Yolo Underbush, 13, District 7
Yolo could feel eels brushing against his thin rubber boots. It was a comforting feeling. Those eels meant the water was shallow, that he wouldn't risk sinking in the muddy swamp. He trudged towards the thick tree, careful to keep the ropes around his shoulders out of the water.
"I see you not covering your ears, Yolo!"
Trudy's mock-stern shout made the long-haired boy's grin grow even wider. They had some solid singing voices in their work team so it was bawdy tunes from dawn 'till dusk. They'd started out soft in the morn, but now even the eels had to be blushing. He was pretty sure no woman would be cool with that kind of thing. Nor how it would even work. Trudy pretended to get furious when the men got too disgusting but that just meant her and Lotus would make them go red to the roots and avert their eyes when it was their turn to get a verse in.
Yolo loved it. The boy was tough for his age, and rather tall, at five feet of height. He had an irregular face and a perpetual smile that was unmatched in the gloomy swamps. It was the heavenly smell of the tree's wood that made them brave enough despite the death mosquitoes and filthy water. Even without the help of machines, there was some profit. His job was to tie the ropes to the lower branches so that the others could climb them with their axes without slipping on the wet bark. Then they'd start stripping the tree and collecting the sap. They weren't to chop no tree down that was younger than fifty years, so it was mostly just stripping.
Quick as a squirrel, Yolo had the five ropes attached in minutes. He then scrambled out of the way, reaching the top of the tree. As he gazed in the distance, it was as if he owned the whole forest .
"Hup!" a voice called from beneath him.
Yolo jumped down onto a lower branch, letting himself fall backwards so that he was hanging by his knees. Bear already had his part done, no surprises there. The man sang loud and spoke little, Yolo didn't even know his real name, but Bear went through wood as if it was butter.
"Gotcha," Yolo said, grabbing the rope he was thrown. He went to attach it to another branch. The man took it with a grunt of thanks, fastened it to his large belt and heaved himself up.
Yolo waved both hands at Trudy when she lifted her eyes to him, they were calloused and the last of the blisters had gone.
"My, my, Lad, one full year," the woman said, edging over to him and tousling his filthy hair.
Agile climbers were precious but few survived long. He'd gone through hundreds of days of work without a complaint, defeating infections and illness. That's why his team was so friendly to him now, they knew he would last.
"Aren't I awesome," he said with a huge grin.
"Hide some teeth, Yolo," a man hollered, "keep the lighthouse smile for when a girl will swoon before your cock!"
"Unless he knows he'll never need that kind of smile," another said.
"I've seen you smile so wide when you caught a big eel, Chase, thought you'd finally get lucky once you'd stapled it between your hairy legs?" Trudy shot causing laughter to erupt among the branches.
"Oh stop mollycoddling the lad, Woman." Chase grumbled.
"No, don't," Yolo protested sticking his lower lip out.
Chase and the others chuckled. "Smart lad," Chase said with a small smile.
"Hi, Ma!" Yolo greeted joyfully as he came home.
The woman's eyes met his briefly but didn't reply. Yolo didn't let that deter him. He knew he was the carbon copy of his father and that it had taken his mother months just to bear looking at him again. She was getting better. He was sure she would soon leave the house again.
Soon small hands were tugging at his shorts. "You got some wood, Yolo?"
"What about food? Fruit? I want fruit!"
Yolo's eyes were sparkling as he gave four year old Shae a piece of the scented wood. She squealed as she hugged him and rushed to the corner where she kept her carving rug. She was his favorite sibling, never whining, always so thrilled despite him bringing back something she could carve every other day. And she carved so well for someone so small.
"Fruit?" the slightly older Fey repeated, his eyes hopeful.
"Got three pounds of nuts."
"Blah! I want real fruit."
Liana swatted him on the bottom, hard enough to make him wince. "Go work if you want apples, and don't pull no faces at Yolo."
"But I can't! I got to go to school!"
"Could too if you really wanted."
"So could you," Fey shot back angrily.
"Somebody's got to keep this house in order!"
Ever since their father had run off with another woman, Liana had replaced their mother in everything despite her scarce ten years at the time.
"Oh stuff it, both of you," baby Rael shouted, his hands covering his ears.
Yolo grinned, picking the toddler up. "Man of the house wants his peace and quiet," he said, kissing his tiny nose.
