Today is Victor's Birthday….
He is six years old today. Like many six year olds, he knows how to write, read, tie his shoes, and even add numbers. But he doesn't know some things that most kids his age do. He never learned about feelings. No one in his school ever sat down with him, with pictures of faces, saying "this is sad and this is happy." Victor picked it up mostly by himself though. He knows what makes him feel good and what makes him feel bad. But at the Preparation Academy he attends, or the other schools in his district, there just isn't much emphasis in learning about feelings. He doesn't know any songs or nursery rhymes. If someone tried to explain to him what music was, he would be very confused. However, Victor does know some things that most children his age don't know. He knows where it hurts the most when someone is hit by a dodge ball. They play it every day at break. He's really good it at. And he knows lots of things about the weather. This is to prepare him for the arena. All the children in his class know that in a cold arena you have to make a fire, and if it's hot you need to drink lots of water. If there are trees, people could be hiding in them, so look up as well a right in front of you.
Victor thinks of school now as he pulls on his suit. It's a new one, with a clip-on tie. He feels so grown-up as he puts it on. Daddy and the other men wear ties. He must be a man now! In school, they are learning how to wrestle. He can't wait to tell Grandpa all about it. He puts on his shoes, making sure that they're on the right feet. Now that he's six years old, he's dressing himself and he doesn't want to get anything mixed up. "Victor!" He hears his name ringing from downstairs. If he doesn't hurry down, mommy will be mad. Then she might hit him, and in front of the guests too. Victor doesn't want that! His cheek is still hurting from the last time she hit him, two days ago. As he walks down the grand staircase, he vaguely hopes that there won't be a red mark. He doesn't want Ruby to see that. Ruby. She is always so nice to him! He thinks he might be in love with her. No matter that she is more than four years older than him, or his cousin. He's six. These kinds of things aren't important. So he straightens his tie and walks downstairs, waiting in anticipation for Ruby to arrive. They can run around outside and have fun! Only, he can't get his suit dirty. Mommy or Daddy might get mad and hit him. Do Uncle Mercury and Aunt Ivory hit? But he doesn't have much time to think about this, because Aunt Jade and Uncle Flavius are walking in the door. Victor's mommy runs up to greet them, Amandine toddling behind her. Within just seconds, Grandma and Grandpa, with Great Aunt Opal, are here as well.
There is a chorus of hellos, hair ruffling, and remarks about how handsome Victor is getting, and how big Amandine is becoming. Though Victor doesn't know it, his mommy is secretly upset because no one said that Amandine was pretty, like her mother had been, or even "cute." Because Amandine isn't pretty, at least not in Crystal's opinion. She has tan skin, thin brown hair, and plain brown eyes. In District 1, that's unusual, and considered the look of "a poor outer district child." Here, pale skin, blond hair, and wide blue eyes are what are considered beautiful, or at least normal. But Amandine has her father's looks. And Crystal isn't happy about that at all. But she laughs, and thanks everyone for their compliments. Then a knock is heard from the huge brass knocker on the door. "Ruby's here!" Victor squeals. As he runs to open the door, Victor's father turns to his family and shakes his head. "Sometimes I just don't know what's gotten into the boy!" Cornelius exclaims. "Why isn't he as excited for his other cousin's arrival, who is a boy and closer to his age than Ruby." The others shrug. But Victor knows that it's because Ruby plays with him more. And besides, it isn't as fun playing with someone younger. They're a baby, and by playing with them, it would mean that Victor is a baby too! Which he most certainly isn't!
Victor swings the door open. Ruby and her family are walking up, and he sees that Emory has received his own sword. Well, now they can play swords together. Even if Emory is a baby, Ruby can't play swords because she's a girl. Emory swings his sword and shouts to Victor "I'm a man now!" All the adults laugh. Victor smiles too. He knows that Emory clearly isn't, but he's a good host. So he, Ruby, and Emory all go outside. They can see the grapevines extending into the distance, Victor's daddy's vineyard. "Come on, Emory, let's play!" Victor shouts. Ruby stands up on the porch. "I want to play, too. You can't just leave me sitting here!" She frowns, arms crossed. Now, Victor likes Ruby very much, but he knows that swords are for boys. He tries to reason with Ruby. "You can't play swords. That's for boys." Ruby puts her hands on her hips, indignant. "Nuh-uh! There's a girl in my group at the Training Center who uses swords and she's really good!" Victor finds this hard to believe, but Ruby's sitting back down, so he guesses she just wants to watch anyway. She crosses her arms again. "Well, fine. I never wanted to play with a bunch of babies anyway."
Victor stops his sword-swinging. Babies! Fine, Emory is a baby, but him? That's just unfair! Why would Ruby say something like that? He feels like crying. But Emory, not seeing the tears budding at the corner of his eye, swings his sword right onto Victor's shoulder. Victor begins to really sob now. But Ruby doesn't even notice. She just stares at him, glaring. "Crying is a sign of weakness, Victor." She says in a flat voice. And just then, as if to make things even worse, Emory cries out "Yeah! Victor's weak! I'm strong!" And he hits Victor again with his sword. So just like that, Victor decides that he doesn't like his cousin Emory. And he decides another thing too. He is never going to cry again.
