Desperado: A Holes Fanfiction

Stanley

"So, you're teaching Hector how to read?" she said softly. Her eyes narrowed as she looked into mine.

I stammered, "Yeah, I uh- he asked me if –"

She smiled before I could finish and said, "That's really sweet. He could use a friend like you. We all could." I blushed and looked down at my feet, growing nervous once again. "Squid is already washing The Wardens car. His punishment for earlier I guess," she explained as she scanned the area around us, "I just needed an excuse to get you alone." She pushed a single curl behind her ear, revealing several piercings that traveled from her earlobe to the cartilage.

"Oh yeah?" I was giddy, "Why's that?"

She laughed softly and shrugged, "I dont know. I thought maybe youd want to talk about what happened earlier? With Mr. Sir. Or maybe I just wanted to see a friendly face after such a weird day,"She trailed off.

"Yeah about that," I started, "Are you okay?"

"Me?" she huffed, "I was worried about you!" We laughed before her face fell serious. "Look," she said, "Lou plays mind games just like the rest of them. Dont let your guard down. Okay?" She raised both of her eyebrows as she waited for a response from me.

"Okay," I repeated.

"See you tonight," she winked before strutting off down the hill.

Later that night, I met Ty in the laundry room, as always. Hector joined us. She casually pulled three Coca Cola bottles from the mini fridge in Mr. Sirs office.

"He wont notice these are missing?" I asked.

Ty shook her head and Hector snorted, "Mr. Sir cant even remember what he had for breakfast." We laughed and she took a seat on the floor with us. We formed a circle around a single candle that Hector lit with a match. In complete darkness, the light of the flame glowed on Ty's face. She placed the gold tube that I found last week in front of her followed by a leather-bound journal.

"Stanley, you're new to this. So let me bring you up to speed. The Wardens grandfather used to own this land when it was a town. A school teacher, Kate Barlow, was the apple of his eye," Hector rolled his eyes and pouted theatrically, "Unfortunately, she was already in love with a black man who sold onions outside the school house, Sam. They shared a kiss late one night in the school house, a total sin in those days. When granddaddy Walker found out, he was pissed! He rounded up his boys and they burned down the old school house right in front of poor Kate Barlow. She ran to the sheriffs office for help, but he was drunk and tried to force himself on her. 'Gimmie a kiss!' he demanded, grabbing her by the wrist," Hector shook his head as his sister continued the ghost story. I listened intently as everything I'd ever known about The Legend of Kissin Kate Barlow and Camp Green Lake started to come together.

Ty continued, "He threatened to have Sam hanged! Kate, with all her bravery, told the sheriff he better hang her too because she kissed him back," she kept her eyes on me. Although I couldnt tell in the dark, it appeared as though she was holding back tears, "That was when she heard the gunshots. They'd shot Onion Sam while he was out on the lake, defenseless and without warning. Killed his donkey too. It never rained again on this land after that. To avenge her one and only love, Kate Barlow vowed to only kiss a man she'd killed herself. Hence, the nickname," Ty perked up and rolled her shoulders back, "Anyway, tomorrow marks exactly 110 years since Onion Sams murder. I say we do somethin special in his honor," She held her full Coca Cola bottle high and said, "To Onion Sam!" Hector and I repeated and clinked our bottles with her before taking a sip.

The next day, I got up early with the rest of the D-Tent for another day of digging. As agreed, Zero helped me dig my hole once he was finished with his, in exchange for reading lesson. We practiced spelling words as we dug. The other boys in our tent werent happy with our arrangement.

"Wheres your whip, Caveman? Don't want your slave slacking off," Armpit said.

"Wassup, stupid?" X-Ray sneered at Hector before pushing a pile of dirt back into my hole.

When Mr. Sir drove up with the water truck, we hopped out of our holes and took our places in line, already parched from the first hour of the day. I wasnt expecting to see Ty hop out of the passenger seat of the truck. She held in her arms a rectangle container that was covered with aluminum foil.

"Howdy, boys!" she called out with glee, her tone terrifyingly similar to the Warden's, "Today is a special day!" She placed the container on the back of the truck and unveiled the dozen chocolate chip cookies inside, my favorite. How did she know that? She flashed me a wink before saying, "Enjoy."

The boys rushed for the container, shoving each other out of the way as they drew handfuls.

"Now, now, boys one at a time," Mom called out to us, "Tyler has been so kind to treat you boys to a little surprise. Lets show her our appreciation."

"What the occasion?" Squids eyes narrowed with suspicion when he asked what everyone was thinking.

"National holiday," Ty responded tightly. She tilted her head and pulled her lips into a cold, tight-lipped smile, revealing both dimples. She looked like a baby doll with her hair pulled into to braids that came down to her shoulders. The other boys faces twisted with confusion as they attempted to memorize the years calendar and all of its holidays. Hector and I knew exactly what Ty meant: On this day, 110 years ago, Green Lake, Texas saw its very last rain drop.