"An intense love, a veritable tornado sweeping across the plains—flattening everything in its path, tossing things up in the air, ripping them to shreds, crushing them to bits. The tornado's intensity doesn't abate for a second as it blasts across the ocean, laying waste to Angkor Wat, incinerating an Indian jungle, tigers and everything, transforming itself into a Persian desert sandstorm, burying an exotic fortress city under a sea of sand. In short, a love of truly monumental proportions"
-Murakami, Sputnik Sweetheart
Katniss sighed heavily as she watched the dense rain pouring down the sky. Nothing new, of course: in District 12 it was raining the eighty per cent of the year, and when it wasn't rain, it was snow. When she was younger, her father was used to tell her and Prim that the raindrops were nothing but tears of the angels. Katniss remembered that at the time she had thought that God had to be very cruel to make his angels cry all the time, but she never expressed this thought out loud, even with her sister, because her father always said that God was good, that he gave them a roof on their head and he gave him beautiful daughters. So she tried to think of God as a really severe entity. Severe but, at the end, good in his own way. Then, five years before, an earthquake made the mine where her father worked collapse, and Katniss stopped believing that God was good. Actually, she stopped believing in God at all.
After her father's death, her mother fell into a deep, deep form of depression, at the point she didn't eat and she didn't cook anything anymore, and she just stopped going to work, forgetful that she had two girls to feed. Both Katniss and Prim were underage at the time, Katniss was 15 and Prim was 11. Despite the help coming from Katniss' best friend Gale, whose father also died because of the mine accident, who found job at the butcher shop and sent them some meat every time he could, Prim was getting smaller and smaller, paler and paler, until she got sick. Terrified that her sister could die for starvation, when Katniss turned 16 she made the decision to quit school and find some little job as baby sitter, dog sitter and waitress. Then, as she turned 18, she found a full time job at the laundry at the corner. She hated that job, it was exhausting and her ten hours shift seemed to go by every day more slowly. But she never complained, working no-stop hour after hour. The salary was poor but she managed to pay the bills adding a second job during the evenings, when she served as a waitress in a bar, from 9 pm to 2 am. There were nights where Katniss got so frustrated that she climbed onto the roof and looked down to the streets lit only by the lights of the cars that passed by unawares of her miserable life, and thought several times about jumping in the void under her. She never did, though. She couldn't leave Prim. She was smart and dreamed of becoming a doctor, and all Katniss wanted was at least for her sister to be happy. And she was more than ready to sacrifice her life to that purpose.
A voice behind her interrupted her train of thoughts.
"Everdeen!" Greasy Sae's voice boomed through the room "I don't pay you to stare out of the window!"
"Yes Ma'am" said Katniss quickly, dropping her gaze onto the pair of trousers she was ironing.
Sae approached the girl and stopped right in front of her. She was a very ugly woman in her sixties, with teeth made yellow by the two packs of cigarettes she smoked every day and always dirty despite she owned the laundry. They called her Greasy Sae, and although she always rambled about how pretty she had been in her youth, Katniss found difficult to believe her word.
"When you finish with these" she said "I need you to do some delivery"
"Yes Ma'am" Katniss said again, not looking up from her work.
"And look at me when I talk to you girl" Sae barked "Holy God, you people from the Seam just don't know what manners are, do you?"
The Seam was the poorest part of the City, where Katniss and her family lived.
"Yes Ma'am" Katniss said for the third time, now with her ice –gray eyes looking straight in Sae's black ones.
Sae murmured something under her breath while she walked away, of which Katniss could catch only "Seam bitch". She gritted her teeth and managed to quickly finish what she was doing.
"She really doesn't like you" Madge's voice came to my ears , stating the obvious. Madge was a sweet, gentle girl of Katniss' same age but she came from a richer part of District 12.
They all lived in Panem, a country formed by a City, the Capitol, surrounded by 12 Districts. The richer districts were those closer to the Capitol, and those at the edge were the poorest. Katniss and Madge were from the twelfth district, the poorest one. Each district supplied the City in a different way. District 1 produced jewels and luxuries, 12 was the District of coal mining.
