Голодные игры

           Idon’tknowHaymitch,butI’veseenhimoftenenoughintheHob,tossinghandfulsofmoneyonthecounterofthewomanwhosellswhiteliquor.He’llbeincoherentbythetimewereachtheCapitol.

           IrealizeIdetestHaymitch.NowondertheDistrict12tributesneverstandachance.Itisn’tjustthatwe’vebeenunderfedandlacktraining.Someofourtributeshavestillbeenstrongenoughtomakeagoofit.Butwerarelygetsponsorsandhe’sabigpartofthereasonwhy.Therichpeoplewhobacktributes-eitherbecausethey’rebettingonthemorsimplyforthebraggingrightsofpickingawinner-expectsomeoneclassierthanHaymitchtodealwith.

           "So,you’resupposedtogiveusadvice,"IsaytoHaymitch.

           "Here’ssomeadvice.Stayalive,"saysHaymitch,andthenburstsoutlaughing.IexchangealookwithPeetabeforeIrememberI’mhavingnothingmoretodowithhim.I’msurprisedtoseethehardnessinhiseyes.Hegenerallyseemssomild.

           "That’sveryfunny,"saysPeeta.SuddenlyhelashesoutattheglassinHaymitch’shand.Itshattersonthefloor,sendingthebloodredliquidrunningtowardthebackofthetrain."Onlynottous."

           Haymitchconsidersthisamoment,thenpunchesPeetainthejaw,knockinghimfromhischair.Whenheturnsbacktoreachforthespirits,Idrivemyknifeintothetablebetweenhishandandthebottle,barelymissinghisfingers.Ibracemyselftodeflecthishit,butitdoesn’tcome.Insteadhesitsbackandsquintsatus.

           "Well,what’sthis?"saysHaymitch.