Chapter 37: Telemachus Brown
The Wintermas rush really is one of the most infernal times of the year, Scarlet Phillips, wife to President Snow's Minister of Information, thinks as she lets her young son, Alexander, drag her by the hand down Dominance Boulevard. This thoroughfare is always one of the busiest, without fail, at the holidays; the crowds are stifling, filled with stressed-out parents and screaming meemies throwing tantrums to look in the toy stores and hover-bicycle shops that dominate this street.
Alexander has been pressuring her for weeks to take him on a present-shopping detour during their errands. Though, as Scarlet watches a nearby six-year-old perform a truly embarrassing display on the street corner right outside Herod's Department Store, she thinks she wouldn't mind if the President just outlawed Wintermas altogether. It would probably earn him her vote, when he stands for re-election next year, though the media says it's looking like Snow will run unopposed.
"Mama, look! Look over there!" Little Alexander's eyes shine as he nearly lunges into oncoming traffic to dash up to the window of Herod's. Scarlet shrieks and dives after him, regaining a tight grip on his hand even as a taxi cab skids to a halt in a squeal of tires and then rudely lays on the horn. She almost flips the cabbie driver an obscene gesture – almost – but that wouldn't be ladylike, and Cassius, her husband, would be angry with her. So she settles for an apologetic grimace and grateful wave, letting it go.
Alexander now has his face pressed up against the glass, oohing and ahhhing at the delights in the shop window. Toys and bears and model sets of the tribute trains silently beg to be purchased. Scarlet indulges him by fawning and gasping when prompted and appropriate, sharing conspiratorial smiles with her son.
"May we go inside?" Alexander asks, and she is pleased that he remembered how to ask for permission in a grammatically correct fashion. Using 'Can?' to preface a question had been a fad she and his teachers had worked hard to get out of him.
"Yes, you may," she smiles softly at him, and she follows leisurely behind as her little boy bursts in like a… well-tamed bull in a china shop. Scarlet can't help but appreciate his enthusiasm – at least he shows better restraint than some of the hellions she's seen who behave no better than district trash.
She peruses some of the shelves listlessly, thinking there might be something adult enough for Cassius as a gift – the single parcel she and her family always traditionally open on Wintermas Eve. Her husband could use a new pocket watch… but no, there isn't an adult section in this toy store; she'll have to go down to Colorado Street and visit the watchmaker.
Scarlet is jolted from her thoughts when Alexander nearly runs into her skirts, straining to hold up the prize in his hand so she can see it.
"Mama, check it out! A Wolfmark Redpath plushie!" He squeezes the thing, and a deep bass voice comes out of the smiling doll when it calls out: "I volunteer as tribute!"
Scarlet smiles indulgently, reveling in her son's happiness and decides to check the price, if he's so eager to get it. The price tag is high, but manageable – a thirty-year-old collector's item like this must surely be an antique! She decides to take the splurge, knowing that when Alexander shows it to Daddy, he'll be just as intrigued. Cassius has a guilty pleasure for antiques himself.
She places the Wolfmark Redpath plushie into a shopping bag, and Alexander is off and away again. When he doesn't come back for a time, she prowls down all the aisles until she finds him, safe and in front of a rather large, eye-drawing display in one corner. Alexander's mouth is hanging open as though he has just stumbled upon the Holy Grail.
"Telemachus Brown action figures…." Her son is breathing, quickly snatching the last toy box off of the display case and clutching it covetously to his chest. "I didn't think these would be out yet!"
Illiterate in the ways of toys though she is, Scarlet admits she didn't think this kind of commercial item would be available either, not quite five months after Telemachus Brown amazed the crowd on his way to becoming the Victor of the 37th Hunger Games. A terribly attractive young man, a happily married Scarlet has to concede, and as she peers closer, she concludes that his action-figure likeness doesn't do the newest Victor from Two justice. She lets her husband do the betting for the both of them, but if she could gamble, she would back Two all the way, every time. With Telemachus's triumph, they're already on their… seventh Victor, she thinks? She isn't sure.
Alexander spins back to his mother, clutching at her skirts. "It's the last one, Mama, and I have it! May we buy it? Please? Before they're all out!"
He lifts the box up to her. One look at the price and Scarlet lets out a squeak. This damn doll is worth close to an entire month's rent! But as she looks into her son's imploring eyes, she quickly calculates their finances in her head, checking her purse to be sure. Her checkbook can take the hit, but just barely, and Cassius has a fine salary package that will keep them cushioned enough.
Besides…. It's Wintermas.
Sighing, Scarlet nods and deposits the Telemachus Brown action figure in her bag alongside the plushie of Wolfmark Redpath. The softer antique bumps against the bag's lining enough to activate its voicebox - "I volunteer as tribute!" is heard again, making Alexander giggle. Waiting in line, Scarlet finally is able to march up the counter and lay the money down.
"Have both items wrapped, please."