"Although finding his mother was Enrique’s greatest wish, why did the two have an unhappy relationship after they reunited?"

Enrique harbored many resentments over being left behind. Although his deepest desire was to be reunited with his mother, his resentment over being left behind was never conquered and came between them.

Enrique's journey is not only physical, but also mental as he grows from a boy to a man. His anger, resentment, and feelings of abandonment fuel his confrontations with his mother. There are times in the book when he falls victim to his own shortcomings: doing drugs, tantalizing his mother, mismanaging his finances. His emotional journey concludes when, after he is reunited for a second time with his mother in Florida, Enrique reveals that he will stop living in the past, and will save enough money to bring María Isabel into the country so that they might work together to bring happiness into their daughter’s life. He is ready to take yet another journey, this time marked by responsibility instead of adolescent rebellion and resentment.