Desperado: A Holes Fanfiction

Stanley

Zero helped me finish digging X-Ray's hole when he got the rest of the day off. I immediately regretted handing over the gold tube as the sun beamed down on the both of us. "She's your sister, right? Ty," I asked Zero.

"Yeah, twin sister," he rolled his eyes, "She likes to pretend she's older but I have her beat by two minutes." I chuckled because I assumed she was older. She was taller than Zero and more outgoing.

"Do you know why The Warden gave her that tube?" Zero kept his head down and kept digging.

"Not suppose to talk about it," he said.

That night, the D-Tent had a group therapy session with Dr. Pendanski.

"We try to do this at least once a month," he said. Pendanski spent the first ten minutes lecturing us about changing our lives and building character before Ty made her grand entrance.

"Sorry, I know I'm late," she took a seat between Squid and Zig Zag. Her eyes were red and her hair frizzy. She looked like she'd been up studying all night for a big exam. Nonetheless, she was still stunning.

"Don't let it happen again," Pendanski said without looking at her. She rolled her eyes and crossed her arms in front of her chest. "We're going to do an exercise," he clapped his hands, "Let's go around the room and say one thing that you want out this experience." Ty let out another sigh and rolled her eyes once more. Pendanski ignored her. Magnet started off with mentioning he wanted a pet. X-Ray joked that he'd end up back in here for stealing one again. Armpit wanted to make an honest living and finish school.

Zig-Zag pushed his hair out of his face and shrugged, "I don't know. I just wanna go home I guess." The other boys laughed at his response but Ty kept a straight face.

"Awww," Squid patronized before Ty slapped him in the stomach.

Ty leaned in and put a hand on Zig-Zag's shoulder. Their faces were inches apart. "You are home," she said with a warm smile. He smiled back.

X sucked his teeth and waved her off, "Man, get out of here with that mess,"

"Settle down," Pendanski said, "Tyler, you're up."

"Pass," she said while examining her fingernails, "I'm never getting out of here."

"For my sake, I hope you do," Squid winked at her and she cringed.

"Enough," Pendanski warned.

Finally, we got to Zero, who mirrored Ty's body language: arms crossed. "What about you, Zero? What do you like to do?" As expected, he stayed silent.

"He only talks to Cavemen," said Armpit.

"He doesn't owe any of you his words," Ty said in her brother's defense.

"I think Zero needs to learn to speak for himself. Isn't that right, Zero?" Pendanski leaned forward as he dragged out his words. "You just won't talk with me will you?"

Zero exchanged looks with myself and Ty before finally responding, "I like digging holes."

"Well, you're in the right place for it, buddy boy," the tension between Pendanski and Zero was thick and uncomfortable.

Suddenly, Ty stood up, "Are you done?" Squid told her to sit back down under his breath. "No," she said, "I can't sit here anymore and watch you single him out. You don't talk to anyone else like you do Zero. Why?"

"Tyler – what did we say about being disruptive?" Pendanski warned.

"Disruptive," she huffed, "This whole place is disruptive."

"How about you have a seat and tell us a little more about what that means," Pendanski kept his cool.

"Pass," she said before storming out of the room.

"Never fails," X-Ray said under his breath. 

On the way back to the tent, I caught a glimpse of Ty leaning against the shovel shed smoking a cigarette. Her hair glowed in the moonlight while her face was hidden by the shadows. Although I couldn't see them, I could feel her eyes on me. Maybe she was the "cameras and microphones" Zig-Zag thought The Warden had planted around the camp. If so, I didn't mind too much. She finished the cigarette before crushing the bud under her white sneaker and disappearing into the night like the dark angel she was.