Staying Silent
Whyteroze28
Why is Hector Zeroni so quiet, and why does Pendanski seem to hate him so much? Zero/Stanley I hope you like the story, please R/R
I obviously don't own these guys, but I think they're so cute together
Chapter 9
The next day, Ziggy was in a mood, claiming it was his birthday. Hector didn't know what day it was, but he knew that if anyone did, it was Zig-Zag. The boy had a head for dates, the way Hector had one for numbers.
By lunchtime however, things had seemed to be calming down. The boys were still picking on Stanley and Hector, but it wasn't anything either of them hadn't heard before.
But then Pendanski had brought the truck, and delivered lunch, and Hector felt that sick feeling in his stomach again. He'd glanced at Pendanski, but he was busy talking to one of the other boys. Then his gaze had fallen on Zig-Zag, who was striding over towards him and Stanley, and he knew. The bomb was counting down.
At first Ziggy made some stupid joke about giving Stanley his cookie in exchange for letting Ziggy dig. Stanley tried to brush it off, and Hector watched Ziggy's face harden. He was deliberately provoking the other boy.
Suddenly, Pendanski was there, and Hector realized that he wasn't going to stop Zig-Zag. He was actually encouraging Stanley to fight him back. He glanced up, and saw the grin spread across the man's face. Pendanski knew how he felt about Stanley. That had to be it. He wanted to watch the other boy get the crap beat out of him, and wanted Hector to see it... to know he was still in control.
Hector saw red. As he watched Zig-Zag tossing Stanley around like a dishrag, he took a running start, and latched onto the taller boy, arms locked around his throat in a deathgrip. He barely felt the other boys trying to pull him off, or heard Pendanski's voice. All he could think about was the blind fury assaulting his senses as he saw Stanley lying there. He knew that he was probably killing the other boy, he felt his struggles weakening, but he didn't care. At that moment, Zig-Zag represented everything that was wrong in his life.
Suddenly, he heard a gunshot, and his arms released. Subconsciously, he was assessing himself, even though he knew that they weren't going to waste their bullets on him. He slid away from Ziggy, his gaze turning on Pendanski, standing there with a rifle in his hand, and then he walked over to Stanley to help him up. "Are you alright?" he asked, and glanced up.
He saw Stanley staring at him, amazed, and then, he saw a small spark of something burning in the other boy's eyes. He allowed himself a small smile, even though he knew that this was it. Either the warden would send him to a real jail for attempted murder, or he'd get worse from Pendanski.
As he listened to the conversation around him, he felt the warden's eyes on him. Especially when she found out about the reading lessons. Obviously, she didn't have hidden cameras then, or she'd already know. But then Pendanski started in. He felt his lips moving, and knew that if he gave in to the urge to talk he'd say a lot more than cat. So he stayed silent, knowing he was just playing into the man's hands, but not sure what else he could do.
Then the warden announced that he couldn't have his lessons anymore, and he knew that if they stopped, Stanley would start avoiding him again. He felt the anger rise up again, not hot, but freezing, and he knew. If he stayed, he wouldn't survive the night. "I'm not digging anymore holes." he stated, and he saw Stanley glance over at him, understanding shining in his eyes. He knew that Hector didn't just mean that he would stop helping.
Then Pendanski threw him the shovel. As he caught it, his body was already sizing up the weight in his hand, and as he heard the man spelling again, he glanced down, giving the impression that he was actually thinking about it. In his mind, he saw the bomb again, and almost felt the explosion as it went off. Then he reached for the rage, and swung as hard as he could. He felt the impact, saw the man go down, and crouched down, putting all the contempt he'd felt for the man into the word that came rushing out of his mouth. "Dig!"
Then he jumped up and ran, still holding the shovel like a lifeline. He heard Stanley yell, "Go, Zero! Go! Run, Zero!" And dared to glance over his shoulder at the boy, who was smiling. He felt a bit sad that Stanley hadn't called him by his name, but he suddenly realized that it was probably for the benefit of the others. After all, none of them even knew his name.