Chapter 24: The garden party

[Winter/Spring after the 73rd Hunger Games]

Winter settled in, with some snow and even colder temperatures. Christmas preparations and decorations were started in our district, on a moderate level at least. Like in the years before, we did our best to bake huge amounts of Christmas cookies, and I helped out whenever I could. As the baking cut into my time with Prim, my girlfriend volunteered to assist us in the bakery from time to time, sometimes even minding the storefront and doing some of the sales on her own. A few years ago, having the storefront taken over by a Seam girl would have caused an uproar, and many of our customers would have turned around right away. But Prim did not look like a Seam girl, and those who knew her had become used to her by now. Our customers had noticed the change of mind setting in since my mother had left, and only very few snobby Townies took offense by seeing Prim in the bakery. Eventually it even turned out that a growing number of customers appreciated being served by a pretty girl, and some of them explicitly told us so.

"Hey, Primrose," my father suggested later on when we had dinner together on a particularly busy day, "you are doing good in the bakery. If you ever decide that the healing business isn't for you, you can start here any time!"

"Well," Prim countered, "if that implies that I can order your sons around, I might feel tempted."

"Come on, Primrose," my father continued, "one of my sons has already allowed you to order him around for years, and the two others are at least mostly behaving."

"True," the blond haired girl chuckled and confirmed, "and working here with you guys is really nice."

With her help we managed to get all of the cookies done and packed into small bags, and Prim also helped with the deliveries. Like we had done two years ago, Dad decided that we should invite the Everdeen family on December 25th, and I was expected over at their place on December 26th. They would have loved to have all of us Mellarks over, but their house was too small for such a big party in winter, when you could not spend much time outside, and their oven was only a small one, too.

"I can always sit on your lap" Prim told me, and she continued with a smirk: "If we can make Katniss sit on Peeta՚s lap and Mom sit on your Dad's lap, we might cope. But somehow I do not see this happen."

On the weekend before Christmas, Wheat asked Dad if he could bring a girl home for dinner. That by itself was something special; we were not even aware that Wheat had a girlfriend, and he had never formally introduced one of his earlier crushes or temporary girlfriends to the family. Dad agreed, and we were all very curious.

On that Sunday, Prim was also with us and helped with dinner preparations, and we were eagerly waiting, until Wheat came in with a tall athletic girl who clearly looked more Seam than Merchant, with tanned olive skin, almost black hair and brown eyes. Wheat introduced her as Leevy, and Prim knew her well, as she and her family lived next door to the Everdeens; I had also seen her before a few times when she had looked over to observe what Prim and I did in the garden, but she had never been interested in garden work and spent most of the time indoors, as far as I knew.

Leevy had a nice and soft voice, and she said that she was happy to be here. When asked about how long she knew Wheat, she told us that they had met by coincidence a few months ago. When Wheat had been over in the Everdeen garden in summer, she had left the door to her shed wide open, and when Wheat had left, he had seen her together with her hobby, which was crafting. It turned out that she liked to do crafting from wood, just like Wheat liked, and they had started to talk about that. They had worked together a few times at her place, and had both found this to be very comfortable. She was a couple of years younger than Wheat, about Katniss' age and in her class at school, and while she was not his girlfriend, they liked each other and enjoyed spending time with each other.

It turned out that we had a pleasant dinner together. Leevy was a little shy, but specifically Prim՚s presence helped her to feel comfortable and relaxed. Wheat had told her about me and Prim before, so that she was not surprised to find my young girlfriend her at the bakery.

A couple of days later, on my last day of work prior to the holidays, all employees at the Justice Building were told that the Peacekeepers had successfully laid an ambush and captured everybody involved in stealing coal. The thieves had somehow managed to get somebody in the train and drop coal along a long slow order, and others had later taken it from the ground, transported it back to the district on carts, and smuggled it in again through holes in the fence, to make money from it. The story had been reported to the Capitol, and they had ordered a public punishment after Christmas, on December 28th. The two leaders of the operation were to be executed, and the others had a whipping coming.

