Chapter 10: Get Out of the District
A few hours later, Katniss was back at her home, rocking in a rocking chair and numbly thinking back to the night before and her rape at the hands of Hawthorne. The sun was just setting when Haymitch appeared coming up the walk.
"Hey there, little mockingjay! I'm back! Did ya miss me?" No response from Katniss for a moment. Then:
"You're drunk, Haymitch."
"Just a might, little mockingjay, just a might," he admitted. Katniss said nothing. He frowned. "What's wrong, little mockingjay? Anything happen while I was gone?" At this, Katniss finally exploded.
"EVERYTHING! THAT'S WHAT! EVERYTHING! THE PREACHER COME HERE AND TRIED TO PRAY FOR MY SOUL!"
At this, Haymitch stopped and approached Katniss. "Did he touch you?" he snarled.
"SURE HE DID! HE STAYED ALL NIGHT! AND WHERE WAS YOU? OFF GETTING DRUNK AND CHECKING YOUR TRAPS!"
Haymitch understood immediately what had happened to his precious little niece, and flew into a rage. "The bastard! The filthy bastard! That sneaking hypocrite! And he's the one baptizing people by the hundreds!" Another thought struck him: "I'll kill him! That's what I'll do!"
Katniss laughed mirthlessly as she now stared off into the distance, facing away from Haymitch. "Yeah, that'll do a lot of good."
Unnoticed by her, Haymitch seized his gun and ran off into the wilderness. It wasn't until a few minutes later that Katniss noticed his absence.
"Haymitch? Time to wash up. Supper's ready." she called. Silence. "Haymitch? Supper's ready." Only stillness answered. "Haymitch? Haymitch? Haymitch?" After several of these and no response from her uncle, a terrible panic began to grip her heart. He couldn't have -
BANG! In the distance, a lone gunshot sounded. In despair, Katniss fell to her knees with a wail:
"Oh Lord, I never meant him to do it! Oh, Lord, I never meant him to do it! Forgive me for bringing this misery down upon us all! Forgive me, oh Lord! Forgive me!"
Seconds later, Peeta came shrieking into the yard.
"Katniss! Katniss! Katniss! Haymitch killed him! Haymitch shot the preacher, while he was in the creek baptizing. He snuck up behind some bushes and nobody seen him, but we all seen him when he run away. And the preacher sat right down in the creek with a pool of blood around him, and before we could drag him out, he was dead. He was praying real hard afore he died, asking forgiveness for his sins. And asking the Lord to bless you. It was a terrible thing to hear. And the folks is coming here to get you. They say you put Haymitch up to it. And they say they're gonna run you out of the district, and hang, Haymitch, too, if they catch him."
Indeed, shouts could be heard in the distance, getting closer and closer. Peeta began to panic.
"They're a-comin', Katniss. Don't you hear 'em? What ya gonna do, Katniss? What ya gonna do? Ya'd better run, Katniss. They're getting close! They're getting close! Ya'd better run, Katniss! Ya'd better run!"
Peeta fled to the safety of the corner of the yard as the citizens of District 12 came into view at last. They were chanting:
Git out of the district, Katniss. Git out! Git out tonight! Y've caused us too much bloodshed. Y've caused us too much strife. Git out of the district, Katniss. Git out! Git out tonight! Y'd better be a-leavin afore there's daylight!
"Of all the sins which lay on yer soul, this was the worst of all to behold!" Mr. Mellark shouted.
"The preacher was yer friend, fer true. Yer name he called with the last breath he drew," revealed Mr. Undersee.
"Y'd might as well o' killed him yerself as had him killed, jes' so his voice against you'd be forever stilled" accused Flickerman.
At all of these accusations, Katniss suddenly began shrieking with derisive laughter. Gleaton picked up on this and became even more enraged.
"You're mocking us with yer laughter, Y'll regret it, y'll see, when your uncle's caught and strung on a tree!"
The mob moved in towards Katniss, who suddenly fled into the house and re-emerged with the gun Haymitch had left her, cocked and loaded.
"Git out! Git out!" she yelled. "You cain't run me off my place till I'm ready to leave, and that'll be some time to come. So git out! Git out!"
The mob paused for a moment, then, believing her to be bluffing, moved forward again. Katniss pointed the gun's barrel right into Mellark's chest.
"Git away from here afore I blast you all to kingdom come! And don't come round here again less ya don't care nothin' 'bout livin'."
"You cain't settle everything with a gun, wench!" Mellark spat, even as he shook in fear. "There's a higher court of justice!" The citizens had no choice but to flee, vowing Katniss that she would get her due from the Almighty himself. Soon, Katniss and Peeta were the only ones left. Noticing him still shaking in fear, a smile came onto Katniss' face. She leaned against the porch railing seductively and beckoned to the young man:
"Come on over, Peeta. Don't be scared. I won't hurt ya. I'm lonesome. Come and love me up some, come on. Don't be afraid. I'm all by myself now an' ya know I was always good to ya. Ya said so yerself. So, come on. Come on…"
Gradually, Peeta approached Katniss until they were inches away. He put his arms around her and kissed her lips. Katniss returned it, kissing him back until -
WHAM! She slapped Peeta, hard, across the face, breaking the kiss with a jolt. Peeta, holding his cheek, ran yelping across the yard and out of sight. Katniss reeled with laughter. Once he was long gone, she stopped and then sat back in her rocking chair, the gun in her lap - a lonely prisoner of a self-imposed exile.