Disclaimer: I'm just playing with Suzanne Collins' characters and her world. They're hers. Not mine.
Down the Rabbit Hole, pt 10
AN: Some pretty dark things are implied about practices done in another District during this chapter. It's just a small part, but I want to warn people. The people of Panem seem to have a somewhat basic, very incomplete education. I think the government would keep them held down not just with force but with institutionalized ignorance. They probably, at least in my mind, would embrace some very backward practices that in this day and age are known to be completely incorrect, but that they don't have the knowledge to turn down. I hope that all made sense.
Madge isn't certain how her mother is going to react to all the stimulation of a room full of what are essentially strangers.
When Posy squeals and throws herself on the dresses Madge's mother flinches and Madge is certain it's going to dissolve from there.
But then her father comes in and her mother relaxes next to him and it all seems to go well.
"It's been a long time Matilda." Mrs. Everdeen, who looks like a pillar of strength compared to Madge's mother, gently speaks to her old school friend.
"Has it?" Honestly Madge's mother probably doesn't know. She oscillates between remembering details, like Madge's conversation about the dresses for Posy, and not knowing day from night. "I suppose." She gives Posy a soft look. "Do you like the dresses?"
"Yes, ma'am." Posy answers dutifully.
Madge smiles as the little girl gingerly runs her hands over the dresses. They're simple little things, blue, pink, and purple, with very little frilliness. Mrs. Hawthorne will no doubt have to hem them; they're probably a size or two too big for Posy at this point.
"You're Prim." She mutters as she passes over Prim with her eyes. "The girl whose sister saved her."
Tears begin to fill her eyes and Madge knows the brief calm has passed.
"I think you should go back upstairs, dear." Her father murmurs as he pulls her to her feet. Tears are already beginning to fall.
As if fate is working against them, and Madge sometimes believed it had a particular dislike of all of District Twelve, Miss Alameda strolled back in.
"That went swimmingly!" She looks genuinely pleased with herself. Her eyebrows arch skyward when she sees Madge's mother and father. "What're you doing outta bed, crazycakes?"
Madge's mother's lip trembles and tears begin to fall harder. Madge's father gives Miss Alameda a dark look as he ushers his wife out. Madge is livid and it takes every ounce of self control she has not to reach out and deck the girl. "Why would yo-"
"You're a witch." Gale suddenly growls.
"Tell me something I don't know, Dorothy." Miss Alameda rolls her eyes.
Madge stares at Gale, flabbergasted. Touched that he is seemingly defending her mother and irritated that he's once again picking a fight with someone he ought not. For the moment, though, Miss Alameda doesn't seem all that upset about his attitude.
"You didn't have to call her crazy." He continues, pointedly ignoring all the looks he's getting.
"But she is." Miss Alameda grins. "She's lucky she's crazy in Twelve, though. If this was Ten she'd have had an accident long ago."
If looks could kill Madge was certain there would be one very dead Miss Alameda on the ground. Gale glares daggers at the woman for a few moments longer when Madge's father comes back down the stairs. He gives Madge a small smile, letting her know her mother isn't as bad off as she seemed, then frowns at Miss Alameda.
"This District has made you soft," she sneers.
"And yours has made you hard."
A smile flickers across her face. "That's why I'm a Victor, Mayor Undersee."
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"What did she mean?" Vick asks as he takes Madge's hand. She's decided to walk them back to their house in the Seam rather than stay and listen to the reporters and Miss Alameda rapidly give editing details for their footage to some faceless voice in District Three.
"About having an accident?" He clarifies.
Madge has remained quiet since the incident. She doesn't want to discuss her mad mother or her fate if she lived in another District. She doesn't to see pity or disgust in any of their eyes for her. She's pathetic and she knows it, but she doesn't need that confirmed by anyone else.
She isn't certain how to answer his question. Not that she doesn't know the answer, but how do you explain such a thing to a nine year old?
"I'm a little curious too." Mrs. Everdeen adds in. It's then that Madge notices all eyes on her.
She swallows down the bile that comes up in her throat. "I don't think you really want to know."
"I think we do." Gale says sharply. "We're putting a lot of faith in your guesses. I think you owe it to us to explain at least a few things."
That she does.
With a sigh she pinches the bridge of her nose. She makes sure Posy is too engrossed in her new dresses to hear.
"Ten is the biggest District, right?" She looks around for acknowledgment and is greeted with nods. "Yet, in proportion to the size of the District the population is relatively small. Why is that?"
"Accidents?" Rory offers uncertainly.
"Exactly."
"It didn't sound like accident accidents." Gale fixes her in a stare and Madge quickly focuses on the ground.
"There is a high mortality, yes, because of the nature of the work they do. Livestock can be unpredictable and many of them are out in the weather. The wranglers and their families for instance. My father told me about the conditions in the processing plants once. Everyone works in Ten. Everyone. It kills a lot of them." She takes a breath. "They want the strongest stock. Hearty workers who can work long and hard. They're very…herd minded. They treat everyone like the animals they raise. Does that make sense?"
