Disclaimer: Desperate Housewives is not mine in any way. I just like to amuse myself.
Story Summary: A series of drabbles that focus on the pasts of different characters.
Ten Snapshots
By Ryeloza
Two: Carlos
One
Every day his mother walks him to and from school: ten blocks there; ten blocks back. In the mornings she prepares him for the day ahead. They review sums like: eight plus twelve and six plus nine; and spelling words like: friend and neighbor.
In the afternoons they discuss the school day. Every day she asks, "What did you learn today in school?" and "What did you have trouble with?" He dutifully recites the answer, always proud and never lying because at six he believes everything she tells him.
And she always says, "You'll never be anything unless you're smart."
Two
One afternoon, Carlos' mother picks him up from a friend's house and they go to his aunt Connie's. "We live here now," she explains. "It's closer to school. You can walk there with your cousins now."
Carlos is mostly focused on the basketball hoop, but he pauses at this and looks up at his mother. "Why can't you take me?"
"I got a new job. I'll be working."
"That's stupid." Carlos kicks a rock and pouts. "What was wrong with your old job?"
"Don't be disrespectful, mijo." She doesn't answer his question, but, truthfully, Carlos really doesn't need her to.
Three
Two china dogs sit alongside his aunt's fireplace. Their names are Flap and Otto. For as long as Carlos can remember, every time he came into Connie's house her first words to him were, "Don't touch the dogs." Now that Carlos lives there, she no longer says this.
One day, Carlos sneaks the dogs into his backpack. His cousins never walk him home like they're supposed to, so after school Carlos goes to the pawn shop and sells the dogs for twenty-two dollars. Then he takes the money to his mother.
"Now you won't have to work anymore," he explains.
Four
Carlos' three cousins, Antonio, Rosie and Luis, are all older than he is. After the pawn shop incident, they offer him money to do things for them. Rosie gives him a quarter to hide her makeup in his backpack until they get to school. Antonio pays him to do his chores. Luis constantly offers him money just to go away. It's a good deal.
Carlos isn't stupid though. He knows they make fun of him for being poor and desperate. But every cent goes into a tin can in his closet, saved to get him one day closer to freedom.
Five
One day after school, Carlos sees Luis punch his friend Randy Lyons. Randy runs away and doesn't say anything, but Carlos goes straight to the principal's office and tells him what happened on the playground. His aunt is called to the school and Luis is suspended for the rest of the week. At home there is a lot of yelling and screaming, but no one knows that Carlos is the one who told. He treasures his secret; guards it carefully. For the first time in his young life, he feels powerful and it is a feeling he won't let go.
Six
"I know it was you."
It has been a week since Luis punched Randy. The words come out like slithering snakes into the dark room and Carlos shivers under his blankets. "What?" he asks, trying to sound confident.
"I'm not going to tell."
There is a long pause. Carlos is almost certain this is a trick, a way to get him to confess, but curiosity gets the best of him and he asks, "Why?"
"We're family, stupid. We have to protect each other."
Carlos bites his lip, feeling horribly guilty. "Mama says that."
"Well she's right. Remember that next time."
Seven
One night, Carlos sneaks out of bed to get his can of money. There is a girl at school with pretty eyes and cute dimples; he wants to buy her a present to show her he likes her. When there is no rattle of change, he becomes nervous; when he opens the can to find the money gone, he is irate. Without thinking, he pounces on Luis' bed, throwing wild punches with no regard to how much bigger his cousin is. The commotion wakes up the whole house, but Carlos doesn't back off until his uncle physically pulls him back.
Eight
The matter of the money isn't settled. Luis insists he never touched it, but Carlos won't believe him. They fight constantly—little matters escalated by the thievery—and Carlos takes to sleeping on the couch. He won't speak to Luis until he admits what he did.
At night, he hears his mother and aunt in the kitchen, fighting about the money. Carlos is sure Mama is sticking up for him. He's sure she's going to get his money back. It's just a matter of time.
Then, one morning, his mother wakes him and announces they're moving in with his grandmother.
Nine
"I want to put my money in the bank."
Carlos announces this with the utmost seriousness. He has a job after school now delivering groceries, and he no longer trusts his tin can system.
"Then put it in the bank."
"You have to sign on the account with me. I'm too young to do it myself."
His mother stares at him with sad eyes. "Ask your grandmother to do it, mijo. I shouldn't."
"But—"
"I took your money, Carlos."
Carlos doesn't understand; can't understand. All he knows is that he would have given her the money if she'd asked.
Ten
At fourteen, there is a lot that Carlos finally understands.
He understands that he has to be smart so he can get into college and then find a good job.
He understands that his family will always take care of him.
He understands that his mother has a gambling problem.
When the money finally runs out and his grandmother can't support them and there's absolutely no way to possibly pay the bills, Carlos is the one who takes his mother to his aunt's and says, "We live here now. And you need to get help."
At fourteen, Carlos finally understands.