Holes

by Louis Sachar

  A sign on the door said WRECK ROOM.

  Nearly everything in the room was broken; the TV, the pinball machine, the furniture. Even the people looked broken, with their worn-out bodies sprawled over the various chairs and sofas.

  X-Ray and Armpit were playing pool. The surface of the table reminded Stanley of the surface of the lake. It was full of bumps and holes because so many people had carved their initials into the felt.

  There was a hole in the far wall, and an electric fan had been placed in front of it. Cheap air-conditioning. At least the fan worked.

  As Stanley made his way across the room, he tripped over an outstretched leg.

  “Hey, watch it!” said an orange lump on a chair.

  “You watch it,” muttered Stanley, too tired to care.

  “What’d you say?” the Lump demanded.

  “Nothin’,” said Stanley.

  The Lump rose. He was almost as big as Stanley and a lot tougher. “You said something.” He poked his fat finger in Stanley’s neck. “What’d you say?”

  A crowd quickly formed around them.

  “Be cool,” said X-Ray. He put his hand on Stanley’s shoulder. “You don’t want to mess with the Caveman,” he warned.

  “The Caveman’s cool,” said Armpit.

  “I’m not looking for trouble,” Stanley said. “I’m just tired, that’s all.”

  The Lump grunted.

  X-Ray and Armpit led Stanley over to a couch. Squid slid over to make room as Stanley sat down.

  “Did you see the Caveman back there?” X-Ray asked.

  “The Caveman’s one tough dude,” said Squid, and he lightly punched Stanley’s arm.

  Stanley leaned back against the torn vinyl upholstery. Despite his shower, his body still radiated heat. “I wasn’t trying to start anything,” he said.

  The last thing he wanted to do after killing himself all day on the lake was to get in a fight with a boy called the Caveman. He was glad X-Ray and Armpit had come to his rescue.

  “Well, how’d you like your first hole?” asked Squid.

  Stanley groaned, and the other boys laughed.

  “Well, the first hole’s the hardest,” said Stanley.

  “No way,” said X-Ray. “The second hole’s a lot harder. You’re hurting before you even get started. If you think you’re sore now, just wait and see how you feel tomorrow morning, right?”

  “That’s right,” said Squid.

  “Plus, the fun’s gone,” said X-Ray.

  “The fun?” asked Stanley.

  “Don’t lie to me,” said X-Ray. “I bet you always wanted to dig a big hole, right? Am I right?”

  Stanley had never really thought about it before, but he knew better than to tell X-Ray he wasn’t right.

  “Every kid in the world wants to dig a great big hole,” said X-Ray. “To China, right?”

  “Right,” said Stanley.

  “See what I mean,” said X-Ray. “That’s what I’m saying. But now the fun’s gone. And you still got to do it again, and again, and again.”

  “Camp Fun and Games,” said Stanley.

  “What’s in the box?” asked Squid.

  Stanley had forgotten he had brought it. “Uh, paper. I was going to write a letter to my mother.”

  “Your mother?” laughed Squid.

  “She’ll worry if I don’t.”

  Squid scowled.

  Stanley looked around the room. This was the one place in camp where the boys could enjoy themselves, and what’d they do? They wrecked it. The glass on the TV was smashed, as if someone had put his foot through it. Every table and chair seemed to be missing at least one leg. Everything leaned.

  He waited to write the letter until after Squid had gotten up and joined the game of pool.

  Dear Mom,

  Today was my first day at camp, and I’ve already made some friends. We’ve been out on the lake all day, so I’m pretty tired. Once I pass the swimming test, I’ll get to learn how to water-ski. I

  He stopped writing as he became aware that somebody was reading over his shoulder. He turned to see Zero, standing behind the couch.

  “I don’t want her to worry about me,” he explained.

  Zero said nothing. He just stared at the letter with a serious, almost angry look on his face.

  Stanley slipped it back into the stationery box.

  “Did the shoes have red X’s on the back?” Zero asked him.

  It took Stanley a moment, but then he realized Zero was asking about Clyde Livingston’s shoes.

