So we are winding down to the end...slowly but surely...After the conversation with Madge, the gang knows the rebellion is at hand. Well not everyone is aware of the rebellion...
Special thanks to my friend and beta who's really excited about the next few chapters...norbertsmom. I hope you enjoy this chapter please keep in mind I do not own the Hunger Games. Also a grand thank you to all of you who patiently wait for each chapter and have kept up with the many twists of this story- I heart You All!
Jackson looked out of the widow furiously. It snowed all day yesterday and this morning it was still snowing. There was no way the Capitol would do anything against Gale Hawthorne with the weather being this rotten. Frustrated, he kicked a tin vase next to his foot. It clattered on the floor making noise.
"What…" Carlton jumped up from his nap, startled by the noise.
Jackson looked behind him and grimaced at his cousin.
"What's wrong with you?" Carlton rubbed his face.
Fuming he said, "Nothin'."
"You still smartin' over being dumped by Delly?" Carlton grumbled.
Jackson thinned his lips. He was humiliated by what happened after the reaping. He couldn't believe Delly chose Seam trash over him, a Merchant.
"Listen, Jackson, you've got to get over her," Carlton said, coming to stand by Jackson's side. "She made her choice to be with Hawthorne."
Jackson didn't want to hear what his cousin was telling him.
"Don't do that face," Carlton said.
"What face?" Jackson crossed his arms.
"That face," Carlton pointed to the reflection in the window.
Jackson saw his face was flushed and he was angrily pouting. He narrowed his eyes. "Okay."
"Still making the face," Carlton quipped.
"Ugh," Jackson threw his hands in the air. "You don't understand."
"What don't I understand? That you treated Delly like crap, laughed in her face when she cried. Hell, I'm guilty of bullying and I'm sorry for what I did. She made her choice and we should be ecstatic she found happiness."
Jackson stood mutely, his anger growing.
"Heck if I were Delly I too would have gone with the guy that treated me decently."
"You mean you prefer some Seam trash?" Jackson said aghast.
"Why not," Carlton shrugged. "Some of the Seam girls are sweet and hard workers."
Jackson wasn't sure if he even knew his cousin. "What are you saying?"
"I'm saying, I wonder why there's this divide between the Seam and Merchants."
"Because they're dirty and foul."
"That's what I mean. Who told you that?"
"Look at them."
"Jackson, they have no running water like we do. Also, the biggest difference between them and us is we're better off financially than they are. If we were poor and living in those conditions, we'd look that dirty too."
Jackson frowned. His cousin's arguments held merit. He never considered they didn't have running water.
"Look, all I'm saying is to a Peacekeeper it doesn't matter if I am Seam or Merchant. If they believe I have broken some unknown rule, do you know what they'd do to me?"
Jackson didn't want to answer. He knew where Carlton was leading.
"They will beat me the same way, regardless of where I come from."
"That's all fine, but what does that have to do with Delly?"
"Jackson, none of us were nice to her. Would you want to be treated poorly?"
"No."
"Neither does Delly. She may be ugly, but she's still a person that wants to be cherished. Hawthorne looks at her like she hung the moon. And if you will remember, Delly's a Merchant and a Peacekeeper beat her because she passed the breathalyzer test. It's the Capitol you should be mad at, not Hawthorne. Delly and Gale just want to be happy like the rest of us."
"Where is this coming from?" Jackson wanted to know how his cousin was becoming a Seam sympathizer.
"I was talking to my friends. A lot of them say the Capitol doesn't respect. They're treating us like we're from the Seam. To them, we're a filthy uneducated backward district. I got to thinking that's the same way we see the Seam. And we can't help it, because we don't have stable electricity, we have coal dust everywhere, and we still use mule-drawn carts instead of cars. It's why I told you the Seam can't help their situation. They live in squalor," Carlton said.
What Carlton said made sense when objectively viewing it from a different perspective. No one amongst the Merchants ever thought of themselves as less than. However, to someone who comes here from the Capitol, they only see them as foul unhygienic urchins.
As they stood by the window the SJ7 rolled by, its engine rattled the window. The message could be heard within the room.
"This a notice from the Capitol. For your safety, we are instituting a three-day lockdown. No residents will be allowed to leave their homes or places of business for three days beginning at 8 PM. Any violators will face immediate punishment."
Carlton rolled his eyes. "Cause the Capitol cares about us."
"Don't say that," Stephen said coming into the room with a hammer and planks of wood. "The Capitol genuinely cares for its citizens."
"Stephen, they don't care about us." Carlton sighed.
"They gave us care packages," Stephen turned red. "They contained vital survival items."
"Two thermal blankets and enough rations for three people."
"Per family," Stephen crossed his arms, "They gave us two."
"There are nine people living in this house which means three people won't have food and two of us won't have a thermal blanket. So, one of us will starve and the other two will die of the cold."
Jackson mulled what Carlton was saying in his mind. His cousin's argument was sound. Why give them so little when the average family size amongst the Merchants was five. As much as he didn't like people from the Seam, Jackson couldn't imagine the average family of six to survive on those rations. Regardless of where you were from, in District Twelve families had to bond together to pool their resources to survive, just like his family did.
Stephen's face was beet red. Stephen could be irrational when angered. "Carlton," Stephen said in a strangled voice.
Carlton slipped his hands in his pocket and shrugged. "Not to mention there wasn't anything to help us heat the house in those survival packs. We can't even buy coal because of the restrictions. That's why dad is breaking up old furniture to make enough wood to heat the house, not to mention to cover the windows."
