Punishment
(14 years old)
The first time Haymitch Abernathy was thrown into jail, he was fourteen. His friend, Aspen Everdeen, was whipped at the post.
It started with an illegal hunting trip but a necessary one; a trip beyond the fences and out in the woods of District Twelve. It was not an isolated occurrence and Haymitch's mother had heard of the district boys making the dangerous trip outside of the fence and she had also heard of them trading for it. It was only natural that out of fear for his son's safety and the repercussions of being caught that she forbade him from doing so. He listened, for a while that is, but Haymitch was his own person, and he was always stubborn and resolute.
That night, darkness had chased the lights away when Haymitch stood quietly by the doorway, watching his brother curled on the cot with his hands clutching his stomach. Each groan that his brother emitted made Haymitch's spine tingled.
"Mama, please," the five years old begged, tears spilling down his cheek. "Please."
Haymitch did not have to ask him what was wrong. He knew it well by now, having gone through it himself at some point in his young life. His brother was hungry and his stomach was eating itself up.
With his mother too busy trying to soothe and comfort his brother, Haymitch took the opportunity to sneak out. It was dark outside but he navigated the pathways expertly. Soon, he was standing on an upended bucket outside out of Aspen's house, talking to him through the window.
"What's wrong?" Aspen whispered.
"My brother's hungry. Can you help me?" he asked desperately.
Aspen ran off, rummaging through his kitchen for anything edible. He came back with a packet of biscuits.
"That's all I have. Look," Aspen's eyes darted around, "why don't you come with me tomorrow. I know your mama said not to but we can get Lief something out there. There's a whole lot of things we can eat."
"You know I ain't good at what you do," Haymitch replied.
"It doesn't matter. You come with me; you'll earn your share. I could always use an extra pair of eyes. Come on, Mitchie," Aspen implored. "You're shit at putting up snares, yeah, but you're handy with a knife. That's got to count for something."
Haymitch clenched his jaws and then he nodded. "Okay."
"Okay. I'll see you behind the Miller's house after class, yeah? Don't be late or I'll leave without you."
Haymitch returned home the same way he left, by sneaking in. He tiptoed silently to his room and lay down next to his brother who curled up to him almost immediately.
"You still crying?"
"My stomach hurts," Lief complained.
"I know, Lief," he pressed the biscuit into his brother's hand. "Eat this for now. I'll fix it, okay? I'll get more and it'll stop hurting tomorrow, I promise."
"You're gonna get me food?" Lief lifted his head up, looking at his brother with so much hope.
Even at that age, Lief knew to share. He broke the biscuit in half and offered it to his brother. It was tempting but Haymitch shook his head, letting his brother have it all.
"Shhh," Haymitch put a finger to his lips. "Don't let mama hear it or she'll know."
"What about dad?"
"Don't know," Haymitch shrugged. "He's working two shifts at the mines but I don't know when the Capitol is gonna bring in food to Twelve so even if he works all those hours, it's not gonna make a different when there's no food to buy."
The next day, Haymitch could hardly keep still in all of his classes. He kept glancing at Aspen who grinned at him. Their eyes kept darting to the clock, counting down the minutes.
"Mitchie," Nolan Undersee walked up to him after school ended, "heard from Aspen that you both are going to somewhere."
"Yeah," Haymitch answered warily.
Nolan was older than him and he was worried that he might tell on them but those fears were unfounded.
"Here – got you something," Nolan extracted an object wrapped in an old cloth from his pocket and gave it to Haymitch.
It was heavy in Haymitch's palm. Curious, he unwrap the cloth to see something silver gleaming under the sun. The hilt was black. It was a hunting knife.
"Got an extra at home so I thought it'd be better if you have one. It's old but it'll do."
"I have a knife," Haymitch told him almost embarrassed but this wasn't the first time he was about to sneak off to the woods.
"Yeah, a kitchen knife," Nolan laughed. "You're not going to the woods to cut carrots, Mitchie. Take it, alright?"
