My Angel, My Only
Chapter Two ll Destiny's Shoes
======
Hector Zeroni lived on the streets for the next two years. He didn't follow the usual ways of street children, and was not at all violent. All he hoped for, was for his mother to come back.
He just didn't understand where she had gone to.
When the weather was terrible, he'd find refuge at the homeless shelter. But he had to find someone to pretend to be his mother, first. Or else they would've branded him as a ward of the state. He had no idea what that meant, but it didn't sound too nice.
Hector felt like he had to be really careful. His mother had always told him not to talk to strangers and not to say that she had left him alone for the time being. It was their little secret. When he had asked her why he couldn't tell them, she had simply hugged him tightly and murmured that they would take him away from her.
And now she was gone. Maybe he hadn't been careful enough. Maybe he had accidentally told someone that she walked away. But Hector was sure he hadn't; he didn't like talking to anyone. He kept to himself and took care of himself.
He watched the Cub Scouts in their blue uniforms, and pretended that he was a scout too.
Life didn't seem to have high hopes for Hector. He got his food from the same corner store, and slept wherever he found refuge. He liked sleeping outside. Most of the time at a bus stop. When he really needed something, he would go to the homeless shelter and take something that other people had donated.
Hector yawned and stretched, feeling deliriously happy and warm. He got up and shuffled towards the corner store. On his way, he found a book. Curious, he picked it up and sat onto the pathway, flicking through it.
It was a book on math.
He looked at the first few pages, feeling intruiged by it. After the sun was high up in the sky and he could no longer ignore the hungry feeling in his stomach, Hector went to the corner store, where he was greeted by the store owner.
"Thank you," Hector murmured with a grateful smile, when he collected his usual breakfast meal of a ham sandwich, banana and carton of chocolate milk.
"Anytime, Zero," the storekeeper smiled. He had nicknamed him 'Zero' because Hector had told him his surname; Zeroni.
For the next week, Hector looked at the book on math. It didn't really make much sense to him, as he couldn't read. But the numbers seemed to fit together in his mind, and he understood what the book was trying to say.
Hector practiced it with abandoned pencils and on the concrete path. Soon, he was an expert at it. To help time pass by, he would recite the multiplication table that he had taken three days to learn.
Whenever Hector felt that his clothes were dirty, he would wander just outside of the shelter and ask someone to act as his mother. Most of the women he asked obliged, and then he was allowed into the shelter to use the showers, and to get new clothing. Then he'd stay for the evening meal and have a nice warm bed.
But Hector hardly ever went into the shelter. Once a month, he'd treat himself, but he didn't make frequent visits. Only if it was absolutely necessary.
One week, it rained for the entire seven days. He found a nice lady called Cherie who said she'd pretend to be his mother for as long as he wanted her to. Hector stayed at the shelter for the whole week, until it stopped raining. He went over to the donation room, and scrounged around for some new clothes. The shelter volunteers always washed the clothes that the other people had donated, for hygiene reasons.
Hector found a large navy jumper and beige pants that he liked. He changed into them, after taking his shower in the bathrooms. He felt clean, and prepared himself for life back out on the streets, when he decided he needed new shoes as well.
There were banners strung across the ward, where all the beds were. There was a long table, which had lots of items that people had obviously donated. Hector wondered why they had moved them out into the ward, when they should be in the donation room.
Maybe the donation room has too much stuff in it already.
So Hector looked at the items on the long table. It was almost like a display. There were lots of signs, but he couldn't understand them.
His eyes fell onto a pair of shoes. They were white and had red x's on the back. He decided he liked them. Hector reached in and took them, and walked towards the bed he had slept in. No one seemed to have noticed.
The shoes smelt really bad, Hector decided, as he put them on. But they were still good, and were almost a perfect fit.
Suddenly, there was a yell.
"Where are the shoes?!"
"The shoes are gone!"
A cluster of adults were running around, yelling and shrieking. An astounded-looking lady was staring at the table where all the other items were.
Hector had a feeling they were talking about the shoes he had just put on. But he got up slowly, and made his way out of the shelter.
No one even looked at him.
"The shoes are gone! Find them! Where could they be?!"
Everyone was in chaos, running around. Hector started to feel scared. Once he was outside, he began to run. He forgot to thank Cherie, but he'd just have to do it later. He ran down the bridge, when he heard sirens.
Feeling even more panicked, he bent down and undid the laces of the shoes. Then he scrambled back up, tying the laces together so that whoever found the shoes next would find them as a pair.
Hector grabbed the shoes, and threw them over the bridge. He watched as they sailed through the air. He didn't bother to check where they landed. Further down the bridge, he saw the police car in the distant, coming in his direction.
He tried to look innocent as he slowly walked down the bridge, as if he had been doing that all along.
The police car rushed past him, and Hector watched it as it continued to drive down the bridge. The sirens were flashing and beeping.
Hector sincerely hoped that no one had found the shoes.
Later that day, when he had returned back to the shelter, he was relieved to see things had returned back to normal, though many of the shelter managing people looked concerned and nervous.
"Clyde Livingston's shoes have been stolen!" he heard an anxious lady tell another.
"No!" gasped the other lady, clasping her open mouth with her hand.
Hector glanced sideways at them. He knew who Clyde Livingston was. He had heard of him being a famous baseball player.
Could it be possible that the sneakers...?
