Hungerstuck – Chapter two
District 7
Kanaya Maryam stopped hacking at the tree and took a step back moments before it fell to the ground. She had started tying ropes around the thick trunk when the bell sounded from the District centre:
Ding
Dong
Ding
Dong
It signalled an hour before the reaping: the choosing ceremony of the tributes for the games. She sighed and wiped the sweat from her brow, leaving the fallen tree where it was and making her way over to a work horse that she had tied to a stump earlier that morning, she patted his nose and then mounted him with ease.
Behind her she heard the familiar rattle of a wagon trundling along the uneven terrain; that would be her dad and her sister. Her dad owned the furniture factory deeper into the District, he got a lot of money from Central for his work and supplies, so much in fact, that he himself hadn't worked in years. Not that factory work was too difficult anyway, in terms of jobs you were considered lucky to work in maintenance. Kanaya would do anything to be back at the factory.
As for her sister, well; Porrim Maryam was everything Kanaya wished she could be – smart, funny, loved and above all, drop dead gorgeous. It made it dead easy for Porrim to get whatever she wanted when she wanted it: Earth loved her. She was tall and proportioned with green-black hair that was much longer than her sister's. She had a swirl of tattoos covering her upper body and god knows where else, piercings on her ears, eyebrows and lower lip. Anything for daddy's precious little model.
Porrim was perched on the edge of the wooden wagon, waving and blowing kisses at the people she passed. She spotted Kanaya across the field and waved too enthusiastically, bearing a smile that was dripping with sarcasm and showing far too many fangs. Kanaya turned up her nose at how spoilt her sister was.
The young Maryam continued on her way up to the square when she came across a group of factory workers lounging in the fields. They weren't supposed to be here but no lumberjack would attempt to argue with them. She turned her head as she trotted past but they saw her anyway, unfortunately her hair made her rather hard to miss.
"Hey! If it isn't lumberjack lezzie!"
"Oh look boys! Is it a vampire? Is it a lesbian? Ohhhh trick question, it's both!" one of them bellowed as a ripple of laughter spread between them.
"Get outta here ya queer little shit!"
Kanaya ignored them, continuing past with as much dignity as she could muster.
"Suck this!" someone shouted before a stone hit Kanaya in the shoulder. She panicked and kicked her horse into a canter, more stones fell into the mud behind.
"Dyke!" She hears as she rounds the corner into the stables.
As her horse happily entered his stable she considered the irony that this horse was treated better than she ever had been, being a rainbow drinker was one thing, but being… This kind of behaviour – she was told – would have been completely out of the question back on Alternia, however the influence of Earth rapidly changed attitudes for the worst. This was it; this was why her father has sent her to the fields, told her he never wanted to see her again, told her that she would get the whole family arrested. This was why Kanaya Maryam hated the entire world.
"Kanaya!"
Almost the entire world.
"Good morning Wartox," she chimed, trying to forget the events of a moment ago
"Real jealous of your beut of a stallion over there,"
"Yes, he is a big help."
Wartox was the field master of District 7 and his job was to ensure productivity and good business, regardless he still spent much of his time lending a helping hand to the lumberjacks. His assistance wasn't much but it was welcome and appreciated, he knew how to cheer people up.
"I'm not completely off the hook this year," he continued "last reaping for me." Wartox was eighteen meaning that this was his last chance to be picked for the Games, Kanaya on the other hand was only fifteen. His hair was dark blue and his fangs turned inwards over his bottom lip, he was strong but not very tall or fast. "How many times are you in?" He finished.
"Twelve,"
"Oh 'eck Kanaya, I've taken out Tesserae but-"
"You?"
He sighed "four for me and four for my brother, we agreed to split the weight but if he's drawn then I'll volunteer in his place."
The bell in the square rang out once more
Ding
Dong
Ding
Dong
Forty-five minutes.
"I'll help you round up your men," Kanaya offered
"Nah, I've got 'em, you should get ready Kan, bet you brush up pretty good," He chuckled, gesturing towards her.
She smiled "wish I could say the same for you, good luck."
"Likewise."
We shall welcome death with our best clothes, our reaping wear; I don't have the heart to wear it any other time of year.
Kanaya zipped up a red dress that sat tight against her curves before flaring out at the bottom. She had been working on the lacing on and off of an evening for almost the entire year, she was just about happy with the result. Her green lipstick was nearing the end of its life and she didn't know how long it would be before she could locate another one; District 7 was far from poor and hacking down trees certainly wasn't fashionable. Oh well, she would wear black – it seemed more fitting anyway. As a final touch she pulled on white lace gloves, this would be, of course, the only occasion when she would get to wear them. When she was happy with her appearance, she set out for the square.
Ding
Dong
Ding
Dong
Fifteen minutes until the reaping.