by Lisa Yee
Just as I am about to take off, I hear Maddie call out, “Stanford Wong, is that you?”
She doesn’t act surprised that I am here. Instead she grabs my hand and says, “Well, I’m off to London. I’ve been by to visit Yin-Yin. Tell her that I will give my regards to the queen for her.” Before she leaves, Maddie turns my hand over. She studies my palm, then notes, “I see good things in your future.” I want to ask her what they are, but she’s already back talking to Millie.
Emily breaks away. “Oh, Stanford, you’re here! Did you see? Millie won an award and so did I! Neither one of us has ever won anything for sports before, so this is kind of like a miracle.”
I am tempted to tell her that I have lots of basketball trophies, but instead I just listen.
“This is a great day and a sad day because Maddie is leaving,” she explains in a rush. “Have you ever been happy and sad at the same time? You look nice. Well, I’d better get back before someone notices I’m gone.”
I love talking to Emily Ebers.
SEPTEMBER 2, 9:45 A.M.
Last night I called Millicent and asked her to meet me in front of the library. She’s already there by the time I arrive. Millie’s all sad about Maddie moving to London. I know how she feels. Even though Yin-Yin is only at Vacation Village, sometimes it seems like she is on the other side of the world.
To cheer Millie up, I do my best monkey imitation. It does not make Millicent smile. In fact, it makes things worse. Then I remember why we are here. My mom says I owe it to Millie to give her a proper thank-you for helping me with English.
“I have something for you.”
For a moment Millicent looks curious. I take out a copy of my book report. It’s laminated. “You can keep it,” I assure her.
HOLES, a Book Report by Stanford A. Wong
HOLES is a book written by an author named Louis Sachar. The protegonist is named Stanley and he gets in big trouble for steeling shoes and gets sent to a crummy camp called Camp GreenLake where there is no water. Ha-ha, no water, get it? This is called irony.
Stanly has to dig holes over and over again and he does not like this except he loses weight and that’s good for him because he weighed too much before. He changes in other ways too and so do some of the kids around him.
Stanley meets a boy named Zero (more irony) and they run away. Well, Zero runs away and Stanley goes to find him even though everyone else says he is dead. The other boys just keep digging and digging and digging because that’s what they are told to do. But Stanley starts “digging” for the truth.
Stanly finds his friend and learns that Zero really stole the shoes, but he is not a bad guy.
Stanley fears there is a curse on his family and because of the curse he is doomed for life. But he learns that he can change the way his life is going. He also learns that true friends and an interesting beverage can be MORE POWERFUL than a curse.
As the story goes on, Stanley learns a lot of lessons. This book has a story within a story. One story is about Stanley and another story is told through flashbacks. The flashbacks end up being about Stanley and Zero’s families.
Meanwhile, Stanley’s family NEVER stops believing in him. They hire a good lawyer. In the end Standley learns that he is a good person and that even at a dentation camp you can find good if you look hard enough. And it ends happily when Zero, who has no family, becomes part of Stanley’s family.
I think this was a very good book. It was funny and serious and had much suspense. Stanley, the protangonist, had a bad time but it turned out great in the end because he never gave up.
Interesting fact: Stanley spelled backwards is Yelnats. Stanford spelled backwards is Drofnats. Glick spelled backwards is Kcilg.
Millie looks up from the report and says, “Good work!” She tucks it away in her briefcase for safekeeping.
“See, I’m not a complete idiot.”
“No, no, you’re pretty bright,” Millicent agrees, adding, “for a boy.”
After the library, I make my way to Vacation Village. On my way there I stop by Salon Ferrante and say hello to Mimi. I give her $3.47 in change and a mint for the desk lady.
Mimi rushes over to me, leaving someone under the dryer. “You look happy, Stanford,” she says as she rearranges my hair.
“I am,” I tell her. “Did I mention that I passed my summer-school English class and will be on the basketball A-Team?”
“No, I don’t think you did,” she says. “It makes sense that you’re a jock. You look athletic. Plus, you’ve always got that basketball with you. You must be very proud of yourself.”
