Antonia "Attie" Montgomery (17)- D6F
It's the morning of the Reapings, which means Otto and I have been up since dawn. We knew exactly where to hit first; the homes of families who have had someone die in the Games, then Victor Village itself, and now the black market on the far northern side of the district. Everyone there knows us; giving us distrustful looks, except for those that motion for us to come over, eagerly handing over their money. Living as a runner for morphling, everyone in the district either hates you or loves you.
After making our usual rounds, we buy some oatmeal at the market and wait in the corner in case anyone decides to approach us. District Six's black market is located in an abandoned train station tunnel that is, ironically, partly underground and always filled with people. Tensions always run especially high on Reaping day, and some people may need something to soothe their nerves. After a half hour or so, a young man nervously walks up to us and asks for a week's supply. For some people, the nerves persist well into the Games themselves. Nobody in District Six likes to watch our lucky tributes get slaughtered, despite the banners hanging around the commercial sect that read "Happy Hunger Games!"
"We should head back soon," Otto tells me as he hands the kid his morphling. I count the money we've made today. It's not bad; certainly enough to buy our meals for the rest of the week; and there will be more orders coming as the Games go on. This really is the happiest time of the year for us.
"Alright, let's go."
…
My family's apartment is on the top floor, and there isn't an elevator in our building. As such, I avoid it most of the time, preferring to spend my time our of the household and out in the world with Otto and Davina. At least that's the reason I tell my family for why I'm gone for so long. My mother knows how I make my money, but I don't like telling her I don't want to be around her. And Cyprian… I want to preserve his innocence for as long as I can. I know this world will take it soon enough.
My mother is high when reach the apartment. I expected this; our relationship has become strained over the years, but she still fears Cyprian's safety. This will be his first eligible year.
I open the door to the room we share to find him already dressed and ready for the Reaping.
"You look handsome, little man," Otto says with a smile. Cyprian smiles and comes to give us a three-way hug. I allow myself to feel some affection for a moment. Cyprian is the only person I allow myself to feel too much for. Someone has to take care of him.
Cyprian's hair is the same bright ginger as mine, freckles dotting along his nose. "I'll see you after the ceremony," I tell him. "You don't have anything to worry about."
"I know, Attie," he says with a hint of the impatient sarcasm I've imposed upon him over the years.
Otto takes him downstairs to the Reaping while I try to round him up mother. It takes a few tries to wake her up and even longer to get her dressed, and I would rather just leave her here for the Peacekeepers to deal with. But the morphling in her blood would raise suspicions about where we get our money, not to mention that Cyprian would be taken away. I'm not old enough to take custody, and Davina can hardly handle herself, much less a sibling.
So, I prop her against my shoulder and take her down to the square with me. Her sweaty forehead and bloodshot eyes are a telltale sign of morphling, but there will be so many people with the same appearance today that the Peacekeepers likely won't do anything about it. Besides, they have bigger things to be worrying about today.
Jason Sparks (18)- D6M
I finish my patrol around the district early, so I stop by Grayson and Olivia's. Both of them will be in the Reaping this year as well, the final year for Grayson and I. Our graduation from the Peacekeeper academy will commence in a couple of months, and we will officially be adults.
I'm still in my uniform when I stroll around the apartment complexes, which earns me some distrustful glances. But as soon as they see who I am, their gazes soften, some even waving at me. I wave back and continue on my path to my friends' apartment.
Olivia coming out the front door when I arrive, dressed in a red dress with her hair pulled into a bun.
"Hey, Jason!" she calls to me with a grin. "Grayson is taking along time, but he'll be out soon."
"Good. There are quite a few places I want to stop at before the Reaping."
When Grayson comes out, he's dressed in a nice black shirt and pants. I realize I'm likely going to have to attend the Reaping in my uniform, not that it really matters.
"Let's go!" Olivia says cheerfully.
We stop by the Tunnel first. The tension is palpable in the air, everyone desperate to distract themselves from the events that will take place later today. The presence of my white uniform makes everything more stifling, but luckily most people know that I'm not here to harm anyone.
A lot of the Care Home kids hang around the entrance to the Market, playing games and occasionally begging for food. When they see us approaching, a couple of them run toward us.
"One at a time now," I say gruffly, handing each child a piece of bread and an apple to each of them. The apples especially cost me a fortune, but it's worth it to see the smiles on their faces. Grayson hands them each a nice shirt to wear at the Reaping if they don't already have one.
After that, it's the usual rounds in the poorer parts of the district before heading to the square. Being with the kids always makes me introspective, and I spend most of the walk there wondering what my life would be like if my father wasn't a Peacekeeper. Many of the people who live here are worse-off just because they were born to the wrong kind of family. I recall the couple of morphling runners hanging around the Tunnel. I wonder what they could have accomplished if they had been given any encouragement or positive role models, or even just enough food to eat. And soon they will be having children as well, repeating the pattern endlessly.
Be kind, be nice to everyone, and be thankful for what you have, because no matter how bad you have it, someone out there has it worse.
