Chapter 2

The other 2 kids and I went about our usual weekend routines while waiting for Gale and Rory to return from their camping trip. I made sure to take them to the local park just for Vick; a little bribe for not getting to go camping with his older brothers. Posy is just happy being able to get outside at the park. To her the woods seem so scary.

After a quick dinner of leftovers and getting Posy and Vick bathed, the three of us sat on the comfy sofas in the living room waiting. The kids were watching some show about the animals that live in District 2. One thing I can say about the New Panem, the quality of TV shows is better. Of course, I don't like my kids watching TV all the time.

Suddenly we hear the sound of Gale's jeep pulling into the driveway. Posy and Vick jump up from the sofa and run to the door to greet their brothers.

"Phew, Gale. You and Rory stink!" shouts Posy. "Yuk, you guys need to shower!"

"That's what happens when you go camping, Princess," Gale says to Posy with a smirk on his face.

"Then I never want to go camping. I do not like to smell," says the little girl with her arms folded across her chest and sending a glowering look at her brother.

"Silly girl," says Gale. "Okay, we will go get cleaned up. C'mon, Rory. But after that we need to have a family talk."

At that comment, Gale gives me a pointed look and I know that he has been thinking about the conversation we had before he left.

After both older boys have showered we all gather in the living room. Another nice thing about Gale's job in the military is that he is paid a decent wage and we can afford nicer things. At first when the kids and I moved to District 2 to be with Gale we had tried to live in his tiny apartment. The apartment was bigger than our quarters in District 13, but it still was too small so Gale and I started looking for a house to rent. We found a sweet little house on the outskirts of the city and had moved in. The whole family had had fun buying the furnishings and fixing up the house.

Now as we sit on the sofas in our living room, I am part dreading and part looking forward to the discussion that we are about to have. I clear my throat and begin.

"Well, kids. Saturday morning before Gale left he found the list that we had made with the reasons that we want to go back to District 12. I know that we had put a lot of ideas on the paper, but I thought that each one of us should tell him what was your main reason for wanting to move. Who would like to go first?" I look carefully at each of the younger kids wondering who would be brave enough to go first.

"I hate it here," shouts Rory. "There are too many people, the buildings are too tall. Nobody knows anybody and I'm a nobody."

I look at him almost shocked. I knew he was miserable but didn't know he felt it that deeply. "Ok, thank you for sharing, Rory. Who would like to go next?"

Vick raises his hand. "I agree with Rory. But I'd also like to add that I don't like the schools here. There are so many kids. They are mean to us just cuz we aren't from here. They call us moles cuz we came from 13. I tried to explain that we are from 12, but they say that 12 is all gone and no one is from there."

"Wow," says Gale. "I had no idea that it was that bad for you guys."

"Why would you?" Rory grumbles. "You are hardly ever here. And even when you are, you don't pay attention to us."

"Rory Hawthorne. Apologize to your brother," I say.

"No Ma. That's okay. We had a long talk on our hike this weekend and he made his feelings very well known to me." Gale says as he looks at me.

I can tell by looking in his eyes that he is hurt by all of this. "Honey," I say putting my hand on his arm, "we all love you, but living here is not working out for us."

Standing up suddenly, Gale looks at all of us and shakes his head. "I kinda knew that this might happen. I too feel uncomfortable in 2, but I can't go back to 12. My life and job are here."

"What do you want us to do then?" I question him and look him straight in the eyes. "Gale, you have been the man of house since you were 14. We have relied on you to keep us fed and clothed. You saved us on the night of the bombing. I think we all feel guilty about our dislike of living here. We don't want to abandon you, but…"

Sitting back down, Gale interrupts me, "Ma, I am 21 years old and a Captain in the military. I think I can take care of myself. You all need to do what's best for the majority of the family and if that is going back to live in District 12. Then you should to it." He looks each one of us in the eyes and continues, "look, I'll admit that I will miss you all like hell, but I can survive on my own. You kids deserve to live where you can grow up running around with lots of open spaces and kids your own age. Ma, you deserve to live where you will be happy. And that isn't here."

He finishes his speech and I can see that he means it.

"Ok, kids. It's settled, We are moving back to District 12." I can say that I have very mixed feelings about the whole thing, but I know deep in my heart that I am making the best decision for myself and the younger kids. I need to be back in the hills of 12 with my own kind of people around me. I know it won't be the same as before. I don't know if it will be any better, but it sure as hell couldn't be any worse.