“Yeah,” I tell Mimi, “I guess passing that class did feel pretty great.”
“No, I mean making the basketball team.”
“Oh!” I say. “That’s totally cool too.”
“Say, how’s that girlfriend of yours?” I show her a picture of Emily and me that we took at the mall photo booth. My eyes are closed in the picture, but Emily looks great. “She’s a real cutie,” Mimi notes, adding, “but then, so are you. You’re a lucky boy, Stanford Wong.”
10:51 A.M.
This morning I got up early to be with Dad. I could have slept in, but I wanted to see him. I even made him a toast-and-Pop-Tart sandwich and coffee, though the coffee had grinds floating all over the top.
“Thanks, Stanford, but I don’t have time for breakfast. I’ll grab something at the office.”
“I thought we could talk, you know, just sort of catch up with each other.”
“No time. Gotta go! Be good.”
“But Dad —”
“Later, Stanford!”
*
As always, Mr. Thistlewaite is in Yin-Yin’s room. “Stanford, my man!” Mr. Thistlewaite bellows. “I was just about to go get this lovely young lady some tapioca pudding! Would you like some? Of course you would! Ramon makes the best pudding!”
As Mr. Thistlewaite goes in search of pudding, I ask Yin-Yin something that has been on my mind for a long time. “Why does he hate me?”
“Mr. Thistlewaite?”
“No, my dad.”
Yin-Yin looks wounded. “Stanford, your father does not hate you.” She stares at the tree outside her window. Someone has hung her birdhouses on the branches and the birds are flying in and out of them.
“I have a secret, Stanford,” Yin-Yin whispers, bringing her finger to her lips. “Would you like to hear it?”
I nod slowly. But do I really want to hear this? I wonder.
“Even as a little boy, your father was always seeking approval from his father,” my grandmother says. “Your grandfather never went to college. He barely graduated from high school. Your dad went to Stanford University on a scholarship and graduated with honors. He was expecting his father to tell him how proud he was. Instead, your grandfather said, ‘So now you think you are better than me?’”
“Are you trying to tell me that my grandfather was rotten?”
“Stanford, your grandfather loved his family in his own way. He thought that working hard and providing for us was enough. He wasn’t one to show emotions. Sometimes your father is very much like him.”
“Then why did Mom marry him?”
“Before your father got his big serious job, he was a little more relaxed. But, as time has gone on, I have seen him retreat from the family and get buried under his work. It’s what he knows.”
“He knows Sarah,” I mutter.
“Yes, well, your sister gets great grades and your father admires that. But you, my boy, you probably scare him.”
“Me?”
My grandmother speaks slowly. “While Sarah is gifted in academics, you are gifted in sports. Your father used to be made fun of on the playground. He was never much of an athlete.”
“Why didn’t you give him a green jade pendant, like mine?”
Yin-Yin looks at me curiously. “Do you still have that?” I take it out from under my shirt and show her. �
�I bought that in Chinatown,” she says. “It was on sale. I got a good deal.”
“You told me you got it in China,” I stammer. “You said that a mystic priest gave it to you!”
She looks right at me. “I made up that story because you were so sad. It seemed to cheer you up. I like to tell stories to make people happy.”
“So you were lying to me about the powers?”
“Did you play better when you were wearing it?”
“Well, yes, but —”
“Then it did have powers. It had the power to make you believe in yourself. Now that you’ve proved yourself on the basketball court, you no longer need the pendant.”
Oh man, my head is spinning.
Yin-Yin looks out at the birds. “Stanford, you have always had the ability to play basketball. What you lacked was the confidence. The same with passing English. You had it in you, but it took someone like Millicent Min to help get it out of you. As for your father, he truly does love you. He just doesn’t know how to tell you that. Stanford, he could really use your help.”
Just then the door bursts open. “Pudding! I’ve got pudding!” Mr. Thistlewaite yells. “Tapioca or chocolate, take your pick!!!”
“Pudding!” Yin-Yin looks delighted. “I love pudding.”
My dad could use my help?
SEPTEMBER 3, 3:57 P.M.