  “Yes, they did,” he said. He wondered how Zero knew that. Brand X was a popular brand of sneakers. Maybe Clyde Livingston made a commercial for them.

  Zero stared at him for a moment, with the same intensity with which he had been staring at the letter.

  Stanley poked his finger through a hole in the vinyl couch and pulled out some of the stuffing. He wasn’t aware of what he was doing.

  “C’mon, Caveman, dinner,” said Armpit.

  “You coming, Caveman?” said Squid.

  Stanley looked around to see that Armpit and Squid were talking to him. “Uh, sure,” he said. He put the piece of stationery back in the box, then got up and followed the boys out to the tables.

  The Lump wasn’t the Caveman. He was.

  He shrugged his left shoulder. It was better than Barf Bag.

  10

  Stanley had no trouble falling asleep, but morning came much too quickly. Every, muscle and joint in his body ached as he tried to get out of bed. He didn’t think it was possible but his body hurt more than it had the day before. It wasn’t just his arms and back, but his legs, ankles, and waist also hurt. The only thing that got him out of bed was knowing that every second he wasted meant he was one second closer to the rising of the sun. He hated the sun.

  He could hardly lift his spoon during breakfast, and then he was out on the lake, his spoon replaced by a shovel. He found a crack in the ground, and began his second hole.

  He stepped on the shovel blade, and pushed on the very back of the shaft with the base of his thumb. This hurt less than trying to hold the shaft with his blistered fingers.

  As he dug, he was careful to dump the dirt far away from the hole. He needed to save the area around the hole for when his hole was much deeper.

  He didn’t know if he’d ever get that far. X-Ray was right. The second hole was the hardest. It would take a miracle.

  As long as the sun wasn’t out yet, he removed his cap and used it to help protect his hands. Once the sun rose, he would have to put it back on his head. His neck and forehead had been badly burned the day before.

  He took it one shovelful at a time, and tried not to think of the awesome task that lay ahead of him. After an hour or so, his sore muscles seemed to loosen up a little bit.

  He grunted as he tried to stick his shovel into the dirt. His cap slipped out from under his fingers, and the shovel fell free.

  He let it lie there.

  He took a drink from his canteen. He guessed that the water truck should be coming soon, but he didn’t finish all the water, just in case he was wrong. He’d learned to wait until he saw the truck, before drinking the last drop.

  The sun wasn’t yet up, but its rays arced over the horizon and brought light to the sky.

  He reached down to pick up his cap, and there next to it he saw a wide flat rock. As he put his cap on his head, he continued to look down at the rock.

  He picked it up. He thought he could see the shape of a fish, fossilized in it.

  He rubbed off some dirt, and the outline of the fish became clearer. The sun peeked over the horizon, and he could actually see tiny lines where every one of the fish’s bones had been.

  He looked at the barren land all around him. True, everyone referred to this area as “the lake,” but it was still hard to believe that this dry wasteland was once full of water.

  Then he remembered what Mr. Sir and Mr. Pendanski had both said. If he dug up anything interesting, he shou
ld report it to one of them. If the Warden liked it, he would get the rest of the day off.

  He looked back down at his fish. He’d found his miracle.

  He continued to dig, though very slowly, as he waited for the water truck. He didn’t want to bring attention to his find, afraid that one of the other boys might try to take it from him. He tossed the rock, face down, beside his dirt pile, as if it had no special value. A short while later he saw the cloud of dirt heading across the lake.

  The truck stopped and the boys lined up. They always lined up in the same order, Stanley realized, no matter who got there first. X-Ray was always at the front of the line. Then came Armpit, Squid, Zigzag, Magnet, and Zero.

  Stanley got in line behind Zero. He was glad to be at the back, so no one would notice the fossil. His pants had very large pockets, but the rock still made a bulge.

  Mr. Pendanski filled each boy’s canteen, until Stanley was the only one left.

  “I found something,” Stanley said, taking it out of his pocket.

  Mr. Pendanski reached for Stanley’s canteen, but Stanley handed him the rock instead.

  “What’s this?”

  “It’s a fossil,” said Stanley. “See the fish?”

