Free Half a World Away by Cynthia Kadohata

He’d never heard such noises coming from a person. They were kind of moans mixed with grunts and growls and occasional mumbles. The boy waved his arms in the air, as if trying to make Jaden understand something. He was an extremely beautiful boy, with huge slanting eyes and long, thick black hair, while the other boys had shorter hair. The kid’s skin almost glowed. But though he seemed healthy, there was also something fragile about him. For one thing, he was very thin, maybe as thin as Jaden had once been.
    All of a sudden, a woman came out and clapped her hands three times, hard, and all the toddlers went running inside. Jaden was alone. Two women dragged a mattress from one of the buildings, threw it into the swimming pool, poured gas on it, and set it on fire. Jaden had no idea what they were doing. He watched while the mattress burned. Finally he saw Penni, Steve, and Akerke. Penni ran up and threw her arms around him, and he hugged her back, which he usually tried to avoid.
    â€œWe were so worried,” Penni said, placing her palm on his forehead as if he had a fever. “We were ready to report a missing child to the American Embassy.”
    â€œI decided to go with you to the market, but when I got downstairs, I couldn’t find you.”
    â€œDon’t wander off by yourself anymore, do you hear me?” Penni hugged him again.
    â€œYou guys disappeared so fast,” Jaden said.
    Akerke interrupted. “We must go inside. We would not want to be late to see director.”
    They followed her into the small room where Jaden had found the woman who’d called Akerke. Her seat was empty now. There were several folding chairs along the wall, and Akerke told them to sit down while she herself rushed off. “Right after we’re introduced, we need to start this meeting by finding out what happened to Bahytzhan,” Steve said. He pushed his glasses up his nose two times, like he did whenever he was super-serious about something.
    Jaden looked around, as he hadn’t noticed much his first time in there. The room was nothing special. There was a wall of windows with blinds, and in front of another wall was a wooden desk, a shelf, and a filing cabinet. A picture of some old guy in a suit in front of the Kazakh flag hung on a wall. A boombox sat on a shelf. There was another door leading to who knows where, and the folding chairs where Akerke told them to sit. There was also a couch. Jaden wondered who got to sit there.
    Akerke returned with the woman. Jaden waited for Akerke to introduce everyone, but instead the woman said something sharply. Akerke scrunched up her forehead worriedly and said, “The director would like to know how you lost your son today.”
    â€œI wandered off on my own,” Jaden said. “They thought I was staying in the apartment.”
    â€œShe would like to hear from your parents,” Akerke scolded Jaden.
    â€œWe were going to a market I had seen on the drive over from the airport,” Penni said quickly. “Jaden said he wanted to rest after the long flight, so we left him to nap. We’d heard from our agency that when you need a ride, you can just wave your hand at any car, and they’ll drive you for a price. So we did that in the alley. Then Jaden went out on his own, and apparently he got lost.”
    â€œShe is worried you will lose the baby.”
    â€œLose the baby?” Steve said. “Tell her that’s ridicu­lous.”
    â€œI cannot say that to her,” Akerke said sternly.
    â€œRidiculous? What is ridiculous?” the director asked. Jaden wished his phone was charged so he could take a picture of her.
    Akerke said something to the director. They talked back and forth for a few minutes, and then the director nodded and left the room. Akerke smiled at last. “She accepts your answer.”
    The director shouted something from the hallway. Steve said to Akerke in his best authoritative voice,