Deep breaths. Keep breathing. Hide your hand. Don't let anyone see. I keep up this chant in my head as Brutus, Cato, Cordelia, and Enobaria watch me. Enobaria gets up and brings over some glasses of water which no one touches. I remember the night before the games, when I overheard Brutus and Enobaria talking about Cato and I. I'd like to think they care about us. But I've been tricked before.
Right now, I don't seem to have much of a choice. No one says a word, waiting for me to speak. Cato watches me carefully, he seems at odds with the situation. Deep breaths, I remind myself.
"He, the man who came here for me, is Favian. He is--was? My legal guardian." Breathe. I clench my hand into a fist but it still shakes. "My parents died in a fire when I was young. Favian adopted me when I was ten. I left the district orphanage to live and train with him. The Games were everything to him. He needed me to win. I don't know why." I take a shaky breath, avoiding eye contact with anyone.
"He was in love with a girl named Alice, before I knew him. She died. That is why he adopted me, he was lonely. But I think, Favian wasn't adopting me--he was taking home a replacement Alice. I've seen the pictures, we have the same green eyes. That's why. . .that's why--" My voice breaks.
"You don't have to do this Clover," Cato interrupts fiercely. "Why are you making her do this?" He snaps at our mentors.
"We can't help unless you tell us what's wrong." Enobaria says.
"You can't help either way." I say miserably.
"Clove, you are our responsibility. If something happens to you we get the downfall. On top of that, we actually care what happens to you. So you are going to sit there and explain who that man is and what he is doing so that we can make sure you stay safe. For all our sakes." Brutus says. He is surprisingly emotional about it.
"Okay," I whisper, "okay..." Cato glares at our mentors but I continue. This is so much harder with them. When I told Cato it was like letting go but now it feels like a stone on my chest. Breathe. Breathe.
"Favian has been...hurting me since I was eleven." I take another deep breath.
"Hurting you? How was he hurting you?" Enobaria interrupts. Cato looks like he wants to scream. He still stands near me, not able to
come closer but unable to bear going farther away. My hand shakes so badly I'm sure someone is bound to notice.
"It started off with him hitting me. When I disappointed him or when he was drunk. After a while he would let his hands linger places they shouldn't....he would grab me and--" I choke on my words. The room is silent with horror. My tongue is suddenly dry. Leaning forward, I reach for a glass of water. My hand wraps around the cup but it's shaking so bad I can't pick it up. The glass clatters to the table, sloshing water everywhere. It is right about then I begin to cry.
Cato slides to the floor next to my chair and covers my hand with his own. I know he can feel it shaking but I don't mind. The tremors belong to him, my cracks are his to see. Cato glares at our mentors defiantly as if daring them to challenge his place beside me.
"Favian raped me, so many times." I whisper. Cordelia drops her tea cup. It shatters to the ground. I squeeze Cato's hand.
"Why didn't you tell anyone?" Brutus shouts, "why didn't you leave?"
"I had no where to go, no one who cared enough to help." I sob. "He was the only person who loved me."
"He didn't love you Clover," Cato whispers gently, "but there are people here who do."
"You could have come to us before the Games! You could have turned him over to the peacekeepers. Why didn't you?" Enobaria asks. This is the final straw. I have had enough.
"Because I loved him! He was the only thing I had left until Cato and even that was taken away from me!" I rip my hand out of Cato's and bolt for the stairs. "Get out of my house!" I shriek, tearing running down my face. "Get out! Why can't you people leave it be? Why can't everyone just leave me alone?" Their faces are a mixture of shock and horror. I trample the steps beneath my feet, slamming the door to my bedroom and locking it. I collapse on the bed, sobbing and shaking.
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BRUTUS
The girl has always been a weakness for me. She has been through so much, I just want to make life a little easier for her. But after today I'm not sure I can. If only Mirren were here. She would know what to do.
"You heard her, after forcing that out of her the least we can do is leave her be." I say gruffly. Enobaria protests, of course.
"No. We can't just leave her alone. What if that lunatic comes back? She obviously can't handle it herself."
"Would you two stop arguing over her like she's an injured puppy and just get the hell out?" The boy yells at us. There's a smarting bruise on my temple where he hit me earlier but I've decided to overlook it. After hearing the girl's story I want to beat up her guardian as well. I pull Enobaria to her feet and out the door. Cordelia is uncharacteristically silent. She probably doesn't know how to deal with real life problems such as this.
The boy comes with us. I take care to lock the door before exiting so the girl will feel safer. Not that locks will do her much good. We will have to come up with something better. I see the boy's face as the door shuts and come to realize just how bad this situation really is. The boy is the only one who knew about Favian. Not only is he completely in love with the girl, but he is probably the one whose been keeping her together. Without him, who knows what will happen?
"We can't just leave her," Enobaria argues as we walk down the driveway.
"The boy will take care of it." Already Cato is dragging behind. As I turn the corner he sneaks into the girl's backyard. Good. She needs him.
A/N What do you think of Brutus's point of view? Please comment and vote!!