"I'll, uh, I'll…."
"I'm sure you can think of something sooner or later. I'm not going to call the debt if that's what you're worried about," he winked and left.
There was something peaceful about the woods. Each time he was here, he felt an unexplainable thrill. It was a little bit of freedom. Haymitch was well aware that should the Peacekeepers catch him, then the punishment would be severe but for a short while, the problems in the District were far away from him and it was a small liberation.
Aspen brought with him Toby Hawthorne and Hazelle Miller that afternoon. Haymitch had gone to the woods with Aspen and Toby before but never with Hazelle. He didn't know what the girl was doing there but he kept his mouth shut. It was none of his business.
They divided the task equally amongst themselves and they worked well together. Haymitch, ever so curious, tended to wander off on his own but Hazelle would always call him back.
"Haymitch, not so far," she called out softly for the umpteenth time.
"Don't worry," he grinned. "Come look at this," he pointed at a purple flower growing at the side of a tree.
Hazelle plucked it and slotted it behind her ear, raising her eyebrow at him.
"Now you've ruined the beauty of the flower," he teased.
Hazelle punched him in the arm. It actually hurt but he would never let her know.
Haymitch's job was simple, really. He was to skin the squirrels Toby and Aspen brought down. It was easier to do it in the woods then leave the evidence in the district, they told him.
The first time he did it, he made a mess of it, so much so that there was nothing left to eat but he had learnt from it and this time, it was better. So much better.
Toby chuckled and thumped his shoulder when Haymitch lifted the first squirrel proudly. "You can take that one home then, Mitch. For your brother, eh?"
The four of them headed back to Twelve before sunset. Just after they passed the fence, Aspen and Haymitch went off together. They were both in good spirits, smiling and laughing.
"What'd you gonna tell your mother?" Aspen asked, taking out a small ball from his pants' pocket and throwing it over to Haymitch.
Haymitch caught it neatly and passed it back.
"I'll tell her that I did your school work - won't be the first time it happen, you're a lazy ass – so she'll buy it. In exchange, you gave me a squirrel."
Aspen shrugged, tossing the ball back.
"Sure. Just want to get the story straight. I'll tell her the same in case she comes 'round or something."
"Tell who what?" a tall figure caught the ball before Haymitch could and towered over them, a maniacal grin on his face.
They both froze.
The Head Peacekeeper was standing in front of them, tossing the ball up in the air and catching it as he waited for an answer.
Aspen gulped audibly. Haymitch's breathing had quickened.
Head Peacekeeper Blake was strict and brutal at times. He lost his temper easily and was known to harass others just to stir up trouble, at times provoking the people until they did something wrong for which he could belt out some punishment.
He was a bully, according to Haymitch's mother.
"What's that you've got?" he nodded at Aspen's sack which contained two dead squirrels; one for him and one for Haymitch.
"Books, sir," Aspen answered far too quickly.
"Is that so? Then you wouldn't mind me taking a look at it, would ya?"
"It's the same books like the ones in school. If you're interested, you can always sit in with us at class. Math is at ten in the morning tomorrow," Haymitch answered and Aspen was staring at him as if he was crazy.
Haymitch did not see it coming. His head snapped back violently and he feared his neck would have a whiplash. Haymitch tasted blood. He raised his finger to his lips and it came away red. His left cheek stung from where Peacekeeper Blake had back handed him. Haymitch spat the blood out, glaring at the man with unrestrained hatred.
"You talk back to me like that ever again, boy, and it'll be more than a slap."
"Yeah?" Haymitch snarled, anger coursing through his veins. "You gonna shoot me?"
"Leave it alone, Haymitch," Aspen stepped in between them. "Sir, it's late. We just wanna go home. We were playing," he pointed at the ball, "and now we've got homework to do. Please, can we go?"