"Big hole," Rael said, pointing at his shirt.
Yolo winced at the shredded material. He really needed to buy the little ones new clothes.
Gamina Woad, 16, District 7
The girl was resting slightly on her ax. She flexed her free arm, keeping her muscles warm.
The automated see-saw had moved back, leaving the lumberjacks to finish felling the thick pine.
"Timber!"
Gamina lifted her sharp tool up. The ground vibrated as the tree crashed.
Four men came in with chainsaws, dividing the trunk in six roughly equal logs. The skidder picked them up and brought them at her feet.
Her ax fell on a crack of the first log, splitting it in half. Wood held no more secrets for her. She struck the logs rhythmically, never having to readjust her curve. It was her impeccable aim that had landed her the enviable job. She had to prove herself every day and proved herself she did. She blinked saw-dust out of her eyes, chips of wood flying in every direction as the chipper-stripper processed the smaller branches. Her ax fell, again and again, until there were no more logs. She then helped Will lug the heap next to her on the big truck. Her feet took her back to her place where she waited. 215 seconds until the next tree. And so on until sunset.
Will stared at her unabashedly every time he passed her. They had been dating for a few months. He was funny, handsome, ambitious and gallant when he showed her off to his friends. He tended to vanish when she truly needed him for something. A jerk, but then she'd always dated jerks. She caught the eye so they tended to line up. She didn't want to fall in love or to be loved back. She liked him well enough. She'd accepted her fate long ago.
"Gamina," Chuck hollered, having turned the great chainsaw off.
The girl grasped the throwing ax lying on a stump and jogged up to him. One of the lower branches had cracked and was hanging dangerously over them.
"Isn't making sure this doesn't happen Barbell's job?" she said, annoyed.
"Got only called twice today, Woodpecker. That's lots of well culled trees, lots of branches," the muscled logger replied with a shrug.
Gamina bit back angry words, of course he could afford the occasional mistake. Lumber teams were close knit, she was the newbie. She'd better behave. Even if the men and women were generally fair to her. The ax whistled as it sailed in the air, severing the hanging branch off and falling onto a rock with a clang. Most everyone could of hit that. Hit it hard enough but not too hard so no one would have to climb the tree to retrieve the ax was why they'd called her to do it.
Will tutted at her when she came back. "Temper, Gami, temper."
Jerk.
Gamina smiled. She didn't even have to knock on the door, her siblings had been watching out of the window.
Her good-humor fled and she gasped. "Lila? What's that on your hands?"
Unsurprisingly, nine year old Robin answered for her younger sister.
"We got eggs! Quail and Pewees!"
The girl lowered her voice on seeing Gamina's olive green eyes narrow. "We saw a nest except it was a bit hard to reach, so..."
"Why?" Gamina snapped, tearing at her lustrous brown hair in fury. "Why do you behave as if we need food? Do you know how many people, older than you are, die in the marshes every month following the logger's trails? They're equipped, you're not!"
Unsaid was that their mother had died from an infection after ingesting the putrid water.
"We do need food though," fourteen year-old Merlin said, carrying a disinfectant bottle and applying it over the sink on Lila's scratches.
"No," Gamina replied, certain.
"Dad and Grandpa can't do more."
Grandpa no, he was already doing too much for his age, but Dad could remarry. Gamina still kept an eye out when he got friendly with a woman, making sure her siblings behaved.
She looked at them in dismay. "Are you hungry?" she said, her voice softer. Merlin's expression grew somber.
"No, but Grandpa's old and Dad can't support us all, Gami. We need to learn to find food by ourselves."
"Shh!" Robin hissed, slapping her brother on the leg.
Gamina paled. Her hands clenching tightly because she knew they were right. She had cystic fibrosis. With three tesserae to Merlin's name in addition to the two salaries, the family suffered little from cold or hunger. But there was still little left for medicine. She was healthy now but it took greater doses every year to keep the cough away. She wouldn't see twenty. She didn't point out that she had less chance of getting reaped than Merlin, not wanting to get into another horrible screaming match about who the family could afford to see die.
"Then learn to spot the eggs, to pick them without ripping your hands off, to chase the little animals without shredding your jeans to tatters and to kill them without losing a knife to the bog. Do it properly," she said.
"We try," Robin said, her chin stuck out despite her apologetic eyes, "we can't learn without trying."
