Something To Root For: Haymitch's POV

Chapter 2

Before I can fully get a grasp that there is a volunteer tribute from our district, an outlying district, Effie Trinket is already swirling her hand in the bowl holding the male tributes names.

"Peeta Mellark!" She exclaims.

Hmm Peeta Mellark. I know that name from somewhere. Oh yes he is the baker's son. Sometimes he brings deliveries when his other brother doesn't. He is from the town, not from the Seam. Odds are he did not have to take out tesserae so he had few entries.

He looks somewhat strong and you can tell he is better fed than other kids in the district. He walks up to the stage with no one volunteering to take his place. This is how it usually is when the children from our district are reaped.

Time moves faster in the world than it does in my head, and before I know it I am being ushered inside by the mayor to be taken to the train station. The Treaty of Treason must have already played like it does every year, unchanged, just like the fate of these new tributes.

The car ride makes me queasy and I am thankful to not have the job of escorting the tributes to the train after they say their goodbyes in the Justice Building. I am helped up into the train and I stumble to the room that is waiting for me year after year. The plush blanket on the bed welcomes me.

After a while my head is no longer spinning and I can feel the train move. I still lay in the comfort of my room, not ready to face the kids who will most likely be dead by the time I am on a train again to come home.

I make my way to the bar car before having to come face to face with the children that I am to prepare to die. I wish my life had meaning, but failure upon failure keeps racking up so I find it easier to drown the part of me who still has hope. I find the dark liquid that is much stronger than anything I can buy back home and take a drink. It burns going down, but the sensation allows me to feel something. Finally when my glass is empty and my flask is full I stand up to stagger to find dinner.

The door to the dining car opens.

"I miss supper?" I ask probably incoherently.

Then as I think about the sloshing in my stomach, I feel the burning sensation again, only this time it isn't going down. It's coming back up.

I can not control the upwards movement and release the brown liquor I have been drinking in pools of vomit onto the carpet. My body no longer supported by the liquor falls face first into it.

It smells rancid but I am too weak to move.

"So laugh away!" Effie says in embarrassment while her pointy shoes carefully avoid my mess and leaves the compartment. 

As the door slides closed the two kids hoist me up.

"I tripped? Smells bad." I mutter.

"Let's just get you to your room and then we will get you cleaned up." the boy says.

I let out a grunt and accept their help. Who knows if anything else will be making a reappearance if I stay in the puddle of vomit. Why are they helping me? Surly they know there is nothing I can do for them, they know I return every year without their schoolmates. They know their fate and yet they still show kindness.

Somehow we arrive at my room and they put me in the tub. Great, hopefully they drown me and put me out of my misery. The two are talking in hushed voices and suddenly they come upon an agreement and nod their heads. The girl leaves to my relief and the boy begins to remove my soiled clothes. The two show so much kindness to me and for the first time I am slightly embarrassed. Anyone else would have just fetched help from the Avoxes on the train to clean me up. At least that's what happened a few years ago right after we pulled out of the train station.