Peacekeepers made sure that this announcement was made known in the entire district on the same day, and a – probably intended – side effect was that people felt kind of uneasy and anxious over the holidays. Nevertheless, we tried to celebrate in a good mood, starting in our own family plus Prim in the afternoon and evening of December 24th, followed by the big holiday lunch at the bakery with guests on December 25th and my day with the Everdeen family on December 26th. We needed one day of rest on December 27th to recover from eating almost too much, and then the dreaded public punishment day was there.

Like for a reaping, all district citizens were obliged to attend, and everybody was registered with fingerprints. The day started with a clear sky and low temperatures, and as were not forced to stand in age groups, Prim soon found me and my family when she came to the main square. When the time was right, Mayor Undersee and Head Peacekeeper Cray stepped out of the building and onto the stage that had been erected, like the stage being used for Reaping. Both said a few words of warning and repeated the offense done by the men who were now pushed out, each one escorted by two peacekeepers.

Two gallows had been placed there as well, and the two leaders were led there. Mayor Undersee informed the citizens:

"Those two criminals were found to lead groups of others and enticing them to steal coal which was supposed to be transported off. They had not only been instrumental in the stealing, but have lead teams to do that on a regular basis. The Capitol has ordered the death sentence to be applied, so that they can never do this again."

Prim decided to hide her face in my side while we had to watch the two gang leaders to struggle and finally succumb. Right after that, the mayor continued:

"Those other five men here have contributed to the stealing. They don't have a record of previous crimes, and 15 lashes will be applied to each of them. Tie them to the poles!"

Peacekeepers removed the upper body clothes from all of the men and tied them to poles, and the public whipping started. Same as the hanging, it was not a pretty sight at all, and the idea was obviously to keep others from doing something similar.

Once the public whipping was completed, Head Peacekeeper Cray spoke a few more words, and finally we were free to go again. After New Year's Day Prim went back to school and I resumed my work. Mayor Undersee happily told me that the coal count matched again for the last shipment, and the Capitol had praised him for getting the issue resolved properly and efficiently.

Over the next weeks, I also got to know Leevy a little better. When I was at Prim՚s place, she sometimes came over, and she seemed to be one of the very few people Katniss not even tolerated, but even talked to. While spring was not really there, February had a few almost warm days, and on one sunny Saturday I joined Prim doing some work in her garden. In most areas, the soil was still bare, but a few early crocuses and spring snowflakes were there at least. Wheat had come with me to see Leevy, and she and my brother came over after they had done some work in Leevy՚s shed, so that all four of us worked together for some time.

The neighbor girl used the opportunity to tell us a little more about herself:

"A couple of years ago my little brother got the measles, and Mrs. Everdeen treated him. But normally I do not go out much, and I guess I am a little bit like Katniss, and I feel uneasy with most people."

"And yet," I replied, "you manage to get along with my brother?"

She smiled and responded: "Yes, I know that this is strange. When he looked in my shed last summer while I was working, I tried to ignore him, knowing that he is not Seam. However, he kind of ignored my ignoring him, and eventually I could not fail to notice that he seemed to admire my work. A couple of days later, when he came again, I managed to say 'hello', and before I really noticed, we were talking about crafting."

"I was so surprised to see that somebody else was crafting with wood," Wheat added, "that I just could not leave; I had to get more details."

"Yes, and I could not believe that a Townie was actually interested in what I was doing" Leevy said. "I guess, I just assumed that Townies would not do things like that."

"By the way," Wheat continued, "I was thinking that maybe we should join our activities. I have some kind of unofficial permission to sell some of my work, but the bakery shed is not really big enough to both craft and sell. You have your larger shed over there, but selling stuff here probably would not work, as most Townies would not come to the Seam."

Prim looked up and suggested: "You could do the crafting here together and have a small shop at the bakery."

And I added: "Maybe we could even show a few pieces in the bakery shop window, and if customers are interested, we can tell them that there is a shop close by."

Wheat like that: "You know, that might actually work. Leevy, what do you think? We'd share the profit for what we sell, of course."

Leevy also liked it: "Well, if you really think so, I'd love it!"