  Mr. Pendanski looked at it again.

  “See, you can even see all of its little bones,” said Stanley.

  “Interesting,” said Mr. Pendanski. “Let me have your canteen.”

  Stanley handed it to him. Mr. Pendanski filled it, then returned it.

  “So do I get the rest of the day off?”

  “What for?”

  “You know, you said if I found something interesting, the Warden would give me the day off.”

  Mr. Pendanski laughed as he gave the fossil back to Stanley. “Sorry, Stanley. The Warden isn’t interested in fossils.”

  “Let me see that,” said Magnet, taking the rock from Stanley.

  Stanley continued to stare at Mr. Pendanski. “Hey, Zig, dig this rock.”

  “Cool,” said Zigzag.

  Stanley saw his fossil being passed around.

  “I don’t see nothing,” said X-Ray. He took off his glasses, wiped them on his dirty clothes, and put them back on.

  “See, look at the little fishy,” said Armpit.

  11

  Stanley returned to his hole. It wasn’t fair. Mr. Pendanski had even said his fossil was interesting. He slammed his shovel into the ground and pried up another piece of earth.

  After a while, he noticed X-Ray had come by and was watching him dig.

  “Hey, Caveman, let me talk to you a second,” X-Ray said.

  Stanley put down his shovel and stepped up out of his hole.

  “Say, listen,” said X-Ray. “If you find something else, give it to me, okay?”

  Stanley wasn’t sure what to say. X-Ray was clearly the leader of the group, and Stanley didn’t want to get on his bad side.

  “You’re new here, right?” said X-Ray. “I’ve been here for almost a year. I’ve never found anything. You know, my eyesight’s not so good. No one knows this, but you know why my name’s X-Ray?”

  Stanley shrugged one shoulder.

  “It’s pig latin for Rex. That’s all. I’m too blind to find anything.”

  Stanley tried to remember how pig latin worked.

  “I mean,” X-Ray went on, “why should you get a day off when you’ve only been here a couple of days? If anybody gets a day off, it should be me. That’s only fair, right?”

  “I guess,” Stanley agreed.

  X-Ray smiled. “You’re a good guy, Caveman.”

  Stanley picked up his shovel.

  The more he thought about it, the more he was glad that he agreed to let X-Ray have anything he might find. If he was going to survive at Camp Green Lake, it was far more important that X-Ray think he was a good guy than it was for him to get one day off. Besides, he didn’t expect to find anything anyway. There probably wasn’t anything “of interest” out there, and even if there was, he’d never been what you could call lucky.

  He slammed his blade into the ground, then dumped out another shovelful of dirt. It was a little surprising, he thought, that X-Ray was the leader of the group, since he obviously wasn’t the biggest or the toughest. In fact, except for Zero, X-Ray was the smallest. Armpit was the biggest. Zigzag may have been taller than Armpit, but that was only because of his neck. Yet Armpit, and all the others, seemed to be willing to do whatever X-Ray asked of them.

  As Stanley dug up another shovelful of dirt, it occurred to him that Armpit wasn’t the biggest. He, the Caveman, was bigger.

  He was glad they called him Caveman. It meant they accepted him as a member of the group. He would have been glad even if they’d called him Barf Bag.

  It was really quite remarkable to him. At school, bullies like Derrick Dunne used to pick on him. Yet Derrick Dunne would be scared senseless by any of the boys here.

  As he dug his hole, Stanley thought about what it would be like if Derrick Dunne had to fight Armpit or Squid. Derrick wouldn’t stand a chance.

  He imagined what it would be like if he became good friends with all of them, and then for some reason they all went with him to his school, and then Derrick Dunne tried to steal his notebook …

  “Just what do you think you’re doing?” asks Squid, as he slams his hands into Derrick Dunne’s smug face.

  “Caveman’s our friend,” says Armpit, grabbing him by the shirt collar.

  Stanley played the scene over and over again in his mind, each time watching another boy from Group D beat up Derrick Dunne. It helped him dig his hole and ease his own suffering. Whatever pain he felt was being felt ten times worse by Derrick.

