Elias Smith--District 6

Dr. Smith’s best creation is everything a man should be. Elias is tall, firm, and as imposing as he can possibly be. Elias’s muscles are not large or obtrusive, but lugging lumber around all day makes him rather strong. Elias’s long legs make quick strides that make others jog to keep up and his gangly arms give him an impressive reach. Despite his strong build sturdy frame, it is not too difficult to tell that Eli has missed his share of meals since his father was taken away, but he is happy to skip dinner to let his younger siblings eat. His hands are large and his fingers long and spindly ending with dirty nails. It is not uncommon for Eli to have a multitude of splinters in his hands and arms from a long day’s work. Sometimes these fester and leave small scars.

Like his father, the boy refuses to allow his face to show emotion. First and foremost, emotion is a sign of weakness and uncertainty which he sees himself as immune to. Second, he is somewhat self-conscious of his large teeth and would prefer not to show them off by smiling and giggling like a little schoolgirl. His dark green eyes stay cool and calculating and his thin lips closed. Regardless of his best efforts, Elias’s red-blonde hair refuses to do anything but curl around his head in the most unruly of ways, but this doesn’t bother the seventeen year old too much. He kind of likes his mess of hair as it makes him easy to pick out in a crowd for the children.

The value of flashy or expensive clothing is lost on Elias Smith. He instead opts for drab, monochromatic shirts and jeans. Even during the hottest days of summer, Elias wears long sleeves and pants because he inherited his mother’s fair skin and he burns very easily. For reasons Dr. Smith never could figure out, his eldest son had an affinity for tattoos. He had made his own ink and used a razor blade to adorn his chest with a large raven and inky flames shoot up his side. Elias’s favorite tattoos though are simply the names of his younger siblings along his left forearm, but his older sister, Charlie’s name is not and will not be present on young Mr. Smith’s Body.

Some people are born leaders. Dr. Smith took this idea one step further by raising Elias from birth specifically to lead the Smith family. Elias is decisive and calm. He knows what he wants when he wants it and he has the skills to ensure that he normally gets it. He has a soft, gentle voice that makes him easy to trust. The oldest Smith son has been trained to be an efficient, persuasive speaker. He is very much aware that he is the only Smith child who can hold down a legitimate job right now and he is obviously the best qualified to lead the family regardless of his age.

Elias is fiercely protective of his younger siblings and fiercely critical of his older one. While his father was still present, Eli was his biggest supporter and he was only too happy to assist Dr. Smith in his endeavors. Eli is intelligent, but he is by no means a genius. He is, however, exceptional at thinking on his feet and making swift, well thought out decisions. Elias pride gets the better of him on a daily basis. The temperamental youth cannot stand to hear verbal attacks on his family and is frighteningly eager to fight to defend his honor. Since his Charlie is in Elias’s eyes completely incompetent, Eli has become a de facto father figure to the younger members of his family. Elias feels obligated to continue his father’s research and foster the qualities in his brothers and sisters that Dr. Smith decided were most important.

In his father’s absence, Elias feels called to serve as the family patriarch. And he should because he was designed to do so. So the fact that Charlie was selected to care for the Smith children irks her brother to no end. Eli is determined to undermine what little authority Charlie has and turn his siblings against her. He loves to point out Charlie’s many faults and a large part of him looks forward to her meeting a sticky end so he can lead the Smith clan.

Elias was spoiled by his father’s affection and in some cases doting. With his biggest supporter out of the picture, Eli has found himself thirsty for approval. So despite being a bit of a sexist pig like his dad, he has turned to women as a source of the affection that he so desperately needs. Since his father’s imprisonment, Eli has had several girlfriends in quick succession. Most of them are scared away by him having so many kids to look out for or his loyalty which can easily get kind of creepy and over the top. Having a girlfriend improves Elias’s normally sour mood greatly and gives him an opportunity to relieve stress from his life as a working secondary (let’s not kid ourselves, Charlie is NOT a caregiver) primary caregiver of seven.

District Six psychologist Dr. Smith was determined to create the perfect family. By handpicking mothers for their characteristics and nurturing the desired traits in his children, Dr. Smith figured he could have a son to look after the little children and lots of perfect little kids who specialized in academics or sports or physical beauty. The Smiths would be the poster family of perfection and all would be well with the world. Dr. Smith’s noble plan went horribly wrong though when his first son who was to lead the way for his brothers and sisters was born a girl, Charlotte or Charlie for short. Charlotte was a problem child from birth on. She spent long stints away from home, got into fights, and as she grew up, Charlie Smith became addicted to drugs and alcohol.

Dr. Smith’s second child, a son thank God, was named Elias and he became the leader that Charlie never could be. From the time he could talk, little Eli was given leadership lessons by his dear father and by the time he was six, Elias could care for his brothers and sisters while Papa went out. Eli learned the importance of discipline and the significance of tough love. His father fostered in him a terrible fear. Elias is terrified that one of his beloved younger siblings will turn out rotten like his older sister.

When Eli was sixteen, the unthinkable happened. Peacekeepers discovered that Dr. Smith had been capturing women to breed with them and killing them after they gave birth. The poor old man was hauled off to prison to spend the rest of his life, but Eli’s fate was far worse. The courts determined that the best person to care for the Smith children—all nine of them—was none other than Charlotte Smith. Elias was enraged that his drunken, irresponsible, no good sister was to be put in charge of such a wonderful leader as himself. And what of the children? They were impressionable. He feared that the increased exposure to the Smith family black sheep would turn them into drugged lunatics like his fallen sister.

Elias knew that Charlie would never be able to care for herself, let alone her eight younger siblings, so he took a job as a carpenter. Since he was only sixteen, he was only allowed to take orders from the other workers and pretty much just haul wood. Eli hated his job, but bit his tongue to put food on the table. He was even willing to skip meals himself to make sure that the little ones’ bellies never went empty. All his life, Elias Smith has dreamed of being a psychologist like his dad. He would marry a girl, settle down and have eight perfect children. It would be just like his family, but without that leech of a sister. Even though it pains him to do so, Elias has accepted the very real possibility that he will never be trained to be a psychologist. He knows that he will probably be too busy raising his brothers and sisters to ever raise kids of his own. But if his younger brothers and sisters can mature into the perfect paragons of their respective qualities, Eli knows all his work—all his father’s work—will be worth it. He will be sadly satisfied to live his life with splinters and sores on his hands if it can guarantee his family’s success.