Gamina softened. "Let's do an omelet with those eggs."
She smiled as Lila cheered.
Yolo Underbush, 13, District 7
A blonde teenager was waiting for him at the shop. They had to hurry, everything closed early on Reaping Day.
"Nice dress, Dasheen," Yolo said appraisingly. He then grinned slyly at his older sister. "You never wear dresses. Who'd you want to impress?"
"Give me a couple of weeks, I'm still making my mind up," the girl whispered, wagging her eyebrows mysteriously.
Yolo laughed.
Dasheen's expression grew more serious. "Do they ever ask anymore?"
"They must think about you lots, it's just mum starts crying whenever someone mentions you."
There wasn't a hint of reproach in Yolo's tone. Liana had hated Dasheen with a passion ever since she'd gone to live with their father and had decreed that day the older girl was no sister of theirs. What Liana and the others didn't know was that Dasheen and their father still provided over half the income for their family. Yolo's wage would never have been enough to support the six of them.
"Silva is really great, you know, and she and Dad are so in love. I just wish… Can't we still be a family? Mum should be over it by now. They weren't even the perfect couple or anything before he left."
Yolo grasped her hand. "Give her a bit more time. Shae and Fey still crawl in my bed asking for stories of the times we were all together, I know they miss Dad, even if they're angry at him. Just some time," he said confidently, "I need mum to be well enough to understand we'll not be abandoning her, just making the most of our non-perfect Dad."
"Just because he was a crap husband in the end doesn't mean he isn't a cool dad. She's a seriously crap mother though. She let us all down! It's been fourteen months!"
"No, she's just weaker than some. She's family, Dasheen, I'm not giving up on her. And we owe her, lots."
"You're a more forgiving person than I'll ever be. What size is Rael now," the girl said rummaging through the rack of children's clothes.
The reaping square was as loud as it was crowded.
"What a sad little person," Yolo muttered with a wry smile as the obese escort ordered the peacekeepers around with bored flicks of his wrists.
"Little? Billy snorted. "He's bigger than my bloody house!"
Yolo laughed at the fat escort's bored tone when he began his customary speech. "Look at him ruling his little empire, he looks even unhappier at being here than most of us."
"Speak for yourself, Yolo. I wish I was just bored." Billy said, repressing a shiver.
"He won't pick you," Yolo promised with a grin. "You're too ugly for a Capitol show."
Billy punched him but looked hopeful all the same.
"Yolo!" a nearby boy hissed, interrupted their bickering.
"That's me." Yolo grinned, turning.
"You've just got reaped, you idiot."
Yolo's smile froze. He nudged Billy. "See," he said weakly. "Not you."
Billy didn't answer.
Yolo took a shaky and made his way up to the platform, grinning up at the escort just to see if the man would react. He did, his face twitched and he looked away from the thirteen-year-old.
Ha, take that. Yolo thought grimly.
He stared at the girl tribute with interest as she came up. She was old but gorgeous. Very strong and shapely with dark brown hair to her shoulders and green eyes that were shooting daggers at the escort. They got sent away immediately. Yolo only smiled. The man was going to get into so much trouble in the Capitol for doing things so badly.
"Stop smiling! Seriously stop smiling!" Liana said, slapping Yolo's cheek.
Yolo couldn't stop. He was in so over his head that it was ridiculous.
"Who's going to bring us food now?"
"Fey, who cares!" Shae said, rushing into Yolo's arms and burying her face in his side.
"It's important, he's right," Yolo said, wondering how much his youngest siblings really understood. "Dasheen will, like she's done since the beginning."
The news dropped like a bombshell. Their mother had to lean on the wall to keep her balance, her face was ashen.
"I'd rather starve than accept anything from that bitch," Liana screamed.
"Calm down," Yolo said, his voice rising. He rarely raised his voice, Rael whimpered. "My money has never been enough. She was very happy to help even if she knew she wasn't welcome anymore. She's the only reason we haven't all starved. I know you feel she abandoned us, Liana, I know you've worked so hard at being there for the five of us."
"It should've been Dasheen's responsibility! She left us alone," Liana said, fighting tears.
"It should've been mother's responsibility. But she was just too busy wallowing in self-pity while Yolo risked his life everyday trying to support you all," an angry Dasheen said, entering the room. "Tell me, Mother, did you ever do the maths? You have a good idea of how much a kid makes in the swamps. Did you think he was stealing to make up for the extra money? Did you even care?"
