The Mentors

Chapter Ten

Garland "Garl" Riggs (D12)

I'm nearing fifty and I don't like it. My hair, once black, is now gray. I chuckle because it matches my eyes. My skin has more wrinkles that I ever thought possible, but it still has the familiar olive tone to it. I notice my wife in the doorway and I look away from the mirror.

"What are you looking at, old man?" my wife, Alma, asks while laughing. "Age hasn't been easy on you, huh?"

I had a "minor" heart attack last year and almost died, but by the "grace" of the Capitol and their surgeons, I was able to survive. Alma likes to make fun, but I know it scared her to death when I collapsed.

"Don't be mean, Alma," I say with a smile.

"I'm just telling the truth," Alma replies, grinning.

"Hmm," I muse. "Another truth would be that your hair has gotten really gray."

She scowls at me. Alma loved her hair when it was blonde, but her adoration has dimmed as the color has it changed. "Gray hair doesn't suit me."

"Old age doesn't suit anybody," I tease.

I kiss her and she laughs despite herself. "I'm going to make breakfast, any suggestions?"

I shake my head and she walks out of the room.

My children always eat breakfast with us on the reaping day. I have two sons and a daughter. My oldest, Darius, is married to a Seam girl named Anna. Next is LR, otherwise known as Lily-Rose, who was just married to the mayor, Case Jenkins. She's also pregnant. My youngest, Riley, is single and trying to get with the baker's daughter currently. I clash with Riley sometimes, but I still love him. For the most part.

I dress in my usual reaping attire; a blue dress shirt and black pants with some fancy shoes that I hate. I walk down the stairs and find my children, my children-in-law, and my wife eating eggs at the table.

"You started without me?" I ask in mock outrage.

Riley grins. "The food just looked so good, we couldn't help ourselves."

I roll my eyes. "Good morning, children."

LR smiles at me. "Good morning, Dad, you look very spiffy."

Darius smiles. "Hey, pops."

Riley shovels food in his mouth. Anna smiles shyly, she still hasn't gotten over her self-consciousness around us even though it's been three years. Case grins while giving me an acknowledging nod.

Anna's eyes are focused intently and I follow her gaze to my hand. My pinky finger on my left hand was eaten by wolf-like mutts in my Hunger Games. I always felt that ordering fake ones seemed idiotic for something so small. I put my hands in my pockets and Anna blushes, realizing that I caught her staring.

I sit at the head of my table and eat my eggs, listening to the different conversations with a slight smile. LR vents her frustrations about morning sickness, while Anna tells about her difficulties in getting pregnant. Case and Alma have a quiet conversation about LR's pregnancy. Darius and Riley talk about the baker's daughter in hushed voices.

I just take it all in. This is my family. And I love them. Well, most of the time.

The boys and I eat quickly, because, well, we're hungry men. Anna is from the Seam and always eats quickly, while LR's pregnancy makes her become famished easily. Alma eats the slowest, though she hurries it up for the rest of us.

LR stands up. "Let's go."

Riley smirks. "We can all walk while you get your waddle on."

LR sticks her tongue out at her baby brother and we all leave together. On the way, I say goodbye to my children and their spouses. I'll leave the goodbye to my wife for later. I hug my Alma before going to sit on the stage in my designated chair.

After all these years, I'm still alone.

The mayor gives a respectable, yet boring speech. The escort gives us a treat with a speech of her own. Simply delightful. In a normal situation the speech would result in raucous laughter, but since it's the reaping it only receives a few giggles.

The escort finally gets on to her actual job other than "standing there and looking pretty," as she said in her speech. She goes over to the girl's ball and picks a seventeen-year old, Anise Sampson, who is a Seam girl. The boy is Sage Petty, another teenager from the Seam, who is a year younger than the girl. They're older but have the usual starved look to them so I'm guessing they aren't fighters.

The reaping ends and I hug and kiss my wife. I wonder about the chances I have to bring one of my tributes home this year. They actually have more of a chance than tributes from other years have. Maybe they could win.

I sigh, because I know I'm only kidding myself.