Judging by the blank stares it doesn't.
Madge takes her hand back from Vick and rubs her palms together.
"They have their own ways of weeding out undesirable traits in their population." Prim's nose wrinkles at this and Madge sighs. "If someone has a child and they determine that it won't be helpful, useful to the population…they make it go away. Rather than let it drag the resources down, they get rid of it. Then they sterilize the parents so they can't produce anymore 'bad' offspring." She takes another deep breath. "If my mother were in District Ten they would have labeled her with some kind of defect."
Being terribly sad wasn't an excuse in some Districts.
"She might've disappeared in the night and turned up in a pond after a few days." Her eyes flicker up to the clear blue sky. "There are a lot of unexplained drownings in District Ten."
Prim makes a noise, a sharp intake of breath. "That's awful."
"That's how they are." Madge tells her matter-of-factly.
The rest of the walk is uncomfortably silent. Only the birds and the insects seem interested in contributing to the background noise.
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Madge stays at the Everdeens' for what's left of the day.
The interviews won't air until the following day and she has no desire to listen to Miss Alameda and the reporters patch the Mellarks' and Everdeens' words into a Capitol-worthy mess nor hear their opinions on the events of the day's Game. She plays a game of tag with Vick and Posy (Rory firmly tells them he's too old for such foolishness), then they help Prim feed her goat, an act which ends with part of Madge's dress being eaten and Prim apologizing profusely.
"I can try to mend it!" She tells Madge tearfully, biting her lip.
Madge shakes her head with a laugh. "It's fine. I'm sure I can manage it. It's hardly a complete loss."
She knows better than to say that it's a knock-around dress. Better than to say she was planning on throwing the tattered thing away because it was getting a shade too thin and only wore it out in anticipation of getting it filthy. She knows what Gale's response to that would be and doesn't want to spoil the afternoon rowing over her privileged status.
When the sun starts getting low in the sky, painting it a brilliant sunset orange, she realizes she needs to get home.
"Do you really have to go, Madge?" Posy asks, jutting out her bottom lip.
Madge giggles, "Yes, my mother and father would be worried if I didn't. They might miss me."
Vick takes her hand, "I'll walk you home."
He's pulling her toward the gate when Gale snatches him up and tosses him over his shoulder. Vick struggles violently, thrashing around and grunting at his brother. "Put me down! Mom! Tell him to put me down!"
"You aren't being very nice Vicky," Gale chastises him as he flips him back in front of him, holding him in backwards bear hug. "You've played all day with Madge. You need to stay home and get your bath done."
Vick is red in the face, though whether from the scuffle with Gale or from embarrassment Madge isn't sure.
"I'll take a bath when I get home!" He tells Gale through gritted teeth.
"What is going on out here?" Mrs. Hawthorne emerges from the Everdeen house with her hands on her hips. She shoots Gale and Vick a look.
"Gale was just keeping Vick from walking his girlfriendhome," Rory tells her with a satisfied smirk.
Vick makes a strangled noise and Posy huffs in confusion. "Vick's too little to be Madge's boyfriend."
Prim turns to Madge and is clearly trying to keep from dissolving into giggles. She mouths the word 'Boys' and rolls her eyes. Madge covers her mouth to hid her grin; she would hate for Vick to think she was enjoying his embarrassment.
"Yes, Posy, he is. Gale, put him down. Vick, you need to stay home so we can get your bath done. Rory, stop teasing your brother or I will put an end to your escorting the Hendridge girl home after school."
Rory makes a disgusted face at his mother and Gale puts Vick back on the ground. Vick gives Gale a hard glare before turning to his mother. "I just took a bath this morning!"
Mrs. Hawthorne gives him a withered look, eyes focusing on his now muddy pants and the goat pen dust clinging to his hair. "And you've played very hard today so you get another. Say goodbye to Madge."
His shoulders sag as he mutters, "Bye, Madge."
He gives her a sad little look as she waves her goodbye to him and everyone else.
She's two houses down when she hears feet padding after her. When she turns she finds Gale, tousle headed from the wind, jogging after her. She gives him a confused look.
"Figured I'd walk you home. Hate for my brother's girl to get lost in the Seam."
"Won't you miss your bath?" She asks him with a smirk.
"I didn't play in the goat pen all day."
She sniffs and pulls a face, "Could've fooled me."
Then he laughs. It's the second time in two days she's heard him really laugh and she's beginning to like the sound.
He walks beside her, seemingly at ease, asking her for her honest opinion of the interviews. Apparently he and his mother both felt she might've held back for Prim and Mrs. Everdeen's sake. She reassures him that, no, she didn't hold back.
"False hope isn't useful. I could never be that cruel, to bait them with something like that."
He seems to appreciate the honesty.
