"Oh, then, you want options, I suppose?" he offered pointedly. "Well, let's see what the other Victors are doing at the moment. We have Johanna Mason who's spent the last couple years on morphling, a rather large portion of our Victors are particularly fond of that treatment. Then there's Ms. Annie Cresta who has resided in the Capitol's finest psychiatric hospital for nearly a decade. She needs medication from time to time or her nightmares get too…vivid. And of course, there's Haymitch, who I'm sure you know occupies his time with his incessant penchant for drink. Do you know what all these individuals have in common, Mrs. Mellark?"
They all got screwed over by the Capitol.
Snow waited a moment before he detected that he wasn't going to get an answer.
"All these individuals were not compliant."
"I would gladly be compliant, if only you gave me more of an option."
"Katniss Everdeen. The girl on fire. The girl with the poisonous berries. Why don't we go over the options that we have available for you," President Snow complied in a scornful tone. "We can't make you an avox, because everyone will recognize your face. Unless of course, we horribly disfigure your face, which is entirely doable if that's the option that you choose."
I shook my head profusely.
I do not want to be an avox. The few encounters I've had with the red-haired avox girl made it clear that it was a terrible fate to bear. I still remember the hint of sorrow in her eyes.I will not spend the rest of my life serving the stuck-up members of the Capitol while they regard me as only a piece of furniture.
"Another option we have is to use your celebrity status to benefit the Capitol," Snow explained slowly. "Throughout the ages, Victors have garnered quite a lot of attention from the citizens of the Capitol. In fact, many citizens would go so far as to pay a hefty price to arrange an encounter with a Victor. One Victor in particular, Mr. O'Dair, has been very successful in procuring a large clientele for the benefit of the Capitol."
O'Dair—where had I heard his name before? He was a Victor, so I must have seen him on TV before.
"You have heard of Finnick O'Dair, haven't you?"
Finnick O'Dair. I vaguely remember the girls at school mentioning a name like that. I think Madge might have told me that he had a string of affairs with a host of women in the Capitol. I never could understand why anyone from the Districts would be attracted to the freakish demeanor of Capitol women. I tried to accommodate this piece of information with what I just learned.
Clientele?