The woman had curled up on the floor and begun to sob.
"That's enough, Dasheen." Yolo said, his gray eyes flashing.
"I miss you guys. I just couldn't stay there. I would've strangled her." Dasheen's expression grew hard again. "Jill didn't let Kestrel and Tia rot when her husband died, and Tim held his head high and still came to work when he learned his kids weren't his, that Cindy had been shagging half the town behind his back. And he loved that slag, except he loved the children he'd seen grow up enough to suck it up!"
"So you left too. We feel so loved, Dasheen," Liana said softly, looking down. The older girl's face fell, she slowly put her arms around her sister.
Yolo noticed Trudy was looking at them all weird from the door. He walked up to her, stopping at his mother's side.
"Get up, Mum, I love you, we all do, you've got plenty of long years to make it up," he said gently, kissing her dark hair, letting her lean on Fey. "Don't you dare turn the attention back on me, I've been waiting months for this to happen," he then said, low enough so that only Trudy could hear.
"Don't worry, your father's outside, he already warned me. I get it now," she said, looking peeved.
Yolo hugged her. He'd always made it sound as if they were a happy family. It made people smile instead of feeling like he was adding his problems on top of theirs. He hoped she wasn't angry. He was happy to see his mother walking up to his sisters and putting a frail hand on Dasheen's shoulder. He grinned when the girl didn't push her away. He gestured Shae over with a finger. Fey and Rael were busy hugging their sister. Yolo poked his head out of the door, lifting Shae up and putting a hand over her father waved, causing Shae to flail in Yolo's arms. He let her run to him. An uneasy looking Billy was standing behind his father and ran forward.
"You have a whole room. Use it." A peacekeeper said, preventing the tribute from stepping in the Justice's building main corridor.
Billy squeezed himself in next to Trudy. "Your father wouldn't let me in," he grumbled.
He then just stared at his friend and blushed when the other playfully stuck his tongue out.
"I…I…You were a great friend, Yolo… I…don't want to lose you."
Trudy smacked him. "A little faith lad. He survived the swamps. We lose more than a score a year. The Games will be child's play. You go there like a winner, Yolo. Don't let them tell you otherwise."
Yolo clapped them both on the arms. Trudy's words were like a warm blanket. He could do this. "Don't worry, life provides. Just babysit a bit while I'm away, if you can and make sure Shae grows up knowing her dad. Make sure Mum doesn't do anything stupid," he said, losing some of his cheer.
"Yolo, Come here," Liana ordered before smothering him in a bear hug. "Come back, please come back so we can be all together again. Well, sort of." she mumbled sheepishly as her mother sniffed.
"I promise."
"Token," Fey said clapping his hands together.
"What? Oh right," Yolo said. He grinned expectantly at the assembled people. Liana smacked him again before pointing at the door. "Shae's got the wooden whistle she carved in her pocket, I'll get her."
"So you whistle, and angels come and help," the little girl said seriously as Yolo stood crouched before her. He cradled her tenderly.
"It's brilliant, Shae, I sure will whistle."
Gamina Woad, 16, District 7
"Cause she hacks."
Gamina turned upon hearing the familiar raspy voice.
"And she stacks," the short stout girl with a birds nest of chestnut hair added, pointing to the willowy blonde to her left, "and I quack," she finished with a smile.
Gamina grinned at her two best friends. "Packing quite the punch today, Resin."
"She made me nearly ruin my heels, dragging me here like a fury. Is my makeup still holding?"
Vera had grease up to her shoulders during the day, as she helped her parents not only with the fetching and storing of spare machinery pieces but also with the fixing. But as soon as the day was over, she fancied herself a star.
"You're as ridiculous as always, Dear, don't you worry," Resin cackled.
Vera patted her hair, looking quite relieved. "We'll be organizing a happening at Resin's," she said, a spark in her eyes.
"Sister dearest finally got knocked up. Announced it by barfing all over Dad at breakfast," Resin explained with a grin.
Gamina laughed. "Congratulations! About time too."
"With how easy it is to get pregnant with contraception. You'd think she was doing it on purpose."
Resin winked. "Or not doing it."
the peacekeepers began to usher the teenagers towards their sections and the girls had to separate.
"Lazy lazy," Vera tutted at Gamina.
