Thresh was huddled around his coffee when the dark-haired girl spoke up. "Cato, do you think we should kill Rue tonight?" The blond boy smiled back at her. "Whatever you want, Clove."
Thresh saw Rue put down her spoon. She had been on her second bowl of cereal for the morning but now her hands shook slightly and the spoon knocked out a pattern against the inside of the bowl.
"So Cato, I was thinking it could be one of the slow, drawn-out deaths. Sure I've got nothing else to do."
Rue got up from the table, her dishes clasped between her hands like a beggar's bowl, and she washed them out carefully under the tap. It was against the rules to take cutlery from the kitchen, or even to fail to put it back in order, regardless if you were getting death-threats or not.
"And when will we grab her?" "Ah now Cato," and the dark-haired girl threw back her head and laughed, displaying a mouth full of white teeth, "we can't be spoiling all the fun and letting her know everything now can we?"
Rue methodically dried the bowl and then carefully put it back in the cupboard, and walked out of the kitchen. Thresh knew that she had done her best not to show fear, but she was only a kid. The dark-haired girl knew that she'd unnerved her, like a vulture honing in.
Thresh didn't want to kill anybody, and yet when the dark-haired girl was mocking Rue like that, he got angry. He saw his own knuckles go white as he took his cup into his hands, and the heat of it burned against his palms, but he didn't put it down.
He imagined the shock on her face as he punched her. Her mouth would fall open into a perfect oh, and he would feel her nose break under his fist- but then again, there was a big difference between hitting someone when they deserved it, and murdering them. It was bad, he knew, even wanting to hit a girl. They had always told him that he was not to hit anyone, 'cause you could hurt someone like that, but especially never ever to hit a lady. And now they told him he was supposed to kill everyone, ladies and all.
It was quiet, then, for a while. Dark-haired girl left the room, and the blond walked up to the toaster and dropped in his bread. He then approached Thresh while he waited, even though Thresh didn't want any company other than his coffee, thanks.
"Thresh my man, how are you?" Cato asked. He had broad shoulders and strong hands, and he thumped Thresh on the back. Thresh didn't reply, but Cato sat down anyway, undeterred. "Hey, sorry about Clove," he added sheepishly, gesturing to the door which the dark-haired girl had just exited from, "she's just like that sometimes. I just run with it."
There was a great window looking out into the garden. Thresh saw himself reflected in it, and Cato by his side. He also saw the red-headed girl in the doorway. She passed unseen behind Cato and grabbed his toast just as it popped up, and left quickly with her spoils. Her reflection smiled at Thresh. Cato continued, not noticing. "But you know Thresh, I like you. We're pretty alike, aren't we man? Different districts, same story."
Thresh still didn't speak. He wondered of you could call this a conversation, or was Cato just affably chatting away to himself. "I want us to be friends Thresh. I'm not the enemy here. I like you. It's Katniss that's the problem." "Katniss?" Thresh repeated back, the word foreign in his mouth. He had made a point not to learn people's names if he could. It only hurt more when they died if you had. Cato grinned wolfishly at this meagre response, as if they'd made progress somehow.
"Yeah, yeah, you know Katniss right? Always wears a braid? From Twelve?" Thresh did know her. She seemed unremarkable. Confident maybe, and Rue liked her. Didn't seem like an almighty threat.
Cato looked at him searchingly. "She's plotting how she's gonna kill us all man, and it's scary, you know? I haven't even killed anyone, and she's got it all worked out just like that?" Cato nodded to him and got up. Thresh was still thinking over it when Cato called over to him, "Hey man, did you see what happened my toast?" "No."
Cato didn't go berserk, like Thresh expected. He simply nodded and said, "'Suppose you gotta keep your eye on food in here, huh," and slid in two more slices nonchalantly. Thresh looked back at Cato. "But what 'bout that other girl then? That pretty one?" It was no secret in the house that the pretty girl, Cato and the dark-haired girl had went into the bathroom, and that the pretty girl never came back out at all. "Glimmer yeah, but listen man though, we were just talking, and then next thing Clove snapped. I was terrified man, thought she'd turn on me next. I had to pretend that I was into it or she'd have killed me too." Thresh thought about that, and thought about the dark-haired girl, Clove. It seemed like she was the real enemy, not that Katniss, no matter what Cato said.
The red-head darted back in and stole Cato's toast again, and Thresh had to laugh. "What's so funny?" Cato asked. "It's just no- I don't like her either." Thresh admitted. Cato nodded assuringly. "Don't worry, I'm not gonna ask you to kill her or anything. It was just nice to get that off my chest, you know? Thanks man."
Then things happened quickly. Cato slapped Thresh on the back once more; he saw Clove enter the room in the reflection and he moved to stand; he pushed himself to his feet and Cato dug his nails deep into Thresh's skull and slammed his head down against the table. Thresh lashed a fist out in return, but his vision had gone blackish-red and Cato easily sidestepped it, and punched Thresh with such force that he fell against the table, scattering their dishes.
Clove was suddenly there, fishing around in the drawers for a knife. Thresh went to rise and Cato kicked him in the ribs. His breath collapsed out of his chest and he sagged again, and then Clove was at his side and she slit his throat open, like she was just cutting through paper. Thresh saw it all, reflected in the window in front of them, but could not move. The gash looked like a raw red eye opening in his neck. He gurgled on his own blood, hot thick and sudden in his mouth. "Did you think you could just threaten me and get away with it?" Clove asked, her eyes wild, "Did you think Cato was actually a really nice guy?"
Thresh looked away from her to see the red-headed girl in the doorway for the third time that morning. She lingered indecisively for a moment like a cautious bird, and then she turned and fled, while Thresh bled and bled.