Desperado: A Holes Fanfiction

The Untold Story of Elroy Zeroni

Elroy Zeroni was taught natural healing by his mother in Latvia, affectionately known by the people in their village as Madame Zeroni. Madame Zeroni was reluctant to allow her son to explore America, an unknown world that breeds stories of war and cruelty.

"They enslaved people like us! We came here to escape that evil and you want to walk right into it -" Madame Zeroni waved off her son, "I don't understand."

"Harry says their land is full of gold, mama. I promise you I'll come back with enough gold to carve you the crown you deserve," he brushed his thumb across her wrinkled cheek.

"Harry is a nincompoop," she chuckled as she took a drag from her pipe, filled with a blend of tobacco and other herbs from her garden.

Madame Zeroni shook her head at her son's fanciful dreams, "You've always been a drifter. This world will never be big enough for you."

Elroy sighed, defeated that he'll never get his mother's final approval. Suddenly, she reached under her rocking chair and held a leather bound journal against his chest, "At least take this with you. The ancestors – they'll watch over you, my son." The old journal was passed down the Zeroni family bloodline for generations. It was the family's very own spiritual almanac with remedies, moon schedules, potions, rituals, even a section for interpreting dreams, written in the native language to be kept safe from outsiders who wish to use their practices for evil.

And so, with only the clothes on his back and the Zeroni family book, Elroy boarded a ship, crowded with other hopeful men, and set sail for the New World. In his pocket he held a letter from an old friend who also left Latvia a year before to follow the same dream.

Elroy,

I am finally settled into my new home in America. I'm washing dishes at a local saloon. It's not a fortune, but it's better than anything we have ever gotten for shoveling pig shit back home. The boss says I work so well, he hopes that I send more friends like me from Latvia. Should you ever build the courage to leave home behind, know that you are welcome to join me here. This is my address for now on. Please write soon.

Your Friend,

Harrison Holland

13 Main Street

Green Lake, TX

Elroy took up a job as a bar back in town as soon as he landed in Green Lake. As it turned out, his friend Harrison passed on with scarlet fever six months prior and the saloon where he worked needed help. Elroy, young and eager, was their saving grace.

Not to mention, Elroy healed the gunshot wound of a favored patron without asking questions. Not only did Elroy treat the wound, he saved that man's life. By the next moon cycle, the entire town was coming to Elroy for help with scarlet fever, snakebites, measles and mumps. He earned enough money to build a shack further along the lake and a donkey, whom he named Mary Lou.

It wasn't long before the town Sheriff began to question Elroy's skills. "Not many coloreds around here heading off to medical school," he inquired.

Young Elroy simply responded with a shrug, "Family secret. My mama always said God's green earth is all we'll ever need." He had a way of gaining the trust of others with eye contact.

One evening, he was called to Mayor Walker's home to treat a newborn baby with a high fever.

"Place him in a cool water basin with raw honey, lavender petals, and one thinly sliced lemon slice. The fever should break within a few hours," he assured the family.

Nora, a slave girl, no older than sixteen, prepared the basin. She had a kind and an intelligent essence about her. Elroy caught her studying him while she supervised the sick baby. "Where are you from?" He finally asked.