Well midterms are over. Finally. I hope to finish the next chapter before my surgery but I'm not sure I will...
Nine
The Show
I'm just a little bit caught in the middle
Life is a maze and love is a riddle
I don't know where to go, can't do it alone
I've tried and I don't know why
I'm just a little girl lost in the moment
I'm so scared but I don't show it
I can't figure it out, it's bringing me down
I know I've got to let it go and just enjoy the show
Clove
The morning of the reaping Cato and I were instructed to be and Brutus and Enobaria's at eight in the morning, ready for the reaping. I supposed it was to prepare us for the reaping, as rumor had it that there was a special way the reaping's volunteers had to act. So Cato and I met up at 7:45 and walked to Brutus and Enobaria's.
As soon as we got there something was wrong. I knew it from the sound coming from the window. The sound of a baby's persistent cries could be heard. I looked at Cato and he shrugged, then I glanced up at the window. Enobaria appeared to be holding something. She was pacing back and forth, and talking to what ever it was.
I was so wrapped up in trying to figure out what Enobaria was doing that I didn't notice the door .had opened.
"Hi Clove, hi Cato." Brutus said. I jumped and gave a small scream. "Sorry Clove I didn't mean to scare you."
I don't know what had scared me most, the fact that Brutus had seemingly shown up out of nowhere or the fact that he looked exhausted. I had never in all of my life seen either Brutus or Enobaria looking tired before. The two of them always seemed to have endless energy.
I followed Cato into their house and sat down on the couch. The right wall had an array of weapons mounted on it, the left had a fireplace, and the couch was in the middle.
"Baria will be down soon." Brutus said.
"Who?" I asked.
"Enobaria, will be down soon." He explained. Another thing I'd never heard Brutus do, call Enobaria by a pet name.
Sure enough Enobaria came down just minutes later. She looked exhausted as well, she was wearing an t-shirt that was four sizes too large and sweat pants. Her dark brown hair was loose and hung in messy curls. The thing that shocked me the most was the baby in her arms. He was tiny, just a week or two old, and he was looking around, his hair was blonde like Brutus' and his eyes were unmistakably brown, like Enobaria's.
"Morning Clove." Enobaria said, sitting next to Brutus.
"Who's that?" I pointed at the baby.
"Oh, yeah you haven't met him. Clove, this is Julius." Enobaria smiled a gold fanged smile.
"Whose baby is he?" I was so confused.
"Um… me and Brutus' who else's baby would it be?" Enobaria raised an eyebrow.
"You never told me you had a baby. Wait, wait let me guess 'you never asked.'?" I narrowed my eyes.
"No, I just wasn't ever in the mood to tell you." Enobaria yawned. "Okay, Brutus is going to go over some things with you and I am going to shower." She passed the now sleeping Julius to Brutus and went upstairs.
"Okay, now when they ask for volunteers – Clove are you okay?" Brutus frowned.
I noticed only then that my mouth was agape and I was staring shocked at where Enobaria had been only moments earlier. "Yeah, I'm okay considering my entire world just collapsed around me."
"Quit being dramatic, like I was saying. Clove when they ask for female volunteers you run up to that stage. It means you have to be in the front of your group of girls okay?" Brutus asked.
"Okay…" I muttered mindlessly.
"Now Cato…" I tuned out Brutus' voice and tried to take in all the information I'd just been given. I'd known for a while that the two of them were in a relationship but I'd never really thought that them being married could lead to them having a child. I had never seen Enobaria to be the motherly caring type. I took the fact that their baby was still alive as a sign that I'd seriously underestimated Enobaria's maternal instinct.
Enobaria came back down, her hair damp from the shower but she was ready for the reaping, she wore a knee length black dress and her hair was loose. She took Julius from Brutus who then went up to shower. Julius began to cry and I expected Enobaria to make a bottle or something, but no, she put a blanket over her front and breastfed the baby.
"Clove are you okay? You look sick." Enobaria frowned.
"Oh I'm fine, this is just the last thing I expected of you." I said.
"What is?" She asked.
"Well now it's the last thing. The first last thing was for you to have a baby, the new last thing would be breastfeeding t baby." I nodded.
"Why?" She frowned.
"Well lets face it, you don't have the strongest maternal instinct…" I said.
"I'd never really had anything to be maternal with." She shrugged.
"Well there was always me…" I said. "Because I just had a great home life."
"Clove." Cato warned. He could sense it, I could to but that wasn't going to stop now.
"Oh Clove quit being dramatic." Enobaria snapped.
"I'm not I'm being honest. For so many years you were the mother figure in my life then you disappear for five months and this happens." I snap.
Here's the problem with me and Enobaria in the words of Brutus and Cato. According to them we are too alike for our own good. Which might be true, we both have short fuses, we both have a tendency to get violent when we get mad. Which needless to say is a bad combinations.
The first thing Enobaria did was hand Julius to Cato. Then she pulled up the front of her black dress.
"Clove, you leave my child out of this." Her voice was dangerously calm.
"No, every time a baby is born I get pushed farther away from someone!" I shouted. "I always counted on you and that – that thing ruined my life."
Enobaria lunged at me but before she could jump on me Brutus - who I suppose had come down stairs – locked his hands around her waist and pulled her back to him. Falling into the couch and pulling her onto his lap. Enobaria froze against him, it looked strange to see her small muscled frame against his broad muscled one.
"Cato get Clove please." Brutus said, I suppose he could tell my blood was still boiling "Set Julius on the floor and calm her."
Cato gently lay Julius on the floor and wrapped his arm around my waist, pulling me onto his lap and kissing my neck gently. "Clove calm down, no one's forgotten you. No one has we all love you."
"No one loves me. I'm not loveable. " I said.
"I love you." Cato said.
"Clove let me tell you a story." Brutus said. "When Enobaria was around your age she thought the same thing, she had a really hard time opening up to me at all even though we'd known each other for years. Every night we spent in the same bed and that was the only time I got to hug her, during her nightmares. Finally she got the courage to open up to me, because as much as she could try to fight it. She needed me just as much as I needed her. You need Cato just as much as he needs you."
"But –"
"Nope, this is nonnegotiable. Now come on its time for the reaping."
Thirty minutes later I stood in my group of girls. The woman who's name I never bothered to learn gets up gives a thirty minute speech, reading off the names of past victors and finally get to the reaping.
"Clove Ash!" She calls. I am mortified, I was reaped? What do I do now? I catch Enobaria motioning me forward out of the corner of her eye so I mount the stage. Cato volunteers and we are taken in to custody.
So how did you like that little revelation. Enobaria has a maternal instinct. Clove's talking about her feelings. Brutus is being a calm measured person. Cato didn't blow up once, well if you ask me it sounds like all hell is about to break loose, the smoke before the fire so to speak. I'll see you next week in "Charioteers"
