Chapter Seven: Battle Scars

It had taken Maize two months to fully recover from being whipped. After she had passed out from the pain, and her punishment dueled out, her distraught father had carried her on his back to his sister's home. Her Auntie Calla had been a nurse in the Med-Bay before the birth of her children and was the only one willing to help her after Maize's public whipping. Her back would forever bear the marks of the Peacekeeper's whip, but Maize found herself caring very little for it.

Brier and Piper were alive. That was all that really mattered.

During those two months of rest, she watched over her three youngest siblings while the rest of her family worked the fields. It was Blooming season (or flower picking season) and the northern fields were full of beautiful waves of different colorful flowers. When Maize was young and had first accompanied her mama to the fleur fields, she had felt as if she'd been dropped into an ocean of flowers and wonder. Now it was time to start harvesting the eastern fields once more and Maize was more than ready to escape from the suffocating hut and get to work.

Amla was of the opinion that she'd gone mad under the hands of the Peacekeepers and that was the reason why Maize was so eager for work. It wasn't true, obviously, if anything, spending one more day inside of the shack she called home would definitely send her off the deep end. All Maize really wanted to do was forget. Forget that she'd been so publicly punished. Forget that her baba now looked at her with shame (not at her for bravely stealing the medicine to save the twins, but at himself for not being able to protect Maize like a father should). Forget the reason her mother couldn't stand to look at her back. To forget that Maize hadn't stolen the medicine fast enough to save Nyanya.

In a way, the marks on her back were battle-scars.

She was proud of saving her sisters.

But they were also a testament of how she had so utterly failed her beloved grandmother.

The years continued to pass by quickly with each passing season. Her mother had born three more children in the last five years (when her parents had the time to even have relations was a mystery to not only her but Amla as well). A girl, Lilac, that was now three almost four, and more recently another set of twins. Two identical little boys named Balm and Gilead. Her mother was at her wit's end with all the little ones in the house, considering that Hibis had turned five last month.

Birch had only looked at her in silent despair, her sweet obedient brother would never complain to their parents, but when their mother had announced she was pregnant the last time with the boys... well, he was of the opinion that their parents had enough children to care for. Though he had been relieved that the second set of twins were boys. Piper and Brier, now nine, often drove him crazy with their girly antics. After all, flowers were not meant to be braided into the hair of a boy!

The only break between each harvest were the reapings, the damned Hunger Games and the Victory Tour that occurred six months after the Games. It was going to be Amla's last reaping this year, thank the heavens for that. Her sweet cousin had fallen in love with a sweet processor from the factories named Thorn Wheatgrove. Normally, Maize would have never been so accepting of the dark-skinned nineteen-year old's advancements on her cousin, but even she could see how Amla's eyes shined with love and wonder whenever Thorn was by her side. Her baba had even given the couple his blessing and both of their families were preparing the young couple their own shack to live in after their wedding.

The ceremony would be taking place two weeks after the reaping's, and not soon enough in the words of her besotted cousin.

Maize couldn't help but fear for her cousin's life even more this year. She was the only one Amla had confided in when the eighteen-year-old had broken down in panicked tears, her sweet cousin was pregnant. It wasn't uncommon for people in the District to marry young, often immediately after their last reaping, but it was another matter altogether for a teen to risk a pregnancy while still of reaping age. Maize's baba may have even rejected Thorn's request for her hand in marriage. It was a matter of shame for the bride's family if the young woman in question wasn't pure before the wedding. Maize's inner twenty-first century persona from her first life had been infuriated when she had found out about the stigma.

So, Maize had stood loyally by her cousin's side and promised her silence and support. In her first life, teen pregnancy had been frowned upon but not in the same way it was viewed in her new life. She didn't fear her baba's wrath or disappointment in the same way the Amla did. Maize's father loved her something fierce, but he'd always been strict with Amla (Maize blamed it on the way her Uncle Banyan had just thrown his life away, Amla's father had once been his best friend after all). The only other soul that knew of the secret pregnancy was a very dedicated and besotted Thorn. Amla was nearing the second month of her pregnancy now, and with the wedding in two weeks, they would be able to pass off the birth of the child as premature. Maize had attended many births after she started shadowing her Auntie Calla, including the births of Lilac and the twins, so she would be the one attending to her cousin when they announced the pregnancy.

Amla was not the only reason why this reaping was even more stressful for the Galloshire's than others. Birch had turned twelve this year, making him now an eligible contender for the Hunger Games. Her little brother was terrified under his mask of indifference and Maize had spent the night with the pre-teen sleeping restlessly between her and Amla. Her poor little brother had woken up from nightmares twice during the night, only calming when they would softly sing him back to sleep.

Her mother had cried herself to sleep this year.

Now he was standing in a sea of twelve-year-old boys waiting for a poor soul to be called and the reaping to end. Both of her parents had made it to this year's reaping and were standing corralled with the other worried folks. Even Thorn was in attendance. Maize stood solemnly in the crowd of her peers. Edelwyse, had been reaped the year before for the 69th Hunger Games. Her childhood friend had not fared well in the Games and had died during the bloodbath.

So now Maize stood by herself in the sea of other seventeen-year-olds'.

Words: 1,145

Edited: Oct. 23, 2019