A few weeks later Spring was about to show itself, and most citizens in the district started to do the overdue spring cleaning in their houses. This also included finding issues, like loose roof tiles, and Marc and I were busy again going around and helping various residents with urgent house repair work.

Over the past few years the attitude of some Seam citizens had changed. When I had started to do repairs years ago, when I was still an intern, most of them would not have allowed me even near their houses, and only Marc and sometimes Gale being with me helped. Most of them had learned by now that I was really there to help, and that I did not discriminate against Seam at all. Of course, my attitude did not apply to all Merchants – a lot of them still looked down at Seam people and refused to talk to them. However, the big gap was getting smaller with the years, and I was happy to see that.

The Pherson home had also been damaged over the winter, and one of the walls looked unstable. Neither Marc nor I were carpenters, but we had done a lot of 'learning by doing'. On one sunny day we got some boards and beams from our supplies and got to work, and until noon time most of the work was done. Marc's mother had lunch for us, and she did not have any problem with me joining.

"You know," she mentioned when had eaten, "I had severe prejudices against Townies just a few years ago, and by seeing how you behave and what you do, I have had to revise that view of mine."

"Thank you, Mrs. Pherson, this is good to hear," I replied politely, "but I have to admit that in general the view may still be appropriate. A lot of Merchants still discriminate against Seam residents, and some will not even allow them into their shops."

"True, but it is at least slowly changing."

We spent the afternoon refining our work, and before the sun was going down, the wall was as good as new.

Spring proceeded, temperatures were rising, and Marc and I had a chance now to complete the work on the slides in the school playground. Last year we had been able to construct two slides from a tree we had to bring down close to the school building, and we now completed the polishing, which was hard work. When this was mostly done, we thought about where and how to attach the slides. We were able to identify a place at the climbing frame for the larger one and a nice place in a tree for the smaller one; for the one in three the kids would either have to climb the tree or climb up a rope first.

After some weeks of work we had both slides properly attached and fully polished, and on one nice day in April they were opened for use. A few days before we had some kids, specifically Prim and Posy, have a go at the slides already, and they had approved. The longer ones had a couple of bumps in it, and this seemed to be fun.

Let's just say that, for some time the teachers had a hard time to get the kids back from outside after breaks.

Prim՚s birthday in May was now approaching. This year I did not have a brilliant idea for a nice present yet. I was quite sure that she would be more than happy just to spend the day with me on our meadow or so, but I really wanted to get her something special. Eventually I got an idea. I knew that Prim was quite popular at school, but she probably never had had a chance to see more than two or three friends at home, as their house was quite small. The garden area in the back was large, but there was no easy way to prepare food for a larger group. Thus I talked to Mrs. Everdeen when Prim as at school:

"Mabel, I have got this idea for Prim՚s birthday. I wonder if I could try to invite her entire class and do some kind of garden party behind the house. I know a place where we can get a few folding chairs, and I was thinking about having a campfire and roast some meat Katniss might be willing to organize. I'd add a selection of breads from the bakery. What do you think?"

"Ryan," she replied, "that sounds like a wonderful idea, and I am sure that Prim would love it. Her birthday is on a school day this year, so you'd have the entire morning for preparations."

I started to think out loud:

"Yes, this will help. I will need to get a day off for getting the garden prepared, I need to find an ally to invite the children in her class, and I will need to get meat organized. If we eat something Katniss brings, though, peacekeepers might get suspicious, so that maybe I should buy meat at the butcher's instead this time."

I got a chance to talk to Lizzy alone a few days later when Prim was busy assisting her mother, and she was more than happy to help. She would talk with the other kids in class, trying to make sure that Prim did not notice what was planned. I checked at the small butcher's next to the bakery, and they were more than happy to take an order for Prim՚s birthday.

Eventually, all preparations were done, and as far as I knew, Prim did not suspect a thing.

On the birthday morning I got up early, and my first activity was to walk over to the Everdeen home right in time to wake up Prim, wish her a nice and happy birthday, and have breakfast together with her. Once we had eaten, I walked her and Katniss to school and promised to pick her up again in early afternoon when she was done with her lesson.

