Chapter 7:
District Ten
Shams Seif-Eldeen, 18
Eleven Months Before
"Right this way, follow me."
The twins are quick to follow after the guard leading them to their parents, but Shams lingers back from them. She knows their parents don't want to see her, just their eldest children. The ones who are actually successful. The ones who might be able to get them out of this mess. She didn't even know that they were doing this – neither did her older siblings. It was such a shock to come home from school one day to find her parents sitting at their ornate dining room table that was only used for their wealthiest guests, along with a woman she didn't know. And then they sat down all three of them and Miriam explained everything before the guards came to arrest them. The children could only sit back as their parents were taken away while other guards started hauling out most of their belongings as her older siblings screamed at them.
And now…now their parents' lawyer is leading them to their parents in prison, claiming they have something important to discuss with them.
A guard jabs her back with their baton and she picks up her pace, staying just behind Moustafa and Amina as they approach a room with a two-way mirror in the wall, letting them see their parents. Shams comes to a sudden stop, staring at her parents in their orange jumpsuits, her stepmother looking so unkempt that it takes Shams aback. She's never seen that woman with a single hair out of place. Everything was usually kept tight under an iron fist and Miriam wouldn't dare let her image be tarnished.
But there is nothing she can do about it in prison.
"Let us in already," Moustafa demands to the guard standing at the door, hands on his hips as he puffs up his chest. Shams backs away, just anticipating the punishment her brother will earn from his arrogance.
Amina puts a hand on her brother's shoulder, getting him to back down a little bit as she gives the guards a flattering – and calculated – smile. "Please, we just want to see our parents. All of us. Right, Shams?"
Shams quickly nods her head in agreement at the cold look Amina gives her over her shoulder, even if she's not exactly sure she wants to see her parents. Part of her wants to see them, to get affection from her parents, but a larger part of her knows that won't happen. Not in prison and with the twins here. "Yes, please."
"You have a half hour with them," the guard tells them before opening up the door and the lawyer steps in first, followed quickly by the twins as they run in to their mother to hug her.
"Oh my sweet babies!" Miriam tells the twins as she holds them as tightly as she can with handcuffs around her wrists. Shams lingers to the back of the room, near the door, just watching as her stepmother starts fretting over the twins' appearances, smoothing down their hair and clothes as she fixes them with a sharp look. "Stop your blubbering and tears. We don't let our enemies see us like this."
"Yes, mother," Amina nods her head obediently as Moustafa sniffles, both of them so attached to her that just the sight of her in prison is enough to make them forget all their composure. It's as if they've reverted back to young children, not nineteen year olds.
"Shams, come sit down," Kareem tells Shams, her father being the first to notice – or care – about her lingering by the door. She smiles at his notice and takes a seat quietly as Miriam narrows her eyes at her. "You two as well."
Moustafa and Amina move their chairs farther away from Shams and she does her best to keep her face clear, but she feels the sting of that small action. It's just one more drop in the overflowing bucket of ways they've excluded her over the years. She's used to it at this point…yet it still hurts. Kareem and Miriam sit opposite the table from their children and Kareem clears his throat, before turning to his wife and letting her handle this.
"We have been offered bail in exchange for revealing information about our partners," Miriam tells the children, fixing them all with a sharp look before continuing, "Of course we did it immediately. We suspect the Canovas were the ones who ratted us out in the first place because they wanted the drug money for themselves. We can't let them get away with that."
"So you'll be coming home?" Shams asks quietly, speaking up for the first time and surprising them, including herself. She clears her throat at their looks and puts her head down. She just wanted to know if they would be back home…it's been so lonely in the house with only the twins there. If they get out…maybe their jail time will have made them realize they missed her and they'll pay more attention to her.
"No," Miriam says with a scowl, not even trying to hide her glare at Shams that makes the girl sink further into her chair. "They posted a bail so high that it's impossible for us to pay it after they confiscated most of our belongings. But we have a plan."
"I want you three to listen to me very carefully," Kareem says, his voice low and cold and making all three children sit up straighter. Shams can barely meet his gaze, too nervous about his sharp tone. "Given the recent changes that have happened…one of you needs to volunteer for the Hunger Games and earn the money to bail us out and restore the peace to our family. This is non-negotiable."
The reaction from the twins is explosive after a couple seconds pass in silence and in an instant, they have jumped into their mother's arms and started wailing. They beg Miriam to not make them go in since their careers are both on the rise and they have bright futures ahead of them.
"Shams has nothing going for her! Make her go instead of me!"
"Yeah, instead of me too! She's useless."
There's an extra bite to their words this time as Shams knows she's useless. She's tried to be successful like the twins, but everything she's tried, she's failed at. And it's been so painfully obvious how she has nothing going for her when she hasn't even been able to do anything to try and help their parents after their arrest.
Shams stays silent as she realizes the biggest issue here, something that the rest of them all slowly start to realize as well. The twins stop their wailing as they all slowly turn their heads towards her, the only one who is actually eligible to volunteer for the Games. She's the only one that can save her family. A family who has never shown her the love she so desperately craves. One who is asking her to participate in the most violent thing ever, something that she has never wanted to be part of.