Gamina had been a late baby, born six days after the reaping, and they never let her forget it. She scowled at her friends as the two headed to the seventeen's pen.
Tapir Marshall waddled up to the stage. The enormous man was an insult to every person in the district. Gamina hoped he died a painful death, preferably where she could see it happen.
"Welcome to the 63rd Hunger Games, may the odds ever be in your favor!"
Well, if even he sounded unenthusiastic what was the world coming too? At least if he'd been angry or sad. No, the escort was bored. She pictured his father as even fatter and filthy rich, with a wife young enough to be his son's sister. She imagined he got the job on his birthday, needing it as much as he needed the cake. Accepting it because escort was what fashionable people did back in the Capitol. At least people were chattering all around instead of listening to him. He flicked his hand towards a nearby peacekeeper. The man went to fetch the paper from the boys' glass for him. Yes the boys', because President Zephyr wanted to add his grain of salt to the Games. Wouldn't want History to forget him after all...
Yolo Underbush. Gamina hissed, hating that it was someone she knew.
He walked to the stage a bright smile on his face. Some said he wasn't right in the head, working where dozens of kids had lost their lives without a care. Others said that he was the most positive person in town. He climbed like a squirrel and whistled like a dream. All Gamina really saw was that the blond boy was thirteen.
As soon as he was on stage, Tapir waved his hand again, not bothering to call for volunteers.
"Gamina Woad" He read out.
Her?
It was fair in a way. She was already condemned.
She thought of quail and pewee eggs as she forced herself to walk up to Yolo. No. It wasn't fair, it could never be fair.
"They've seen you, you can go now." Tapir dismissively said once they were both beside him.
Gamina wished for her ax, so she could chop the man's fat outstretched hand off.
"Dad..."
The man was crying.
Gamina felt her heart break. No matter how stubborn about some matters, he'd always been solid and good through their childhood.
"Father, please."
"No. It's a great time to cry, Princess," he said, his body wracked by silent sobs as he pulled her head against his chest.
"We all knew you'd leave," Lila said, sucking on her index.
Robin pulled the finger out of her sister's mouth. "We'd planned a great party for you, when you'd really start coughing," she said, her childish voice shaking with anger. "They ruined it. I'll make them pay."
Gamina pushed her father off to grasp her sister's chin. "Don't you dare give them what they want. They want angry children they can punish to show how all this control is necessary, don't! Live happy and fed, then when you're old and shriveled you can tell them where to put it. "
"They'll have kids they'll want to protect then..." Grandpa grumbled and Gamina just had to hug him.
"Come back, just promise you'll survive," Merlin said, anguish twisting his kind face.
"I promise, Merlin," she said, kissing his forehead tenderly.
" 'She stacks, I quack,' sounds terrible," Resin said, her customary smirk absent.
"But this will certainly solve our budget problems for the happening. Music amplifiers are peanuts for a victor;" Vera said clapping her hands together.
"Got some hacking to do before that happens." Gamina said with a little smile. She truly appreciated their show of confidence.
"Then go hacking," the others said, engulfing her in a three-way hug.
"Blast! My mascara," Vera muttered.
"Do stop whining," Resin snapped.
The two girls both laid a hand on Gamina's neck, pressing the wooden pendant against her skin. They each had a copy. They'd made it in woodworking class when they'd been eight.
"Hey..." Will said, looking grave, "I smuggled you some raspberries I'd saved for myself. They must've thought I had some romantic trinket in the bag."
Gamina's eyes crinkled. She loved raspberries, but since she always worked behind the lumberjacks, she missed most of the occasions to pick them.
"You know, Will, you've got the looks and wit. If you're half as kind to your next girl as you're being to me right now, she'll marry you."
"Gami, there won't be a next girl."
She snorted.
Will blushed. "Aw, come on," he muttered.
Gamina was chuckling softly as she wrapped her arms around him. There was just something about him that lightened the mood.
"I'll think of you, be well." she murmured in his ear.
"I'll be watching and telling everyone how awesome you were. Except, Gami..."
She met his pale eyes.
"We're breaking up now, I don't want you to kiss another guy while you're with me. You might have to kiss another guy. Games stuff, right?"
Gamina chuckled. That was so Will.
"I'll be back, Will," she said, hating how it sounded like a lie.
"I bloody hope so," he answered, looking away.