  12

  Again, Stanley was the last one to finish digging. It was late afternoon when he dragged himself back to the compound. This time he would have accepted a ride on the truck if it was offered.

  When he got to the tent, he found Mr. Pendanski and the other boys sitting in a circle on the ground.

  “Welcome, Stanley,” said Mr. Pendanski.

  “Hey, Caveman. You get your hole dug?” asked Magnet.

  He managed to nod.

  “You spit in it?” asked Squid.

  He nodded again. “You’re right,” he said to X-Ray. “The second hole’s the hardest.”

  X-Ray shook his head. “The third hole’s the hardest,” he said.

  “Come join our circle,” said Mr. Pendanski.

  Stanley plopped down between Squid and Magnet. He needed to rest up before taking a shower.

  “We’ve been discussing what we want to do with our lives,” said Mr. Pendanski. “We’re not going to be at Camp Green Lake forever. We need to prepare for the day we leave here and join the rest of society.”

  “Hey, that’s great, Mom!” said Magnet. “They’re going to finally let you out of here?”

  The other boys laughed.

  “Okay, José,” said Mr. Pendanski. “What do you want to do with your life?”

  “I don’t know,” said Magnet.

  “You need to think about that,” said Mr. Pendanski. “It’s important to have goals. Otherwise you’re going to end up right back in jail. What do you like to do?”

  “I don’t know,” said Magnet.

  “You must like something,” said Mr. Pendanski.

  “I like animals,” said Magnet.

  “Good,” said Mr. Pendanski. “Does anyone know of any jobs that involve animals?”

  “Veterinarian,” said Armpit.

  “That’s right,” said Mr. Pendanski.

  “He could work in a zoo,” said Zigzag.

  “He belongs in the zoo,” said Squid, then he and X-Ray laughed.

  “How about you, Stanley? Any ideas for José?”

  Stanley sighed. “Animal trainer,” he said. “Like for the circus, or movies, or something like that.”

  “Any of those jobs sound good to you, José?” asked Mr. Pendanski.

  “Yeah, I like what Caveman said. About training
animals for movies. I think it would be fun to train monkeys.”

  X-Ray laughed.

  “Don’t laugh, Rex,” said Mr. Pendanski. “We don’t laugh at people’s dreams. Someone is going to have to train monkeys for the movies.”

  “Who are you kidding, Mom?” asked X-Ray. “Magnet’s never going to be a monkey trainer.”

  “You don’t know that,” said Mr. Pendanski. “I’m not saying it’s going to be easy. Nothing in life is easy. But that’s no reason to give up. You’ll be surprised what you can accomplish if you set your mind to it. After all, you only have one life, so you should try to make the most of it.”

  Stanley tried to figure out what he’d say if Mr. Pendanski asked him what he wanted to do with his life. He used to think he wanted to work for the F.B.I., but this didn’t seem the appropriate place to mention that.

  “So far you’ve all done a pretty good job at messing up your lives,” said Mr. Pendanski. “I know you think you’re cool.” He looked at Stanley. “So you’re Caveman, now, huh? You like digging holes, Caveman?”

  Stanley didn’t know what to say.

  “Well, let me tell you something, Caveman. You are here on account of one person. If it wasn’t for that person, you wouldn’t be here digging holes in the hot sun. You know who that person is?”

  “My no-good-dirty-rotten-pig-stealing-great-great-grandfather.”

  The other boys howled with laughter.

  Even Zero smiled.

  It was the first time Stanley had ever seen Zero smile. He usually had such an angry expression on his face. Now he had such a huge smile it almost seemed too big for his face, like the smile on a jack-o’-lantern.

  “No,” said Mr. Pendanski. “That person is you, Stanley. You’re the reason you are here. You’re responsible for yourself. You messed up your life, and it’s up to you to fix it. No one else is going to do it for you—for any of you.”

  Mr. Pendanski looked from one boy to another. “You’re all special in your own way,” he said. “You’ve all got something to offer. You have to think about what you want to do, then do it. Even you, Zero. You’re not completely worthless.”

  The smile was now gone from Zero’s face.