No, he told himself, Those shoes weren't Clyde Livingston's. They can't have been. It's just not possible.
All the same, Hector looked back to the table where the sneakers had been.
...I can't have worn a pair of famous sneakers... even it had only been for a few minutes...
It's just not possible.
---
After a quick breakfast of cocoa pops the next morning at the shelter, Hector concluded that he really needed to wear some shoes. None of the ones in the donation room fitted him.
Well, he'd just have to try and take some from another store.
"Hi Hector, had a nice breakfast?" Cherie came up to him, smiling warmly.
He smiled back and nodded, "Thanks for pretending to be my mum... But I'm leaving now."
Cherie looked hurt and disappointed, "Why?"
Hector paused. It would be almost heaven to him to live at the shelter, but he didn't really feel like he deserved it. It was absurd, the way he thought things.
"My mother told me to wait for her at Laney Park two years ago," Hector finally said, trying to keep his voice steady, "If I stay in the shelter, how will she ever find me?"
"You're still waiting for her?" Cherie said, looking surprised.
Hector swallowed, and nodded. He knew his mother wasn't coming back. She hated him. That was why she left him.
"Well, I'll miss you," Cherie said, giving him a hug. It was the first time he had recieved a hug from anyone since his mother had left him, and Hector felt warm tears spring into his eyes.
"I'll miss you too," he murmured. Then he smiled one last time, and left the shelter.
He thought he'd be coming back, no matter if it was in a week's time. Or a month's. Or a year's.
He had no idea he'd end up at Camp Green Lake.
Entering the mall, Hector felt glad he had scrubbed up his apperance. He didn't receive any dirty looks from the strangers that were shopping. His jumper and pants were clean, and his pants were so long that they covered his sock-covered feet. No one could see he didn't have any shoes.
He entered a semi-crowded shop, and looked at the shoes on display. He found a pair that were alright to his taste, and took them off the shelf. He sat himself down onto one of the seats, pretending to try the shoes on. Once they were on, he stood up.
Then he began to walk out of the store.
"Hey! You there!"
He just knew that the person was yelling at him.
Hector wasn't sure what he should do. He could either run, turn around, or ignore the person yelling. But no, none of them would work very well. If he ran, he'd be caught by the security guards. If he turned around, well, that was stupid. If he ignored the person, they'd come after him.
So he just remained stationary, waiting for the man to run up to him.
"Let me see your shoes."
Unflinchingly, Hector rolling up one of his pants legs. He didn't really care anymore. After he had received that hug, he realised that all he had wanted was his mother, and she wasn't coming back. So what was there to live for, anyway?
"Did you pay for them?" the man questioned sternly. Everyone had turned to look.
What a stupid question.
"No."
"Young man, I'm afraid I'm going to have to ring the security. Then your parents."
So Hector let himself be led back into the office of the store. He sat in a chair while the man called for the security.
All the while, he didn't care.
Two security guards came down and questioned Hector thoroughly.
"What is your home phone number?" one of them asked.
He didn't say anything.
The guards and the store owner glanced at each other.
"Where are your parents?" they tried again.
Hector didn't say anything.
The guards looked lost.
"I have no parents," he finally whispered.
---
Somehow, the police got involved with the whole fiasco. They arrived at the shelter, and called for a judge for a court trial. But no one seemed to have the heart to arrange one. No one seemed to care.
So the judge arrived at the shelter, in the middle of her skiing holiday.
"Well now, Mr. Zeroni," she said breathlessly, shaking snow out of hair, and sitting down in a seat.
"You have a choice to repay for your offence. Camp Green Lake, or jail."
Hector said nothing. He didn't care.
"He doesn't speak too much," one of the security guards spoke up, "It's like his head's empty. He's got nobody; no family or relations. He is nobody."
Hector still did not react at these harsh words. Perhaps it was because he didn't care.
He just wanted his mother. He could hear her soft, beautiful voice...
"If only, if only,
The moon speaks no reply,
Reflecting the sun and all that's gone by.
Be strong my weary wolf, turn around boldly,
Fly high, my baby bird,
My angel, my only."
"I once got a prize for selling the most cookies in the Girl Scouts," she'd said in a proud voice.
...Girl Scouts. A camp. Hector remembered how he had wanted to be in the Cub Scouts camp, and wear the blue uniform.
"Vacancies don't last long at Camp Green Lake," the judge said, breaking into his thoughts, "So what do you say, Hector Zeroni? Jail, or Camp Green Lake?"
Hector bowed his head, as if deep in thought. Then he looked up again.
"Camp Green Lake."
======
---->A/N: Oooh, and it begins! In case some of you haven't noticed, I only post the next chapter when I've received at least 5 reviews for my previous one. =] So just keep dropping your comments and I'll be happy! XD
I watched New York Minute yesterday with my friends. It was okay. But the plot was kind of... typical. Lol, okay, I'm a terrible critic. Anyway, just wanted to thank you all for reviewing. I love Zero too. He's my fave D-tent boy and quite frankly, I think my friends want to kill me because I talk about him and Holes so much. =] Because I love him so much, I decided to write a story about his past, because the book gives us a general idea.
To roguemagic: my email is krazypinkmuffinz. At hotmail. I think you get it. Fanfiction won't let me post the whole address up, so yeah. Lol.
And NO, ZERO IS MINE BWAHAHAHAHA! XD Actually, I've taken quite a liking to Squiddy diddly too. =] --MSQ.