"Shams, you're the only one eligible to volunteer," Kareem points out to her and Shams doesn't know how to react to his words. Yet she finds herself sitting up taller, feeling as if he's almost praising her, giving her the affection she's so badly wanted from them.
"You've been useless for this family for years. A leech using our wealth we earned," Miriam adds on, her words destroying whatever spark of happiness there was in Shams from her father's words. "It's time you stepped up and did something beneficial for this family. This isn't up for debate."
"I…I don't-" Shams starts, unable to figure out her feelings on all of this when they're staring her down, putting the pressure on her to volunteer for the Games. She's not a violent person. She doesn't have training or skills to win. How can they possible think she can do this? And yet…part of her wants to. She wants to have something to offer to the family, something not even her older siblings have to offer them: a way out of jail. Maybe if she does this, she'll finally fit in to the family…
They all start talking at her, in various harsh tones as they all try to convince her to volunteer and win to get them the money they need for bail. Moustafa and Amina keep insisting that they can't do it, not with their careers ahead of them. Miriam keeps telling her she needs to step up and stop being useless, all while Kareem fixes her with a firm look, one telling her how much he wants her to volunteer. It overwhelms her until she finally has to burst out and get them to stop pressuring her.
"Fine, I'll do it!" Shams says loudly, interrupting all of them talking at her. She cringes right away at speaking up against them but for once, they don't seem ready to scold her for it. Instead, there's a look of…happiness? She hopes it's happiness, at least, in their eyes as her parents realize they have gotten what they wanted. And that makes her happy, right…? She's earning their affection for this. She's finally getting what she's always craved from them. Even if it means doing something she has never desired…but it's worth it for them…
"I'll volunteer for the Games."
Cimmerian 'Cimmer' Hart, 14
One Month Before
It was a typical Friday afternoon for Cimmer when he got home from school, so he went out back before stepping inside, tossing his backpack onto the back porch. Part of him wished Aisha was there to help him with taking care of the animals, but he understood his friend had some stuff to do at her place tonight. But it's no matter, Cimmer is more than happy just being around his animals.
"Heeellloooo fam!" Cimmer calls out in a singsong voice as he enters the barn, grinning at the sight of all the animals inside. As he looks around at some of the empty spots, the corners of his smile fall a little, but he tries not to let it get him down for too long. He understands why they had to sell some of their animals and knows it was for the good of their family, but the animals were also his family and it hurt to say goodbye to them. Cimmer takes care of the few chickens remaining before heading out the back into the pasture, leaning against the fence for a moment as he watches Hershell grazing while his dog Dooley runs around the field. No matter how tough things get with money and their family, as long as Cimmer has this, he's happy.
Cimmer slowly approaches the cow, making sure she sees him approaching to avoid any accidents – woo boy he does not want a repeat of the time he spooked her and got kicked. She picks her head up as she approaches before going back to eating grass and Cimmer leans against her, hugging her for a moment and taking some comfort from the gentle girl. "Hey Hershell, good to see ya, gal."
He stays like that for a few minutes, moving with her as she goes to different patches of grass, before knowing he has to get to work with the rest of the tasks for the evening. "Okay, big girl," Cimmer says as he pats her neck gently. "I'll be back out later."
As Cimmer goes back to the barn, Dooley following after him, so he grabs a branch to toss for his dog, grinning at the pure excitement. How could anyone not be happy when they're near animals that are just living their best lives? "Okay, Dooley, I gotta water the garden and then go inside to cook dinner," Cimmer tells Dooley as he crouches down to scratch behind his ears for a moment, before giving the stick one final big toss and sending the dog running after it.
Thankfully, they had a good rain yesterday so the garden doesn't need much attention from Cimmer, but he still takes his time checking on his sunflowers, proud of the flowers that he's grown completely on his own. "Hello my pretties," Cimmer says to the sunflowers, leaning down to look at the smallest that's still trying. "You'll get there someday, Patricia, I know it."
With his chores outside taken care of, Cimmer heads to the house, whistling as he goes. He grabs his backpack from the porch before stepping inside and calling out to his father, "Hey Pa!" He takes his shoes off right away to avoid getting scolded later for tracking dirt all over, before heading towards the kitchen to grab a glass of water, still calling out to his father as he does so, "Do you wanna snack before I get started on- Oh…"
Cimmer trails off when he sees his parents both sitting at the table and freezes in place, his good mood slowly crashing as he takes in their expressions. And the fact that his mother is home already… "Sorry, I would have came inside sooner if I knew you were home…why are you home so early?"
"Have a seat, dear," Linnaea tells Cimmer, patting the table in front of his open chair.
Cimmer does as she said and looks between the two of them, getting more concerned with each passing second in silence. "Pa's not sick again, are you?"
"No, I'm fine," Jasper answers Cimmer quietly, but his voice is strained and doesn't quell Cimmer's concern. "Or as fine as I can be given what happened years ago."
