That afternoon I caught up with Aloki and Maya at the front of the Academy and we started the long walk home.
It felt strange to be calling that little brick box our home. Despite Eitan's best attempts to make the place warm and welcoming, there was still a strangely sterile feel to the place. A feel that we all hoped would dissipate with time, so the house would actually became home.
We were all afraid that the house may never be home, though none of us would verbalise that fear. It may only ever be a box in which we protected out valuables from the weather. To us, home was in District 4. Home was the house in which our parents had showered us with love and affection. Where they, for the most part, had protected us from the dangers of the Capitol and the truth about middle-class living.
We may have been better fed than other Districts but we were by no means a truly rich District. Not like 1 and 2. District 4's saving grace was that food was everywhere. It was easy, and legal, to fish along the coast and the rivers. The heath land and forest around us were fair game to all, as long as we didn't take too much, and every home had a vegetable patch of its own. Food was easy but everything else was a struggle and most business' and fishing crews were family run, meaning that Reapings were a massive burden for the families. That was why we had Career tributes, not just to protect the children but to keep families together and insure that business didn't fail from the loss of said children. Also, having Victors did seem to boost the economy, bringing more income in than our exports alone could ever manage.
I smacked Aloki upside his head. He jumped forward and brought his hands up to protect his head from another strike. The look on his face was comical as he turned back to look at me, I would have laughed if I wasn't so annoyed at his behaviour today.
He hadn't stopped trying to one up the District 2 Careers when the Survival Class ended. He'd snobbed most of them throughout the day, choosing to eat his lunch away from the Careers and walking around like he was too good for them. During Combat Training he had bragged about his prowess with spears, not with words but with his body language and unnecessary flourishes. He was showing them everything he had, just to prove that he had it and the bluntness of it had made me so angry that I couldn't be near him during lunch. Also I knew that my pulling him up on it in front of the entire school would turn him into the laughing stock of the Careers, and I wasn't that angry at him. Yet.
"What was that for?" he snapped. He'd stopped to recompose himself and refused to move again until I gave him an explanation.
Maya stood beside him, looking equally confused but somehow even more startled. I guess it's because she didn't receive the Combat lessons from our father, like we had. She was the most innocent member of our family and that was what I loved most about her. I would die to protect her from having to change that.
I made sure to speak in a clear and deliberate tone; there would be no misconstruing anything I said, "Acting like a jerk, that's what. This is not some trivial little competition between the neighbours. I get that you want to show them that you're from District 4 but they already know that and if they are stupid enough to disregard that fact then it's their problem, not yours."
"I didn't want them laughing at us. All they know-" I cut Aloki off before he got too caught up in his own defence.
"How do you know what they know? We've been here all of ten minutes and you're already making assumptions about them. If this were the Games then you'd be dead already. Is that what you want?" I snarl and notice that Maya flinches at the idea of Aloki in the Hunger Games.
He scoffed, "This isn't the Games. I wouldn't act like this in the Games."
"Don't be so ignorant!" I said a little louder than I should have and noticed that some of the other students, who must live in the same area as us, were watching us now. I dropped into a low growl, "For us the Games have already started. If you are Reaped then you will likely have to kill one of these students, do you think they won't remember your little stunt today? We'll finish this later, in private."
Aloki looked around and seemed to gather what I meant. The District 2 students were not particularly subtle and they had all stopped to watch us as we argued in the street. I didn't want them getting too much of an insight into our family life and felt overly exposed as their eyes followed us down the street. The sooner we got home, the better. Although I was sure that Aloki wasn't thinking like that.
I pulled Maya into my side, having noticed that she was picking at the cuff of her shirt sleeve. She'd never been good at hiding her emotions and sometimes I wondered if I was as obvious as she was. There wasn't a single emotion that didn't reveal itself on her pretty face, as blatant as the Capitol fashion sense was disturbing. There was no way I was that obvious and it made me wonder if maybe, just maybe she could have used more training by our mother and father. Although, even with their training it seemed that she was nowhere near as proficient as me or our brothers. It wasn't in her to be deceptive.
Even with training, Maya wouldn't last five minutes in the Hunger Games. She probably wouldn't even make it all the way through the pre-Games showcase. I could see her freaking out during her interview with Flickerman, or breaking down during the Training. In fact, I couldn't even see her making it to the stage at the Reaping without being totally incapacitated by fear.
It dawned on me now that my plan to remain aloof and disconnected from the District 2 Careers would not work.
Next year would be my last year as a potential tribute, after which it would just be Aloki and Maya. Aloki couldn't volunteer for Maya, and even if he could he was only going to be viable for two extra Games than me. Maybe if Maya was selected then Aloki would volunteer to protect her but in three and a half years time he wouldn't be able to do that anymore either. For at least two Games, Maya would need someone unrelated to save her.
