Diego Martinez is an energetic youth who lives in a small coastal town located in Central America. His days are equally divided between schoolwork and his fledgling mercantile business at the docks. Unable to tolerate an increasingly abusive family relationship at the hands of his father, he decides to enlist the help of a merchant seaman to secure a secret passage onboard a vessel bound for the United States. With an air of expectation tempered with anxiety about leaving home, Diego executes his plan hoping for the best.