"Stephen, I have to agree with Carlton on the rations. It's not enough. If you have a small family, it's enough, but if you're like us then no, it's not good. We're lucky we have a store stock full of food we can eat in an emergency. If we didn't, we'd be lost. Look at our neighbors, they repair clothing. What do they have in the way of rations, only what's in those packets? That's a family of six."
"Didn't you hear the president there are shortages due to the weather. Despite the shortages, they managed to put together something that can help us," Stephen argued.
"What about the Peacekeepers, what do you say about Thread? They flog us, beat us for no real reason. Before the restrictions, even with a permit, I couldn't walk outside to deliver the food without being stopped." Carlton pleaded with his brother. "I can't tell you the number of breathalyzer tests I've been forced to take."
"No, no, you had to be doing something illegal," Stephen spat.
"Stephen what Carlton says is true. The way the Peacekeeper's treat us is wrong," Jackson admitted.
Despite his situation with Delly, Jackson saw the Capitol didn't care about them. If they did, they wouldn't encourage the troops that were supposed to maintain the peace to torture them. They wouldn't treat them so poorly, given the Merchants were loyal to the Capitol. Unlike the rule-breaking people from the Seam. One of those biggest rule breakers was Gale. The guy poached in the forest. His mother ran an illegal laundry. How they weren't caught yet by the Peacekeeper's boggled Jackson's mind.
"I also get where Stephen's coming from Carlton, there are people from the Seam who break the rules. They do it so much and they don't get stopped by the Peacekeepers."
"Are you on that Gale kick again?"
"Wait are you defending the Seam?" Stephen said horrified.
"Don't you see this is what the Capitol does? They divide us and make us fight amongst each other so that they can control us," Carlton said.
Stephen threw his hammer on the floor.
"Stephen," Carlton called.
Stephen left.
"Dammit." Carlton shook his head. "Listen, I've got to speak to him, but let sleeping dogs lie when it comes to Delly. Let her be happy."
Carlton went after Stephen. What he said made sense, but his irrational side told him he needed to get back at Hawthorne and as soon as he had the opportunity he was going to sneak out of the house and send one last final message before having to hunker down at home for three days.
As he looked out of the window Jackson thought about leaving tonight. It occurred to him he was acting as irrational as Stephen. Maybe, Jackson told himself Carlton was right. Needing a walk he put on his coat and noted there were many people outside.
It stopped snowing and people were outside to catch the last of the sun before the imposed shut-in. The weak sunlight felt good upon his face. Jackson needed to think things through. Maybe Carlton was right, maybe he should drop his obsession with Hawthorne. Delly made her choice and he should move on. Jackson wrestled with the idea. The frigid wind caused him to rub his hands together.
He walked across the street into an alleyway that led to the back wall that ran all along the backs of the Merchant's homes and businesses. As he walked, he overheard three girls talking. They were standing outside passing a flask amongst them. He would have walked through them except he heard them mention Hawthorne's name. He hid behind a pile of snow.
"Did you see Gale Hawthorne at the reaping," Purdy Atwood sighed.
"He's so handsome," Mitzie Jacobsen sighed.
"I wouldn't mind, well, you know," Hanna Brandice said.
Jackson stood just a foot away from them, they didn't even see him. All they did was gush over Hawthorne.
"I know," Purdy chuckled.
"My favorite time of day is when he comes to trade with my dad. He's so tall and just oooohhh," Mitzie purred.
"I heard the Seam girls talking in the girl's locker-room. They said he was good in the sack," Hanna's voice became breathy in the way a girl's voice did when they felt desire.
"What did you hear?" Mitzie's voice was beyond curious. Jackson rolled his eyes at hearing this.
Hanna chuckled. "They were saying how he was hot in bed. Can you imagine having those stormy eyes of his looking at you as he makes you scream?"
"Why would you scream?" Purdy asked innocently.
"Oh Purdy," the other two girls said together.
"Hanna, do you know who was checking you out during the Reaping?" Mitzie said in a low voice, Jackson had to strain his ears to listen.
"Who?" Hanna questioned.
"Stephan Sharpie."
"Ew," Purdy said.
Jackson peeked out to see the girl's faces contorted in utter disgust.
"Ugh, those Sharpies are total creepers." Hanna looked like she was being forced to eat something truly horrid.
Disbelief poured through his entire system.
"They are mean smug little bastards," Hanna angrily said. "It makes me so mad when I see them."
"They walk around like they own the school." Mitzie put her hands on her hips, "They aren't nice, they're not talented…"
"They don't have nice asses like the Mellarks."
"Purdy," Hanna laughed.
"What? Have you seen what Rye and Peeta do to those wrestling uniforms." Purdy paused then said, "I've never seen so many muscles."
"She's got a point. I would rather have a hot baker in my bed and deal with their insufferable mother than be touched by one of those Sharpies, especially that Jackson. He's a jackass."
"The last time we were in class the teacher asked Jackson what district had the dam," Purdy said laughing, "Jackson was like District Seven. Can you imagine looking at the teacher dead in the face and saying District Seven, the lumber district!"
"He such a dumbass," Hanna snorted.
They began laughing at them.
Just then their mothers' voices could be heard calling them.
"Guess fun time is over," Hanna said.
"Yeah, I'll be stuck in the house for three days with my baby twin brothers, joy," Mitzie groused.
"My mom has plans to make sure every sheet is clean…" Purdy unhappily sighed.
"See you in three days," Hanna said as the girls left into their yards completely ignoring Jackson.
Jackson stood fuming once more over the girls' conversation. He bristled with righteous indignation. How dare they say those things about him when he had everything to offer and Hawthorne had nothing. Everything Carlton told him went out of the window. He was no dummy and tonight he was going to prove it. He was going to go to the lair.
Hawthorne was going to pay for stealing Delly from him.