"I'm sorry, Javier. Are you sure you don't want me to call the sheriff?"
"You can't. I'm here illegally. They'll send me back to Mexico."
"Mexico? That's a long way from Smallville. How'd you get here?"
"Last week, a coyote smuggled 15 of us across the border in the back of a truck. I was supposed to be sent to see my mom. Instead, I ended up at that farm," he explains.
"Where's your mom now?"
"She works at a laundry company down in Granville. When my dad died, she moved up north... and saved up money for two years to get me here."
"Your mom must really miss you."
"Yeah. You see this," he says, showing me his necklace. "She gave me this... to keep me safe. I should've given it to Francisco. We did everything together. He was like a brother to me."
"Well, don't you worry. We're gonna find your friend," I assure him. "I'm gonna fill my brother in, okay, and don't worry, you can trust him," I say, pulling out my phone.