"You don't say" Katniss muttered sarcastically "What is wrong with her, by the way? Like, I didn't do anything to upset her, so why is she like this with me?"
Madge chuckled briefly, grasping the iron "I think she's jealous"
Katniss looked at her "Jealous. Of me. Sure she is"
"Oh Katniss please" Madge smiled, moving one blond lock back behind her ear "She is angry because she can't find a thing in you to complain about. So she tries to push you to do something stupid to kick you out. And then you're also pretty, which she's not, and this makes her even angrier"
Katniss felt her cheeks burn in embarrassment for the compliment, and she dropped her gaze.
"Uh, thanks I guess" she whispered.
"I'm only telling the obvious truth" said Madge "You better go now, before she comes back and yells at you because you've been too slow or something"
Xxx
Katniss looked at the name and address on the piece of paper Sae gave her. That would be her last delivery for the day, luckily because even if she had the umbrella she was soaked wet and cold beyond reason. There were a lot of girls working at the laundry who owned a car, but Sae seemed enjoy make Katniss run here and there in the District under the pouring water (and if she'd catch a cold, even funnier).
The address was the one of a big hotel in the richer part of the District, the biggest one of 12 and the least miserable, called 'The Hob'. Katniss walked through the large glass doors to find herself in the reception. Inside it was warm enough for her to loosen the woolen scarf she had around her neck, and she took a moment to ring out her braided dark hair, in an attempt to dry it a little bit.
Katniss reached the concierge, a tall girl with blond hair and brown eyes, who looked at her the same way she would look at an insect. Katniss pretended not to notice.
"I have a delivery for Miss-" she checked the name once again, not entirely sure she had spelled it correctly "-Trinket? I believe?"
The girl threw an annoyed glance toward her before speaking "Yes, you believe correctly. She's just one of the most famous women in Panem, why would you know her name?"
The name said nothing to Katniss, so she just shrugged.
"You can leave the clothes here, by the way" the girl continued, tapping the desk before her "I can send someone to pick them up later"
"Oh, I'm sorry" said Katniss "But I've been told this is quite urgent"
The girl shot her a poisonous look.
"Fine then, fifth floor, suite 1"
"Thank you" Katniss replied sarcastically.
Xxx
As she walked towards the door with a big 1 carved on it, Katniss couldn't help but think at that name. Miss Trinket. She was famous, the girl said, but Katniss knew nothing about fame or the people involved with it. She didn't have the TV and she didn't go to the movies. She looked at that world through the thick, dusty glass of misery, and if she thought about the people made rich by the fame, without apparently do anything but smile for the cameras, or wear a pretty dress, or attend parties, she felt disgust surge into her. And she really didn't have the time or the strength for being angry at someone that she didn't even know. So she haven't thought about it at all until that moment.
Katniss rose her right hand and knocked at the door. At first, she didn't receive an answer. She waited a few seconds then knocked again. Nothing. Katniss stared at the wooden door like she wanted to burn a hole through it. Her head was starting to ache and she was cold because of her damp clothes. She began to think about leaving the package in front of the door, but she shook that idea off her mind.
As she raised her fisted hand again the door opened. Katniss had to flex her neck to look at the man standing before her. He was a quite handsome man, with dark hair and an odd but perfectly shaped beard, and he was wrapped in what looked like a very expansive purple robe. It was like he had just got up, even if it was nearly 6 in the afternoon.
"Who the hell are you?" asked the man, scrutinizing Katniss with his cold blue eyes, with the same look that the girl from the reception gave her few minutes before.
"I-" Katniss began to speak, a little taken aback by the man's state of undressing (she always turned extremely embarrassed when it came to that).
A high pitched voice came from inside "Seneca, who is it?"
"I'm trying to find out" the man called Seneca yelled back before turning his attention to Katniss "So?"
"I have a delivery for Miss Trinket" Katniss said once regained composure "From the laundry"
Seneca seemed to acknowledge only then the package Katniss was carrying, and he nodded briefly.
"Come in" he said, before turning around.