They're my mother's words, one of the reasons I decided to follow my father's footsteps and become a Peacekeeper; to protect the children of the district. Though she's not here anymore, I try to honor her in any way that I can… and try not to think about how I'm doing so by supporting the people who killed her.
I stand out in the square due to my uniform; and some people who don't know me look confused as to why a Peacekeeper is among the eligible children instead of watching from the perimeter. The Peacekeepers themselves give Grayson and I respectful nods as we take our places in the eighteen-year old's section.
The introduction to the Reaping takes too long, and I find myself wishing they would just get it over with already. When the escort finally reaches into the girl's ball, I have a few seconds to pray for Olivia's safety before the name is read.
"Antonia Montgomery!"
I breathe a sigh of relief; it's not someone I know. Still, it's a shame one of our citizens will have to kill or be killed just because they were born here and not in the Capitol.
The reaped girl's expression is completely blank, giving her eyes a strange dead look. I wonder if she's in shock. I stare at her for another moment and realize I do recognize her. She's the morphling runner who's always hanging around the Tunnel! Despite not approving of the morphling market, I feel bad for her. Her family probably won't have a way to eat if she dies and isn't able to provide for them.
"Now for the boys!" giggles our escort, a freakish woman who has been dressed to look like the sky, her fingernails long and twisted, her lips and hair completely blue.
"Jason Sparks!"
My breath catches, feeling my feet start to move towards the podium. I feel Grayson's hand on my back, like he's trying to get me to stay. The Peacekeepers at the stairs give me grim looks, and I can tell they're upset. I was always eager to learn and excelled in my training, and now they have lost me, whether I die or not.
As I turn to the cameras, I give a small wave. If I want to win, I should start earning the Capitol's favor now.
Antonia and I shake hands, her grip terrifying dry despite my hands sweating profusely. We're taken back into the Justice Building, where I've been many times for my training. I realize this might be the last time I'll ever see it.
Grayson and Olivia come first, both of them close to tears.
"Promise you'll try to win, Jason," Grayson says. "You have actual combat training and you're strong. You could join the Careers."
I can't believe Grayson of all people is telling me to join the Careers, those foul people that support the Games by killing innocent children. But I know he's probably just grasping at any straw he can.
"I'll do my best," I promise.
After them comes my father.
I knew he would come, but I still haven't decided on what to say. We don't speak often, not since my mother's death.
"Jason," he begins, clearing his throat. "I just want you to know that I'm sorry about everything."
"Sorry about what exactly?" I ask without looking at him, tone icy.
His voice grows croakier as he continues, "About your mother. You know I had to, or else they would have taken you away from me. Peacekeepers aren't supposed to have children, and they might have even killed you if the higher ups in the Capitol found out."
"They don't enforce that kind of thing anymore, you said so yourself."
"They would have if I hadn't have…"
"If you hadn't have killed her," I say, looking straight at him now.
"Yes," he says, sounding like he might cry. "I know you might not understand but I did it
for you, son. They asked me specifically do it to prove my loyalty, and if I hadn't have carried out the death sentence, then you both would have been taken away from me. Don't you understand that?"
The pain of that day flashes before my eyes; my own father killing my mother on order of the Head Peacekeeper, over some flowers. All she had wanted was to pick some flowers for her shop outside the district fences, but the endeavor ended in her death.
"Here, son." Dad gives me a watch, the one he always wears with the three of us smiling
behind the glass. I take it and gaze into my mother's face. The picture was taken years before her death, but she's exactly as I remember her.
Sometimes I wonder if it would have been better if I hadn't been born at all.
Antonia "Attie" Montgomery (17)- D6F
The room is filled with noise, the crying of Cyprian and my mother, Davina trying to talk to me over it.
"Attie, you have to try." Her eyes are bloodshot just like Mom's, but I can tell she's not high right now. She must have gathered enough willpower to resist in case this happened. "I can't take care of Cyprian by myself, you have to come back."
Such a stark confession from her is rare nowadays. She never would have admitted that before, though it's quite obvious. Bouncing from place to place, hooked on morphling, she's not exactly a great big sister to rely on.
"I guess I'll just have to win, then," I say, playing with the pocketwatch that Cyprian had tearfully handed to me.
Otto comes next, his eyes filled with tears. Unlike me, he's always full of emotions that just can't contain themselves.
My last visit with Cyprian was difficult to get through, but now that he's here, I know Otto's will be impossible. When I had no one else, and I could always count on him to watch my back. He's the only person I truly feel comfortable around.
"I'm going to miss you," is all I can say, despite the fact that he's crying in front of me. It's the only thing that I can manage.
"You're the smartest person I've ever met, Attie," he tells me, always upstaging me with the emotional stuff. "And I know you. You can do this. You're… capable."
I know what that means. While Otto sometimes struggles with the morality of living life the way we do, I've never once batted an eye at it. People do what they need to to survive. There's no shame in that.
And I've survived everything life has thrown at me so far.
Hey guys! I hope everyone enjoyed the chapter. The Reapings are halfway done! Whoo-hoo! Thanks for reading!