Janos is a teenager who was displaced by World War II from his family in Italy. Having served in the American army alongside a Black man named Charlie, once the war came to an end, Charlie offered to sponsor Janos's immigration to the US, because all his family in Italy had died. Janos and two other young boys who served arrive at a center in Germany intended to find locations for displaced children like themselves, housing and feeding them temporarily. When Janos inquires about going to live with Charlie, the woman running the center says that they can only make requests for relocations like this if they have no other relatives to go to, and even then the US Consul has to approve it, but she makes the request. The other boys with Janos have other plans, one intending to go to work with an acquaintance in Europe, and the other, younger one, staying behind at the center until they decide what to do with him. Janos waits a few days to hear back from the Consul. The woman has an uncomfortable conversation with Janos, explaining that things in the US are different. Although in the army, Janos probably did not hear about colored versus white, she explains, the US has very different rules, and Black and White people don't live together, which is why the Consul is suggesting that he go to a White family instead. The Consul has confirmed that Janos's family is dead, so it is his decision whether he wants to go or not, and the woman gives him a few days to think it through. One day, she awakes to two letters on her desk, one addressed to her that thanks her and tells her to read both, but to send the second to Charlie. In the second letter, Janos lies, telling Charlie that the Consul found his family and that he would be going to live with them.