Katniss didn't move.
"I thought" she started "I thought you can take.."
The man addressed her a poisonous glare "You think I am your porter, girl? Aren't you paid for delivering stuff? I said come in"
Katniss swallowed down the words she would be glad to say to that Seneca and followed him inside.
The suite was huge, and Katniss thought that her whole house would fit at least three times in it. On the glass table stood a huge buffet, still untouched, and Katniss hoped that her stomach wouldn't make any noise in front of all that food.
"Honey the girl from the laundry is here" Seneca said to no one in particular. The living room was empty, but after a few seconds the high pitched voice from before rang through the room.
"Tell her to come here"
Katniss stood, certain where to go, but suddenly Seneca hissed at her "Didn't you hear her? Go!"
Katniss reached the room where the voice came from. "Come in, dear" the voice said, and Katniss walked through the door. It was a big, big room, with white walls and lit by a big chandelier hanging from the ceiling. The bed was still unmade, and onto the sheets laid a black pair of lace knickers and matching bra. Katniss blushed slightly and looked away.
"Here you are dear, have you got my dress for tonight?"
Katniss turned around towards the voice and blinked. Standing in front of her was the most beautiful woman she had ever seen. She was wearing nothing but a silky white gown, very much similar to a bathrobe, only more thin, that left uncovered part of the arms, of the legs and of the cleavage. Her skin was pale but not a sick-kind of pale, a porcelain-kind of pale. Her cheeks were a little flushed, of a light shade of pink and she was wearing what Katniss assumed was a turquoise wig. What caught Katniss' attention, though, was her huge, cerulean set of eyes, framed by thick, long eyelashes.
"W-what?" Katniss stammered.
Miss Trinket smiled kindly at the girl's reaction, which made Katniss blush even more.
"I asked you if you got my dress, dear" she said again, pointing at the package Katniss was still holding.
"Oh, sure" mumbled Katniss, handing it at her without thinking.
The two of them stared awkwardly at the package in between them. Katniss blushed furiously in embarrassment but before she could think at something to say, to do, Miss Trinket reached out and took it from the girl's hands.
"Oh it's lovely" she beamed "Absolutely perfect, dear!"
Katniss couldn't help but notice her accent. She clearly didn't come from any of the near districts, so either she was from District 1, maybe 2, or from the City itself. Strangely though, Katniss didn't feel the usual feeling of despise. She definitely felt something but she could tell it wasn't anything bad.
"Thank you so much..?" she left the sentence open, waiting for the girl to complete it with her name.
"Katniss" she said, not daring drop her gaze.
"Katniss" Miss Trinket repeated, staring back at that thin, young girl, and feeling a sort of warmth creeping up her neck.
She blinked twice, and then noticed that Katniss was shivering.
"But you're soaked wet dear!" she exclaimed, approaching her and touching the fabric of her coat "We need to find you something dry to wear!"
"It's really not necessary Ma'am" Katniss said quickly "I have to go now, by the way"
Miss Trinket watched her worried while Katniss started to wrap her damp scarf around her neck, and suddenly she opened the closet and picked one dark red scarf.
"Please, take this" she said "I have plenty and I couldn't forgive myself if you'd catch something because of me"
Katniss opened her mouth to reply but Miss Trinket had already wrapped the cloth around her.
"Here, this color really suits you" she gushed, smiling brightly.
"Thank you Ma'am" she said awkwardly "I should go now"
The woman nodded briefly then said "It's Effie"
"Sorry?" Katniss said, trying her best to be polite.
"It's- it's Effie, not Ma'am" she repeated.
Katniss stared at her for a moment. Then smiled slightly "Okay, Effie"
Xxx
Katniss walked out of the door, not bothering to say goodbye to the man, Seneca, who by the way was nowhere to be seen. As the door closed behind her, she leaned back against the wall, staring at the ceiling.
She inhaled deeply and Effie's scent invaded her nostrils without warning. She lightly touched the scarf around her neck. It was soft and warm and it smelled of flowers.
Katniss closed her eyes, running one hand through her hair.
She was in deep shit.