The Head Peacekeeper snatched the bag from Aspen and when he undid the string to look inside, Aspen's face crumpled. The Peacekeeper's eyes gleamed.
"Shit," Haymitch cursed.
"Oh," the Peacekeeper let out a breath. "Looks like it'll be an interesting evening for Twelve tonight."
The squirrels were found on Aspen and there was little he could do to deny that it belonged to him. Haymitch opened his mouth to say something, to take the blame too only to have Aspen silence with him a look. The Head Peacekeeper found a hunting knife on Haymitch when he searched him and that was enough for him to be thrown in Twelve's jail, behind the Justice Building.
"Two days," the Head Peacekeeper spat. "You're staying here for two days."
"Aspen!" Haymitch screamed, shaking the bars violently. "Don't do anything to him!"
Aspen looked back at him fearfully even as Peacekeeper Blake dragged him by his collar towards the Square.
When they disappeared from view, Haymitch let out a ragged breath and slid down the walls, sitting on the floor with his head between his knees. He could hear Aspen's terrible, painful screams from his cell. He counted twelve lashes before the screaming stopped.
When dawn broke, his mother came to the cell, frantic and worried.
"Mama," Haymitch pressed himself against the bars. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry! I was just tryin' to do right. Lief was – "
"I know, Haymitch, I know," his mother kissed his forehead, holding him through the metal bars that separated them. "You should have listened to me! You're so brave but so foolish."
"I'm sorry," he begged. "Please don't cry. Don't tell Lief I'm here. Don't tell him."
His mother promised not to. He spent the time afterwards pacing the cell. Hazelle visited him after school which broke the monotony.
"How is he?" Haymitch asked, the worry etched on his face.
"We brought him to Iris' father yesterday night. But he's still unconscious. He's got fifteen lashes."
Haymitch nodded. His fingers were clasped behind his head and he walked the cell in a dizzying circle.
"It's bad, Haymitch," Hazelle sat on the floor outside the cell. "His entire back…"
"He'll be okay. He's with the best healer in Twelve."
"I gave your mother half my share from yesterday," Hazelle whispered. "Don't worry about your family."
Haymitch stared at her and then gave her a nod. "Thanks," he mumbled.
Being in jail was horrible. The Peacekeepers on duty forgot about him or maybe they did it on purpose but he wasn't given any food or water. Hazelle must have known this would happen for some reason because before she left, she gave him her bottled water. The next day, his mother gave him stale bread she had begged from the Mellarks.
When he was finally released, Haymitch vowed never to return back to the holding cell ever again but that never happened. He was a teenager and like most teenagers at that age, he felt angry about things, he talked back and he got in trouble.
He was thrown in again a few times after that and years later, in the Capitol, Haymitch was a familiar face in the Games Centre Prison. The guards knew him and Effie Trinket grew tiresome of having to bail him out of jail.
"Sorry, sweetheart," he would say each time.
And each time, Effie would tell him that she would leave him to rot but whenever she received a call that he had been held, she would make her way down. She would bring him back to the Penthouse. Most of the time, he was downright drunk - the cause of him being imprisoned in the first place - and therefore, uncooperative.
"What do I do with you, Haymitch?" Effie sighed one night.
"Don't leave me to rot," he mumbled, blindly reaching out for her. "They starve me in there."
"What are you talking about? They don't," Effie frowned.
"They do - ask Hazelle or ask Mama, they'd tell you. You gotta believe me," he slurred, blinking at her. His eyes were clouded over. "You gotta believe me, sweetheart."
"Okay, Haymitch, I believe you," Effie assured him, brushing his hair back. "Go to sleep."
A/N: I've edited the previous chapters to include Haymitch's age at the beginning of every chapter.
I hope you like this chapter. I've always wanted to explore Haymitch's teenage years and this one came up because in Catching Fire, Haymitch told Katniss that there was a lot of whipping and they often took them to Katniss' mother, which brings me to the next point, Iris is Mrs. Everdeen.