Disclaimer: I do not own the Hunger Games
The kid sitting in front of me was a typical Career, big, mean, and bloodthirsty. He personified the stereotypes of District 2 tributes in a way that I hadn't seen for a few years unfortunately including the dimwitted, arrogant thug persona. He came onto the stage to a raucously cheering audience pumping his massive fists into the air. His lack of intelligence was confirmed when he strode to the front of the stage and beat his chest a 'la Tarzan, a character from an old story who was raised by apes. The audience was on its feet, they couldn't get enough so of course he had to do it three more times before I could get him to sit down for the interview. He was dressed in a tuxedo that his stylist had ripped the sleeves off of so that his muscular arms could be seen which was a pretty clever move . The kid was handsome with huge arms and making him look like he had literally busted out of his clothing was a brilliant way to play up to the women in the audience. The first three buttons of his shirt had also been ripped open showing just a hint of dark chest hair, not enough to be obscene (but hey, what's really obscene here?) but enough to make women everywhere swoon. This kid was going to be rolling in sponsor money. "Well Jax, welcome! How do you like it so far here in the Capitol?" I asked.
The boy grunted and said "It's ok, but there's a lot of freaks out there with stuff like purple skin and hair that's three feet tall. Food's good though."
Holy crap, did this idiot really just say that? Somehow I've got to make a joke out of that. "So you're saying you don't like my hair?" I asked gesturing at my hot pink wave that matched my lipstick. I looked at him and smiled, batting my eyes like a girl.
"I don't like pink," he said.
"Well, let's talk about you," I suggested trying to change the subject, "Do you have any secret strategies for winning the games?"
"Yeah, I'm gonna go in there and kill everyone else, that's my strategy," Jax answered with a look on his face that clearly said I had just asked him the stupidest question he had ever heard.
"Well that certainly is the idea!" I said trying to play along and turn this train wreck around. "Some great sponsor gifts wouldn't hurt as well right?" I asked laughing. "The audience sure seemed to love you when you came onstage; you even got a standing ovation! They're sure to be lining up to sponsor you!"
"I hope not," the kid said. "I'm gonna win this thing without sponsors, with my own two hands, I don't need any help! Just wait and see!" He then stood up and beat on his chest again. Thankfully the buzzer went off indicating that his time in the spotlight was at an end.
"I'm sure you will Jax," I said, "just look at those muscles everyone!" The kid was still beating on his chest and the audience was still cheering, but not as loudly as before. As soon as he was offstage I saw Brutus hit him in the back of the head hard enough to make him stumble and Enobaria twisted his arm behind his back and dragged him towards the elevators. That blockhead had just blown any chance he had at getting sponsors, and he would have gotten tons of them based on his looks alone, and his mentors were furious. I could just imagine Enobaria threatening to rip his throat out herself with her pointed gold teeth. What an idiot. It was no surprise when the kid died six days into the games begging for a bottle of water. The Career pack had split up and the two tributes from District 1 had made off with all of the bottled water during the night. When the others woke up and realized that they were left in a hot, steamy forest with no water tempers flared and in matter of minutes both tributes from District 4 and Jax's district partner were dead. Jax tried to survive by licking the dew off of leaves in the early mornings but he was no nature lover. He fell into the trap that many Careers fall into when they have no supplies; he had no idea how to survive on his own in the wild. He could fight, he could kill, but he couldn't find water. If he had been smart he would have tracked the animals in the arena to see where they got their water from. But he wasn't. He had also made any potential sponsors angry by mocking their sense of fashion and saying that he would make it without their help. Even his mentors felt no pity for him. Enobaria and Brutus simply sat in their booth and watched him die instead of trying to convince some rich capitol citizen to pay for a bottle of water that would have saved his life.
After his cannon sounded I interviewed Brutus and asked what he thought of the whole thing. "Kid was an idiot," he said. "You don't bite the hand that feeds you, isn't that how the saying goes? Idiots die in the games. Population control maybe, one less idiot in the world taking up space," he said with a shrug. I thought it was a horrible thing to say but deep inside I couldn't help but agree.