Little Brother of War (2003)

In Vancouver, eight year old biracial Jay has some sense of the indigenous side of his heritage from his father, Blaine, especially through the stories Blaine tells him of the spiritual and mystical aspects surrounding lacrosse, Jay's favorite sport. Out for the evening, Jay's parents, Blaine and Stephanie, are murdered, VPD Homicide Detective Anthony Rosetti who leads the investigation. As his only known relative, Jay is sent to live with his maternal Aunt Frances, despite Stephanie and Frances having been estranged, none of Jay and Stephanie's close friends, such as Phil, a fellow lacrosse parent, who ever met Frances, let alone even knew of her existence. While Frances wants to do right by family, she is pulled in opposing directions by the unfamiliar task of taking care of a child - her only pregnancy which ended in a miscarriage - and the demands of her live-in uncaring boyfriend, Ed. Not comprehending what has happened and why he can't go home, Jay believes that his parents are in Chicago, where the three were planning on traveling to for a lacrosse tournament. As such, Jay makes it his mission to make his way to Chicago, wherever Chicago may be, to be reunited with his parents, he who runs away. While others are in charge of the Jay aspects of the case, such as social worker Sonja Lee in terms of Jay's overall well-being and Detective Nolan in charge of Jay as a missing person, Anthony, who is going through personal issues with his own father's end of life care - his father never there for him while he was growing up - and being an absent father in he and his ex-wife Maria long ago having divorced, feels the need, both for Jay and for himself, to assume the overall lead with anything concerning Jay.