If I put even a single soul off side it could spell doom for my sister. People had to at least be neutral towards me, so they wouldn't think twice about volunteering to save Maya. If someone hated me then they could force all the Careers to not volunteer should she be selected.
No. My plan to exclude myself from these people would not work, not if I wished to keep her safe.
I pushed Maya ahead of me as we approached the narrow steps that led up to the porch and to our front door. We still hadn't said anything to each other since I'd growled at Aloki and I could tell that the tension was getting to Maya. She would likely hide in her room until I'd finished arguing with Aloki, and we would argue because Aloki was nothing if not stubborn, and we'd be lucky if she re-emerged before dinner, if at all.
"Hey, District 4!"
Maya froze on the spot and I could feel the anxiety that rolled off her now stiff shoulders. I kept my hips pointed towards the steps and turned my torso to see who was behind us. Aloki was blocking most of my view with his almost six foot frame but his body language spoke volumes and I knew I wasn't going to like who I saw when I pushed him out of the way. He stood so stiff that I had to dig my fingers into his muscles to get him to even notice me.
What can I say, we did not trust anyone in District 2. This may not have been our home but this was our house and I didn't want them knowing where I lived.
There was a large group of Careers standing a few metres away watching both myself and Aloki was careful consideration. We had succeeded in making them both curious and nervous. Their hesitance made me anxious, I couldn't have them hesitating to volunteer for Maya if she needed it. Despite their curiosity and nerves, they looked just like every other group of Careers, ever. Proud. Confident. Devious.
I couldn't trust them as far as I could throw them.
"Yes?" I said as I steadied myself for whatever was coming.
I noticed that the Career Tribute that I had spoken with earlier today was amongst the group and I wondered if this was why he was talking to me before. Maybe this group was hoping to hook one, or both, of us and drag us into the convoluted politics of District 2 Career-ism. I knew a little of their complex ways, some of our Victors had learnt a little from their time in the Games, and I was sure that I would not like being directly involved in all that drama. All I wanted was to protect my family.
"We thought we should inform you that, if you are serious about the Games, the rest of us spend our afternoons at the Academy. Perfecting our talents." an older boy with dirty blonde hair said in a somewhat polite tone. I'm sure it was polite enough to fool everyone in District 2 but it sounded so false to me that I instantly made a note to never believe anything this boy said.
Aloki looked sideways at me, waiting for my cue as to how to respond. Whether we went with them or stayed here. How polite we were in return. How up front. How genuine. How nice, in general. Aloki may have been arrogant today but he knew that I was the expert at communication, between the two of us.
"Thank-you, that's nice to know but it's been a long couple of weeks and... tonight is not a good night." I worked hard to control my tone and pitch. I couldn't afford to piss them off too quickly.
The blonde boy must be the group's leader because no one else seemed to be allowed to speak, "Understandable. Will shortie up the back be joining you when you come? She looks like she could use all the practice she can get before the Reaping; you know, just in case."
Maya whimpered behind me.
My fears from before were confirmed by his comment. It didn't take a genius to hear the threat in this boys words and I really didn't like it. 'Come now or we're not going to protect your sister'. I wasn't sure how empty the threat was but I couldn't ignore it. District 2s were well known for being vindictive and I wouldn't put it past them to hold something so trivial against me. Against us.
I turned back to Maya, who was now looking at me with desperate eyes, "You go start on your study. Tell Eitan not to worry, we're just going to the school." Maya's desperation softened ever so slightly and she raced into the house. When the door closed behind her I turned back to the dirty blonde.
I strode past Aloki, my shoulders square and steady. I might be a good six inches shorter than this six foot something monster but that didn't mean I was afraid of him. It wasn't the first time someone had tried to use my family against me and I was sure that it wouldn't be the last. Back in District 4, I knew that the threats were empty, or at most shallow, and there was no risk if I didn't concede to it. Here was different and so my reaction was different; it even surprised Aloki, who gasped as I stopped toe to toe with the thug.
"I'll grant you this one leniency but if you ever threaten my family again then so help me God, you will regret it." I said with a snarl and I could see the brute flinch a fraction as he recognised that my threat was full bodied and wholehearted.
His moment of weakness was fleeting and he realised that I'd noticed it. So he came back on the offensive, "District 4 really does have itself some feisty females, doesn't it?" Some of the guys behind him chuckled but I noticed that not one of the girls reacted to it at all.
Aloki didn't like it though and he stepped up beside me, as tense as ever. I gripped his forearm in a silent warning for him to control himself but didn't acknowledge him in any other way, "Let's get to the Academy, 'kay? You know, sooner we get there, more practice we can get done."
The group's leader smirked at me and turned back towards the Academy, leading the group and Aloki and myself back the way we had come. I realised that they had deliberately waited until now to catch our attention, they wanted to know exactly where we lived and they wanted us to know they knew. I couldn't help but think that the rumours about District 2 weren't as exaggerated as so many from 4 believed.