The big Hee-Haw Game is tonight. It’s going to be my debut on the Rancho Rosetta Middle School A-Team. The game’s not until seven P.M., but Coach wants us there at six P.M., which means I have to eat at five P.M. and be suited up by five-thirty P.M.
I am knitting like mad. Suddenly a bomb goes off. I jump. Oh, it’s just the phone.
“Yeah,” I say.
“Hi, Stanford! It’s Emily.” She called me, she called me!
I sit up straight. “Hi, Emily!”
“What are you doing?”
“Just, uh, lifting weights to get ready for the Hee-Haw Game tonight. Are you going to go?”
“Of course, silly! Hey, do you have time to get an ice-cream cone?”
“Sure!” I say. I hope I can eat really fast and get home in time to get ready. “I always eat a big bowl of spaghetti before games,” I tell her. “But ice cream and spaghetti is even better. Should I meet you and Millie there?”
“It’s just me this time,” Emily says.
Oh man!
Even though I run all the way, Emily’s at the ice-cream parlor before me. We discuss the different flavors, and when it comes time to pay I joke, “This one’s on me, only I have to pay cash since I don’t have a credit card.”
All of a sudden, Emily bursts out crying. I don’t know what to do, so I hand her the napkin dispenser. She shakes her head and runs outside. The ice-cream lady is holding our cones.
“Um, I’ll come back for those.”
Emily has stopped crying but is doing that gulping-for-air thing.
“Anything wrong?” I ask.
“My dad took away my credit card,” she sobs.
“That’s okay,” I assure her. “I have money, look.” I pull a ten-dollar bill from my pocket.
“It’s not that,” Emily gasps. “It’s just that the credit card meant something. It was something that he gave me and it was important because it was from him. My parents are divorced,” she says softly. “It’s horrible when your parents don’t get along. Oh, Stanford, you have no idea.”
“I think I do,” I mumble.
She starts crying again and hiccupping at the same time. People keep walking by and staring. Some give me evil looks, like I am the one who is making Emily cry. I’ve got to get her to stop. If she keeps on going like this, I am bound to fall apart too.
“Emily, my grandmother gave me something I’d like to show you.” I pull my green jade pendant out.
“It’s beautiful,” she sniffs.
“It brought me good luck for many years,” I tell her as I unclasp it. “Now I want you to have it.”
Instantly Emily’s tears stop. She blinks several times and her eyes get big. “Really? Oh, Stanford, you would give that to me?”
I put it around her neck. It feels really weird to be that close to her. Her hair smells like watermelon.
Emily touches the pendant. “Now I have two beautiful necklaces from my two best friends,” she says, showing me the necklace Millicent gave her and mine. She looks at them for a moment, and then her eyes meet mine.
“Stanford?” Emily says shyly. “Does this mean that you are asking me to be your girlfriend?”
I panic. This might be one of those trick questions, like on Mr. Glick’s tests. What is the correct answer?
“Um, uh, do you want to be my girlfriend?”
“I want to, if you want me to be.” Emily looks unsure of herself.
I can’t breathe. “Then I guess that means yes,” I hear myself say.
Emily breaks into a huge grin. She’s looking at me like she expects me to do something. I freeze, then reach toward her. She’s startled as I take her hand and shake it vigorously.
Then Emily does something I will never forget. She pulls me toward her and gives me a kiss on the cheek.
I could stand here forever. Emily blushes as we smile at each other. Then she punches me in the arm and says, “You’d better go, or your spaghetti will get cold. See you at the game tonight. I’ll be the one cheering the loudest for you.”
I mumble something that neither of us can understand, turn around, and walk straight into the wall. As I make my way down the street, I can hear Emily laughing, but I don’t care. I was kissed by Emily, Emily Ebers. Emily, my girlfriend.
When I get home, I realize that we forgot to get ice cream.
7 P.M.
Every year the Rancho Rosetta Middle School Basketball A-Team plays in a fund-raising game against the teachers and we all ride donkeys. Yes, donkeys! The Hee-Haw Basketball Game is huge at our school and it even gets on the news.