"This is about me," Linnaea speaks up before Cimmer can start speculating. She takes a deep breath, the strong woman struggling to hold back her tears. "Well…" she starts, fiddling with her hands and Jasper reaches over to take her hand. "You know how there's been those big drug busts going on across the District over the last few months? Another family got turned in and, well…they owned the shop I worked at…"
Linnaea winces at the words and Cimmer starts to put it all together. "But you weren't part of that! Why should you lose your job? That's not fair!"
"It's not," Linnaea doesn't deny it, but her face is full of disappointment. "The shop got shut down completely. Everyone lost their jobs, not just me… None of us knew what was going on."
Cimmer leans back in his chair, trying to process what this will mean for all of them. With his father out of work already and now his mother… "We're gonna lose the farm," Cimmer says quietly, trying to stay hopeful about it but truly struggling to see a bright side of all of this in the moment. He's worked so hard to help them keep their farm running and now it's all going to get taken away because someone else did something illegal.
"We're not going to let that happen," Jasper tells Cimmer, but it's clear he doesn't think that. "But we may have to sell some more chickens…"
"Please not Hershell," Cimmer pleads despite knowing if it comes down to it…he'll let them sell Hershell if it means surviving.
"We're going to figure something out, my dear," his mother pulls him in tight for a hug and rubs his back, trying to provide some comfort and reassurance that they would be alright. But he isn't young and naïve. He's seen enough hard times for a lifetime in the last two years and knows what has to be done to get through it. His parents still want to give him a carefree childhood away from their financial struggles, but the time for that is over.
"Let me help you out," Cimmer says quietly as he lets go of his mother, but his voice doesn't waver. He's been trying for months now to help out more and more, ever since they had to sell his two favorite chickens, but they haven't let him help yet. But he's going to change that. He'll…well, he isn't completely sure what he'll do, not yet, but he's going to figure something out.
"Your father is going to take some of his paintings into town tomorrow, maybe you can help him with that. It's a long walk and he can't walk that long on his leg. Right, Jasper?" Linnaea looks over at her husband, giving him a sharp look until he nods his head enthusiastically. "Maybe even try to go over to the Victor's Village. I bet Johan would buy one if our situation was explained, he's a good man."
"Mhmm," Cimmer says, the mention of the victor sparking an idea in Cimmer's head, one that had been lurking there, but he hadn't been ready to consider it yet. Not until things got dire enough. But…they're at that point now. Really, the idea had been there ever since the changes were announced, giving him a chance to help out his friends and family, but he never felt like it was necessary.
Today has changed that.
"I'm gonna make sure we're okay," Cimmer says with determination, knowing this is something he can do for them. "I'm gonna win the Games and then we'll never have to worry about money again."
His parents are silent for a few long seconds as they stare at him, faces full of bewilderment at what he suggested. His mother is the first to speak up, letting out a scoff as she sits back down. "Like hell I'm gonna let you volunteer for the Games."
"But Ma-"
"No, we're not going to consider that," Linnaea tells him and Cimmer turns to his father, giving him a look to consider it. Jasper nods his head slowly in agreement with his wife, but Cimmer can tell the wheels are turning in his head and tucks that away to try again at a different time. "Cimmer, I appreciate you being concerned about helping us out, but please, let us figure this out before you go risking your life."
"Okay," Cimmer concedes for now and from the look his mother gives him, she knows he's not giving it a rest yet. And he won't, not unless he comes up with a different idea to help them. They'll see in time that this is their only option. So he forces himself to stay positive for the moment and smiles at his parents. "How about I get started on dinner?"
Guess who's back, back again. Lauren's back, tell a friend. Okay, okay, before getting any further, big thanks to LordShiro and musicaltheatrecake for Shams and Cimmer respectively! That is our District Ten pair! Also not sorry at all if the song Under Pressure is now in your head because of the title because it's a damn good song and should be stuck in your head lol.
So yes, I'm back after my mini break. I'm good, have been good, just needed a little break and have been putting my creative energy towards 3D printing and painting stuff instead of writing. I'm still slowly chugging along with these intros and at the time of posting, I have the next chapter done and only five more tributes to write - the end of intros is in sight and I'm trying to keep pushing through XD So I'll update next chapter either next Friday or the following, gonna depend on if I get one or two of the tributes written for the following intro done in the next week (no promises because it's October and I love spooky time XD). So either way, next chapter will be up before the end of October. And I'm going to get through the five remaining intro chapters before the year is up, so look forward to that!
Everyone stay safe and healthy, wear a mask, register to vote if you're over 18 in the US, etc, idk what else I need to say as important reminders lol. Sorry, I'm nearly 25, I'm getting old and nagging about things, I can't help it XD
RQ #7: I'm making fun decorations for my printer and doing a couple memes - so what's your favorite meme/reaction picture? I need ideas and perhaps I'll make it lol.
Alrighty friends, I'll see you in a week or two with the next chapter! (the amount of times I have nearly said what District and had to stop myself is too many lol)
