Chapter 5: Victory Tour Antics
"This better work." Castor grumbled as he fumbled with the string in his hand. He was attaching a canister to a lamp-post. It was the first day of the Victory Tour that would start and end in the Capital.
"Cress did the calculations, so if it doesn't work, blame her." Pollux said earning himself a playful slap.
"I think that's it, then." Cressida said. They climbed down the lamp-posts and hurried back to their apartments. It was 6 in the morning, and hardly anyone was out in the streets. The pods had just been deactivated signaling the end of curfew. The Trouble Triplets surveyed their work. Even a suspicious bystander would have to spend considerable effort trying to find the canisters of silly string concealed by the flower pots hanging from the lamp-posts lining their street. "Ok, I'm going to eat breakfast now. See you guys at school."
"See you!" Pollux and Castor called as Cressida headed to the elevators in the lobby of their apartment building.
School seemed to go by at an agonizingly slow pace. Pollux was tempted to silly-string something or someone out of boredom by lunchtime, but was reminded that the plan wouldn't work if they were in detention after school. Since the teachers' and most of the students' minds were on the Victory Tour, there wasn't much to do academically. Cressida sat in the front row reading a handbook of professional photography in her technology class without the teacher saying a word. Much to her and the twins' relief, classes were dismissed two hours early.
"Hi Mrs. Smith!" Cressida said smiling as she entered the Smith's apartment. Her parents were throwing a pre-Victory Tour party at their apartment, and Cressida didn't want to deal with the chaos upon returning from school. Mrs. Smith waved at her. "Your hair looks lovely!" She said smiling. Mrs. Smith had refreshed her purple highlights, still allowing much of her light brown hair to show.
"Thank you, dear!" Mrs. Smith said smiling coming out of the kitchen with a platter of vegetables and dip. "Here's some victory snacks." She said smiling. "School let out early, didn't it?"
"Yeah." Castor said. "Thanks, mom!" He said munching on some celery.
"Is dad at the shop?" Pollux asked. Mrs. Smith nodded. "Does he need our help?"
"Hm - I suppose - maybe in a few hours." Mrs. Smith said after thinking for a bit. "Cressida, dear, you can use the master bathroom to get ready, dear. I put your make-up bag in our room." Cressida nodded.
"You left it in OUR ROOM?" Castor asked aghast. "EW! Pollux, we have to disinfect our room! She left FEMALE GERMS EVERYWHERE!" Cressida threw a piece of broccoli at him as Pollux roared with laughter.
"So - are you doing anything special for the tour Mrs. Smith? Or will you hunker down and wait for the chaos to pass?" Cressida asked chuckling.
"Oh, Wiress and I will spend some time together here while Beetee does his victor duties." Mrs. Smith said smiling. "She and I knew each other in school." Cressida raised her eyebrows.
"You're an engineer?" Cressida gasped. Mrs. Smith laughed.
"Oh - no - I have my electrician's license and an accounting degree. Wiress went into the engineering program at twelve, but we still kept in touch." Mrs. Smith explained. "My husband was in the basic engineering classes with her."
"Was Volts in school with you guys too?" Cressida asked curiously.
"No! Volts is old!" Pollux said. "He graduated way before Mom and Dad and Wires did."
"Not - waaay before they did! Only like - seven years - right mom?" Castor asked. Mrs. Smith nodded. Cressida ate her vegetables and thought. The revelation that the twins' parents grew up in the districts explained a lot. They lived much more frugally than many Capitalites, and it also explained why they had a bit of a rebellious streak against the Capital. It also explained why the family was particularly close to Beetee and Wiress.
After the "trouble triplets" polished off their snack, they hung out in Mr. Smith's workroom tinkering with cameras. Cressida took pictures of the boys making funny faces. They were summoned to dinner and then Cressida changed into a dress and put on some makeup. "You look lovely, dear." Mrs. Smith said. "Lovely - not ridiculous." She whispered before giving Cressida a hug. She was wearing a light dusting of eye-shadow and lip-stick. Her hair was twisted back and had some small bows dotting it. Her dress was a sparkly green dress. The twins came out of their room with button down shirts and ties that had fiber-optic lights running in them.
"Wow - Cressida -" Pollux stared at her completely speechless for a minute before being kicked by Castor. "Uh - you - you look - amazingly - pretty."
"I - thank you - Pollux - you look nice too." Cressida said blushing a brilliant crimson. Pollux held out his hand and smiled.
"Uh - I - uh - I would like to walk you down -er - to the parade." He stammered. Cressida grinned and took his hand. Castor made gagging noises before Mrs. Smith ruffled his hair.
Cressida, the twins, and Mrs. Smith stationed themselves in front of the Smith's shop. The sidewalks were crowded with people cheering. Mr. Smith handed the three kids glow sticks. He walked up and down the block selling them. Mrs. Smith told the twins off for poking each other with the sticks as the national anthem blared from the speakers perched on nearly every building.
"Welcome, citizens of the Capital of Panem to the Victory Parade!" Cladius Templesmith said over the speakers. "Please join me in welcoming our present and past victors of the Hunger Games to the Capital on this lovely evening!" He gave a short speech about how the districts are pleased to represent themselves through their victors in the Capital. Performers came down the street dancing. They were followed by a platoon of Peacekeepers in their dress uniforms. Following them in convertibles were the mayors of each district. The crowd cheered louder as the Gamemakers followed in the procession. They were standing on a float that had a real cornucopia from one of the Games on a flatbed trailer attached to a truck. The cornucopia was on a platform. Cressida gasped in horror when she realized that the dried blood on the gleaming gold surface may be in fact the blood of tributes that died in the last games. She nudged the Twins pointed at the bloodstains.
Pollux bit his lip and his face grew hard. He looked stoic, but underneath, Cressida and Castor could sense his fury. He flashed a quick hand-sign and they pressed buttons on small credit-card sized remote controls that activated their silly-string canisters.
Immediately, the Gamemakers were coated with varying degrees of bright-red silly-string. The crowd gasped, and the more inebriated spectators cheered and laughed. The Gamemakers gasped with shock and then began laughing as if it was part of the show. Castor, Pollux, and Cressida were laughing until they all felt strong hands on their shoulders.