When my name is called and I run out and jump on my donkey, the crowd cheers, especially the seventh graders. Mr. Glick is on a brown donkey, and Coach Martin rides a gray one. Mine is named Peppy, which is funny because he does not move very fast. I try to steer Peppy out onto the court. He ignores me and wanders near the drinking fountain. Everyone howls.
I met Emily and Millie before the game. Emily was nervous because she is new to the school. Millicent was nervous because she was afraid Digger might show up. I was nervous, well, because of many things.
When Millie went in search of paper towels to wipe off the bleachers, I told Emily, “Don’t worry about school. You’ll be with me. I’ll show you around and make sure you’re not alone.”
“Oh, Stanford,” Emily said, smiling. “You are so great. Look! I’m wearing the necklace. I’m never going to take it off.” I felt myself turning red and getting light-headed. I must have been more nervous about the game than I realized.
“And they’re off,” the announcer cries out as the bell rings. Peppy, my donkey, just does not want to cooperate. Mr. Glick’s donkey is doing even worse and makes no attempt to move.
Yin-Yin and Mr. Thistlewaite wave at me. Mom is with them. I can see Millie and Emily in the bleachers. Tico, Stretch, and Gus are there too. They are all rooting for me. I scan the crowd and suddenly Digger comes into focus. He’s with Joey and another boy from the C-Team. They are wearing Roadrunners jackets.
Finally Peppy decides to step onto the court. Trevor tosses the ball to me and I make my first basket. The crowd roars. Then Coach has the ball. He throws it to Mr. Glick and it hits him on the shoulder. Mr. Glick may be a great English teacher, but he is a lousy basketball player.
I get the ball a few more times. I don’t want to look like a hog, so I pass it to my fellow A-Team players. They are having as many problems with their donkeys as I am. One donkey poops right on the court. Gus looks like he is going to explode, and Tico is practically on the floor laughing. Stretch keeps yelling, “Stan-for
d, Stan-ford, Stan-ford!”
It feels great to be on the A-Team, even if I am sitting on a donkey.
I look toward Mom. I don’t believe what I see. My father is here? My father is here! My father came to watch me play!
Gimme the ball, gimme the ball, gimme the ball!!! Someone reads my mind and instantly the ball is in my hands. Peppy won’t budge, so I take a deep breath and get ready. As Mr. Glick and Coach Martin plod toward me, I execute the most spectacular crosscourt shot anyone sitting on a donkey has ever done. Whoosh! The crowd goes wild! I did it, and I wasn’t even wearing my good-luck charm.
I turn to see Dad’s reaction, but he has disappeared. Was he really here, or did I just imagine it?
Game’s over. The A-Team beat the teachers. It wasn’t even close, but the teachers are good sports and are going to treat us to pizza. I am talking to Emily when my mother, Yin-Yin, and Mr. Thistlewaite suddenly appear. Millicent says hello to all of them and introduces herself to Mr. Thistlewaite.
Emily just stands there, and so do I. It is extremely awkward. Finally Millie says, “Everyone, this is my best friend, Emily Ebers.”
“Emily?” my mother says. She gawks at my jade pendant around Emily’s neck.
“Emily,” Yin-Yin says as if testing out the name. “Emily!”
“Glad to meet you, Emily Ebers!” Mr. Thistlewaite yells. He pats her on the head.
I am dying. Only Millie notices.
“Emily and I have to go now,” Millicent informs the grown-ups. “It was wonderful talking with you.”
Thank you, thank you, Millie.
“Yes, well, see you around, Stanford,” Emily says. She sends me one of her smiles as Mr. Thistlewaite fixes his hair. It was on backward.
As the girls leave, Mr. Thistlewaite bellows, “That Emily of yours is a real cutie and the Millicent girl has impeccable manners!” I am sure the whole gym can hear him.
“Emily,” Yin-Yin says softly, so that only I can hear. “A love match.” She winks at me. When did she learn to wink? “Don’t forget our bet, Stanford!”
“See you at home,” Mom says. “Enjoy the pizza.”
As Mr. Thistlewaite and Yin-Yin totter toward the exit I ask Mom, “Was Dad here?”