Desperado: A Holes Fanfiction

Tyler Zeroni-Yelnats

Six Years Later...

"And that is how I met your father," I met little Chloe's big brown eyes and brushed a stray curl from her forehead before kissing it softly. She smelled of bubble bath and lavender. Everyone we meet calls her my mini-me, but when I look at her, all I see is my brother. "Sleep tight, baby girl." I switched off the lamp on her nightstand and rose to exit, cradling my growing belly with one hand and supporting my lower back with the other. "Any day now," said the doctor, the "delivery man" as Chloe calls him. I don't think I can go through this again. I made a mental note to ask the delivery man about birth control.

"But, mommy," Chloe whined, her eyebrows furrowed. I let out a deep sigh, ready for what was coming next. Every night before bedtime, Chloe asked for the story about Camp Green Lake. "You never said what happened next."

I turned to her with my hands on my hips.

"You happened next." I found out I was pregnant just months after we left Green Lake, sending our parents into a tizzy. Given this is Texas, abortion wasn't an option. And I couldn't bring myself to give her up. Thank goodness, we could afford another mouth to feed with Stanley's inheritance. "I thought the purpose of a bedtime story was to put you to bed."

She rolled her eyes and giggled as she sat up straight.

"But I still have questions!" she whined. Chloe was full of questions.

Why don't flamingos fly like other birds?

How did they build the pyramids without cranes?

How do you always know what I'm thinking?

Who invented the firetruck?

What is traffic?

She was dangerously curious of a five-year-old.

"You've heard this story how many times and you still have questions?"

"What was in the treasure chest?"

"Oh, lots of things," I sat on the edge of her mattress and she came closer, tucking her ankles beneath her, "Gold coins, old bank bonds, pictures, jewelry," I wiggled my left hand before her to show off the diamond encrusted wedding band that suffocated my swollen ring finger. I had to get the fire department to cut off the engagement ring at five months. Really, this kid needs to come soon.

"And grandpa invented Spoosh!" She cheered with pride. Being related to the inventor of the world greatest foot spray was her claim to fame at school. You would think she invented it. "But, what did daddy do with the rest?"

"Well for starters, he gave your uncle Hector half as a thank you for helping him," I felt the baby tumble in my womb, pressing her toes against my spine, and I groaned, "We bought houses right next door to each other, so we could stay best friends. In fact, this used to be my bedroom."

"Is she hurting you?"

"Not yet," I said with a huff.

"What about your mom? Did you ever find her?" This was a new question. Chloe only ever knew Stanley's parents. They still lived next door. Though she'd met my mom when she was very little, she'd never remember her. Thank God!

I swallowed. knowing I could not tell a lie. Chloe was little, but she was still a Zeroni woman who would one day possess the Zeroni touch. "Your uncle Hector hired a private investigator to find her," Chloe leaned in and raised her eyebrows, signaling for me to go on, "And he found her. She lived with us for a little while before you were born. But, baby, she had problems." How do you explain to a five-year-old that her mysterious grandmother was a drug addict who didn't want to be a mom?