This being done, I rushed to get Mark, who had volunteered to help me, and we got all the stuff we had prepared, chairs, utensils, and much more, to the Everdeen garden. We did not have many tables, but I figured that the kids could pick a plate and either sit on a chair or on the grass easily. Gale brought some lemonade from the Hob, and I prepared the place for the campfire. Just before noon I picked up the meat from the butcher's and brought it over, and the preparations were finally about done when we allowed ourselves a quick lunch break.

In the early afternoon I picked up Prim and Lizzy from school, and once I had received my usual hug and kiss from my girlfriend and a friendly smile and handshake from Lizzy, we went into the Seam. All of the preparations had been done in the garden area behind the house, so that nothing was visible from the street. Prim was a little curious about presents, but went up to her room to wash and change first.

Her classmates had been instructed to wait at some distance, and when Prim was up in her room, I signaled them to come. They came running and were directed into the garden. A few minutes later Prim came down, looked at our smiling faces, and said:

"What's up? Have I missed something?"

"No, not really. Have you checked how the flowers and herbs in the garden are doing today?"

Prim was apparently a little confused why I'd ask that on her birthday, but went out of the backdoor anyway, and suddenly there were loud 'Surprise!" shouts from everywhere around. Prim՚s jaw dropped for a moment, but then she smiled and jumped around, very happy to see her classmates around. Eventually, though, she got a little bit concerned and asked me:

"Rye, how do we feed that many people?"

"Don't worry, my love, this is taken care of."

For starters I offered a selection of pastries, and once everybody was happily chewing, I got the fire started. The whole setup was improvised a lot, but I had been able to get a large cooking grate from the bakery and placed it on a few stones, so that it was heated by the fire from below. Mark and I started to place some slices of meat on the grate and did our best to avoid getting it charred. It was the first time we tried something like that, and we needed to pay a lot of attention. Once again, it was 'learning by doing', and it was also quite interesting, specifically as we had a cheerful audience. Naturally, the kids had never seen something like that done before, and some of them looked interested. I dearly hoped that the result, the taste of the final product, would be able to justify the expectations.

Just before the meat was ready to be served, my father came over with Wheat and Peeta, and Wheat picked up his friend Leevy from next door's house, right on time. Of course Prim had insisted my family to join her party as well, and she also regarded my family as her own second family. Leevy and Wheat seemed closer than they had been months ago and looking at each other almost all of the time, and before any question were asked, Wheat proudly announced:

"Yeah, well, as you probably can see, Leevy and I are now together!"

And he emphasized his statement by kissing his girl, so that we could all see it. All of the kids applauded, and Leevy looked a little bit embarrassed, but my father hugged her and told the girl:

"Leevy, this is nice to hear – welcome to the family!"

The first slices of meat were ready now, and once I had verified that they were probably done and not half red, I started to distribute them around. Dad helped with serving bread, and Mrs. Everdeen had prepared a salad, and soon everybody was chewing happily..

Although most kids from Prim՚s class were here – some merchant students had not come, probably because their parents had not wanted for them to visit the Seam and mingle with Seam kids outside of school – there was enough to eat for all of them, and Prim was almost ecstatic about the opportunity to have such an event. Specifically for some of the Seam children, it was a rare chance that they could indulge and eat as much as they wanted, and they obviously enjoyed it. While I was tending the fire and the meat, Prim walked around and spread happiness, occasionally helping with providing second helpings.

In the evening, when the guests had left and I was cleaning up, Prim cuddled against my side and smiled:

"Rye, thank you for that – it was a wonderful party! And I really, really enjoyed the chance to host such an event and to provide a wonderful meal for the other kids!"

"You are very much welcome, my dear, and I am glad that I selected the right present for your birthday."

As it was Friday, I left the final cleaning for the next day and took Prim home to the bakery. I needed a shower, as I smelled of smoke from the fire, and afterwards I very happily joined my girlfriend in the bed. As I could easily tell from the happy expression on her face, I had yet again managed to make her happy on her birthday.

[Author's Notes: Prim can at least have some fun before this year's Hunger Games bring big worries, which will start in the next chapter. Please write a review if you like it, and let me know what you think about the improvised barbecue party!]