“Great. I’m sure you have a lot of questions.”
“Did you have a good time last night?” He winced. He didn’t know why that was the first question to come out of his mouth.
She laughed. “Worst blind date ever,” she said. “I’ve forbidden my friend from ever setting me up again.”
He relaxed. “My friends’ wives are constantly trying to find me someone. Luckily my friends usually head them off. It’s only when I have dinner at their place that I can’t escape.”
“At least then you’ve got someone else to talk to.” She sighed. “I want to put the date far behind me, so what can I help you with?”
That’s right. He needed to focus. “How’s Teresa today?”
“She’s as good as can be expected. She’s more worried about her sister than she is about her own refugee application.”
“What’s the deal with that? Is her sister in danger?”
“We’re not certain, but we suspect so. The gang will be angry Teresa escaped, so there’s no telling what they’ll do in retaliation.” Zita sighed. “Fernando spoke with Johanna once, but there was no sign of Teresa’s sister, Manuela.”
“How old is she?”
“Twelve. I’m hoping it makes her too young to be prostituted out, but there’s no guarantee.”
David’s jaw dropped. “Really?”
“Really.” She sounded sad.
He thought that kind of stuff only happened in movies. He wanted to cheer her up, but how could he? This was her reality. “Do many of your foster sisters have similar stories?”
“Teresa’s is the worst I’ve heard in a while.”
He huffed out a breath. “Is Teresa the only one still waiting for her application to be processed?”
“No. We’ve got two other girls who are applying for Special Immigration Juvenile status. It would break my heart if they were deported.” Her voice wavered.
“Will you tell me about them?”
She sighed. “Beatriz is ten. Her stepfather abused her physically and mentally and she decided she’d be better off alone. She found out Elena was leaving Guatemala and joined her. Elena had been raped by a gang and when she discovered she was pregnant, she knew they would force her to stay with them. She’s due to give birth in a month.”
David couldn’t fathom what it would be like fleeing your country and having to deal with an unplanned and potentially unwanted pregnancy. “How did they get here?”
“They walked, hitchhiked, hopped the trains.”
“Isn’t that dangerous?”
“Yeah. They call the train The Beast, and so many are killed or severely injured trying to ride it. Then there are the people who monitor the trains and extort money from whoever’s riding them.”
“And if you’ve got no money?”
“You can be pushed off. The girls are often sexually assaulted as payment.”
Coming to the States wasn’t the easy option he’d thought it was.
“How will you get the rest of Teresa’s family out of El Salvador?” he asked.
“They can submit an application for asylum, or if Teresa is accepted she can apply on their behalf. The problem is contacting them. Teresa’s father usually answers the phone and we can’t risk telling him. He’s terrified of the gangs and doesn’t want to do anything to upset them further. He’s likely to try and stop us.”
“And your contact, Fernando, can’t help?”
“Johanna won’t trust him, and Fernando can’t risk visiting too frequently or the gang will get suspicious.”