They discuss the horrid manners of the Capitol reporters and their nauseating clothing. She tells him how they had nearly destroyed the front sitting room upon their arrival because they were so strung out from the birthday party they attended in the Capitol before coming to Twelve. He asked her about the snake man, Egard, and she tells him about Miss Alameda's warning.
He rubs the back of his neck, "Hate to say it, but if the witch is against him you probably really should keep an eye out."
Madge nods, "Yeah, he gave me a…bad, really bad, feeling."
"He tries anything, anything, you let me know."
"And what exactlyare you going to do about it?" She asks half jokingly.
Gale's face has darkened. "You just let me know."
She knows he would like nothing better than to have a reason to go at a Capitol citizen and so she knows that, no matter how crude Egard the snake is, she'll never tell Gale.
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The reporters are in hysterics, throwing themselves around, some fainting and making shrill, inhuman noises when Madge arrives. It's too much for her, she can't make out what any of them are saying other than that at some point during the day, or evening, she can't tell with them, Katniss and Peeta reunited. A small miracle, she knows.
She decides to make herself as small as possible. She can't go to her room for fear of seeming rude and so she's hiding in the kitchen, a place the reporters rarely ever go excepting in dire situations. She's certain she's safe from the worst of it when she hears the door open and the familiar click of Capitol heels on the tile.
Turning she finds Miss Alameda staring at the door.
"Is…everything okay?"
She glances over her shoulder with an annoyed flip of her hair.
"Peachy."
Okay. Madge frowns at her back.
How Peeta and Katniss being together has made things any worse, Madge doesn't know, but it's the only explanation for Miss Alameda's newly sour mood. She turns, fully facing Madge, her expression grim. Then, in a blink, she's got her hand out, snapping her fingers at Madge and gesturing for her to come.
"I think the excitement is done for the night. Let's go for a walk."
Before Madge can protest she's been pulled out the door and down the porch steps. They're in the garden, the back porch light isn't even on, so only the moon illuminates their way. She releases Madge's arm, pulls out her compact forcefully then snaps it shut before she begins pacing, muttering and making little hand gestures to herself as she maneuvers between the tomato plants.
Madge stands back and watches; praying the Victor hasn't lost what little sanity she barely had and decided to kill the little Mayor's daughter.
Abruptly, she stops and looks up, squinting at the house then down to the ground. In the pale light her hair doesn't look the unnatural moss color and her complexion isn't as washed out. Her clothes even appear more tamed. She looks more like the little girl from her victory photo than Madge had yet seen her.
"They can't both win."
She isn't saying it to Madge really, more to herself. She's wringing her hands fretfully as she shakes her head and bites her lip.
"Of course not," Madge still offers.
"But they want them to, and I've never, never, seen them like this," Miss Alameda glances furtively back to the still raucous house. "They want two victors," she looks to Madge, wide eyes and thin lips, "and they always get what they want."
Madge frowns, "You said they won't let them both win."
"They won't," she nods. "They'll let it go to the very end…maybe, but they won't let it happen. They have a vested interest in it never happening." A thoughtful look crosses over her face. "The teasing though…this could be it."
"Could be what?" Madge groans.
"The fuel. The spark. The beginning of the end."
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Madge and Miss Alameda sat in the garden until the small hours of the morning discussing the possibilities.
The Victor was cautiously optimistic about what Katniss or Peeta's victory could mean. It would provide the traction needed to have the coup so many apparently often thought about. The Capitol not getting what the Capitol wanted was unheard of…just as the possibility of two Victors was completely out of the question. Either the Capitol would upset its citizens or it would change its rules; neither pleasant possibilities.
"Two Victors would prove they can be manipulated, even by the lowliest of us. They won't stand for it." Miss Alameda's face is shadowed, making her smile more wicked than usual. "It'll be ugly, either way. We'll be the ones to pay." She sighs, "I would rather them upset the Capitol citizenry."
"Why?"
The other girl doesn't answer for a long moment. She's watching a firefly warily, a peculiar look on her face, but she finally shakes her head and finds the moment.
"One Victor, one idiot if they're anything like the rest of us, will be easier to deal with than two." She tears a leaf in half, "Plus, it introduces fewer variables. Two is twice the family, twice the emotional baggage, twice the hassle."
Madge nods, "And you'd rather it be Peeta?"
Miss Alameda nods. There's a sad smile on her face.
"He's clever. He's quick. He's charismatic. He's the one making this all possible, not that dratted girl. She's just a piece of the Game. He's a player." She tosses the shredded leaf over her shoulder, "But she's the one Mr. Abernathy wants, and she'll be the one he gets. He's the one doling gifts. In the end, it'll be his choice. God help us if it comes to it."
It turns Madge's stomach. Peeta is going to be sacrificed for Katniss' victory. Though she knows it's what he would want, she still has an uneasy feeling about it. Mr. Abernathy, Miss Alameda, any and all the people they've got on their side, they're all playing with fire, and it's only a matter of time before they all burn.