[84th] The Reaping - District 6

”None of the clothes fit me.”

”You wore them last year?”

”I have grown since…”

”I need to stop feeding you then.” Cass’s mutter is not well hidden, Walter hears every insult and groan about his existence to his guardian being the biggest burden to ever hit a drug dealer’s life. Even those with the four figure debts are less of a burden to Cass than little Walt, the growing boy he must keep fed and clothed. He really would have preferred a dog. And Walter would have preferred a cat as a guardian. ”Check the trunk in the cupboard, there is some kids clothes in there.”

A drug dealer with a trunk full of kid’s clothes, Walter really does not want to question the source of the items, well, as long as they are not stained with the evidence… Still wearing the very tight grey Sunday best shirt and the trousers that can now qualify as booty shorts, Walter rummages through the pile of seemingly bat shit crazy costumes. ”This will not fit.” Walter lifts a long black shirt, its length would drop to the lanky knee’s of Cass, what kind of kid wore this? Everything else is too small…or too bright. The only thing that looks his size is a puffy sleeved yellow dress, with a floral print and a white seam. He cannot go to the reaping wearing rags.

It will just have to do.

Walter escapes downstairs in his new reaping outfit, his stomach calling to be filled. A cold half full (not half-empty) bowl of porridge calls his name and he begins to shovel it..”You are not wearin-.” Cass drags Walter up from the table by his wrist, ”- it doesn’t matter, we have to go I have a job before and you need to get in the queue.”

To Cass, the reaping is the key to ditching the financial burden that he so reluctantly accepted. Walt is a good kid; he gets to jobs done but…oh boy does he have so many needs! Three meals a day, clothes to wear and the boy consumes so many books. He just cannot keep up with it.

To Walter, it is hard to thank Cass for all that he has done for him. A shelter, food on the table just days after becoming an orphan. There really wasn’t even a second where he has been left to completely fend for himself. Except obviously the basic needs of the teachings of life, something he has had to explore himself. It is hard not to break two of his main rules while in the company of Cass:
Number nine - Don’t let people be rude to you. Exhibit A: The mutterings of not feeding him this morning after complaining about the lack of fitting clothes. Like, really?

Number six - Listen to those who give you directions. Walter knows for sure that anything that Cass advises…he should just forget. For he had a ten-year-old running around the District with drug money. There is no sense…

”Go get in the line…I will see you later.” Walter sees it in his eyes, a hidden I hope not. He just nods, not bothering to wave a good bye. A conflict is marked in the boy’s mind, is he really wanted inside Cassidy’s dirty drug den? Even if he is, does he really want to be there himself. It is a hard choice for a thirteen-year-old. A thirteen-year-old with the life of a thirty-year-old, there must be so much more to life than being an independent little orphan boy.

As soon as he steps into the crowd, the muttering of his attire is very clear. It is comfortable though, no more tight pants that Cass forces onto him, his legs are free with the white socks that are pulled up to his knees. He just wishes he wore a jacket or a cardigan. The cold bites at the surface of his skin and it forces him to rub his palms up and down his arms. What a look he must be to the others. A skinny little boy with scattered scars, stood trembling in a dress.

”Mom!”

A scene erupts besides him, the boy whose name is called calling out for his mother. If Walter’s name was pulled today and his mother was still alive, would she have saved him? He does not know. He will never know. There is hardly a memory left of the woman he paints a picture of in his head.

”I am not your mom but I can help.” Walter nudges the flailing boy, pushing him back into the crowd. ”Take me, I am basically the best representation of District Six.” Nobody has pointed him into this direction. Maybe he does not know the real consequence. Maybe he just wants to escape. Maybe he wants a change. Maybe he just wants to be a kid…