Vindictive | Chapter 4

Finally, it is the weekend. That only means one thing: Rue Okineyi is coming today.

Obviously, Thresh is supposed to be the excited one between the two of us but it turns out; he isn’t too pumped about the idea. I tried asking him why last night after I got home from District 2 and predominantly, Rue is the scarier between the siblings. Thresh had a…not so lucky encounter with his younger sibling one time. He told me it happened the last time Rue came over.

She was twelve then and since Thresh's father is an agent and his mother is a traveler, both of them were rarely home leaving the older sibling to take care of Rue. She came home one day with a boy in tow. As a matter of fact, Thresh was not too happy about it and untimely dropped the bomb. He started lecturing his sister about how she should not date at such a young age and that she should at least wait until he allows her to. Rue, being the hardheaded one completely disagreed with her brother. She started yelling at him, telling him how he’s only being moody because the girl he was after at the moment rejected him. All the while, as the siblings were engaged in an all-out war, the boy whom Rue took home with her snuck up from them and left the house. Rue noticed he was gone five minutes after. She was trying her best to control her temper probably to not humiliate herself and seeing that the boy left, she completely lost it. Rue started calling Thresh names and other mean-girly stuff but the most painful out of all of it (Thresh's words, not mine) was when she screamed at him for being a bad brother and that she doesn’t want to see him ever again.

If I were Thresh in that situation, I think I will be feeling the same way as well. I mean, Rue's Thresh's only sibling and having to hear those words from her is like injecting a pointy spear straight to the heart, the same time being stung by bees.

I glance to my right to look at Thresh who is sitting next to me on one of the kitchen’s swivel chairs. I notice he’s been working 24/7 for the past few weeks and since he’s my brother (not by blood, though) I feel a lot sympathetic towards him. No one should be working as hectic as he is. But it is his choice to follow his father’s footsteps on being an agent and work for the president for the rest of his life, so I guess I really have no say to this.

Thresh notices my staring and his eyebrows meet in confusion. “Something wrong?” he asks, glancing at me for a matter of a second before returning his full attention on his laptop screen.

“Are you really required to do that?” I answer him back a question as I point at the woman on his screen. She’s probably a new identity to do some deep research on.

Thresh nods, his fingers flying rapidly over the keyboard. “There are different types of agents, Cato. There’s one for going after the bad guys, attacking their headquarters and then arresting them—”

“Isn’t that the cops’ job?” Entirely confused about the concept, I interrupt Thresh.

“Part of it.” He answers coolly. “You see, cops are tough, but sometimes they aren’t tough enough to handle such criminals. Take Brutus for instance. He’s led twelve gangs and over the course of hunting him down, the Capitol had lost numerous lives just by doing so. It was the president’s decision to let his agents have their hands on the case.”

After Thresh's explanation, I feel a bit enlightened about the whole agent thing. Somehow, I understand a part of them that the citizens are not quite aware of. I wonder what the other types of agents are there.

As if he had read my mind, Thresh continues.

“Then there’s the other type of agents. They are the ones assigned for tracking people down. Basically, while the others are on the road engaged in a high-speed chase of some sort, there are agents that stays on the base tracking the path of the targets.” Thresh says. “I belong to that category, Cato. So does your father.”

I feel myself relaxing on my chair, my back slouching a tad. Before it didn’t make sense to me how my father says he has a job but as a kid, I knew that if someone has work, he or she is always out of the house. But it intrigued me that my father was always home. He rarely leaves.

“Dad, do you have a job?” I asked randomly one time.

He stopped typing on his keyboard, lifting his eyeglasses before looking down at me. He lets out a small chuckle, as if it’s a laughing matter. “Of course I do, Cato. Why did you ask?” He answered me.

I shrugged as I felt myself being lifted by his strong arms and sat me down on his lap. “I’m just curious.” I plainly responded.

“About what?”

“Because I never saw you leaving the house. I mean, mom has a job and she always leaves early in the morning. Aren’t everyone who has work does that?” I explained.

“Cato, I think you’re still too young to understand this. Dad’s work requires him to stay home. That’s the simplest explanation I can give you.” Dad answered.

“What’s your job?” I questioned, still being curious as ever. I swear my parents’ friends nicknamed me Curious George, like the monkey.

“Like I said, Cato. You’re still too young to know.”

Now that I know what his job truly is, I kind of understand why my dad never told me about it, even though I convinced him that I can already understand whatever it is even at the age of five. He told me he’d tell me once I turn ten, but apparently, he never had the chance to. Twelve years later, I have to find out from a different person.

“But…if my father’s the tracking type, how…why did Brutus want him dead?” I ask Thresh. I only hope he knows the reason why, considering that he’s assigned on Brutus's case.

“The team lacked one agent and your father volunteered to be one. He abandoned – well, not completely abandoned, but…you get the point. He left his tracking team to join the others. He considered himself as lucky because the night he joined the other team was also the night they were going to ambush Brutus's headquarter. Your father arrested him and Brutus took his revenge by sending his men to kill him.” Thresh explains.

Now everything made sense. Those three men in that alley wasn’t just random drunk hobos looking for something fun to do that night. They were actually Brutus's men sent to hunt and put an end to my dad’s life. Well, I have to give them the credit. They did such terrific job of killing him…not to mention my mom as well. (Note the boatload of sarcasm included.)

“Cato, are you alright?”

I nod my head as I flash him a small tiresome smile. “I’m fine.”

“Look, Rue's going to be here in any minute now so…”

I laugh at Thresh. With the way his voice slightly shakes and how his hands are getting a bit fidgety and how he couldn’t sit still on the stool, I can tell he’s pretty petrified about the mini-reunion that’s going to happen any time soon from now. The bad experience he had with Rue the last time she was here is still fresh in his mind. It’s hard not to tell that Thresh secretly hopes she has forgotten about it and had moved on. Like the man himself said, Julia turns fourteen the following month so it’s almost two years since the incident with the boy.

To somehow calm him down, I decide to give him a piece of advice.

“Thresh, I may be an only child but…I’ve seen worse brother-sister fights before and it taught me one thing: never mess with your younger sister. Trust me, they tend to be manipulative and controlling.” I say to him.

“Well, you’re right about that. Rue's everything you just said.” Thresh agrees.

He and I let out an outburst of laughter, only to be interrupted with the sudden ringing of his doorbell. Both of our heads turn in the direction of the front door and we know exactly who’s behind it. Thresh's nightmare is about to happen.

“D-do you…do you want to open that for me, Cato?” Thresh asks me, lifting his laptop and prepares to head to the living room. “I’m going to pretend I’m too busy to open it myself.”

I pat him on the back the same time shaking my head, a massive grin plastered on my face. “Just this one time, Thresh. You do know you can’t avoid your little sister the whole month. She’s going to be here everyday whether you like it or not.”

“I know, I know. Just…open it. Don’t want to keep her waiting.” Thresh thinks about this for a moment. “Actually, take your time. Let her wait.”

“Douche.” I mumble to myself, but with the way Thresh chuckles I know he heard me.

I trudge towards the front door and take a peek through the tiny peephole. I gasp in surprise when I see a pair of deep brown eyes looking through it as well. The girl leans away and crosses her arms over her chest, eyes darting from the peephole to the doorknob. Realizing that Thresh and I already made her wait outside for a while, I twist the knob, open the door and in come Rue Okineyi, dressed in a size bigger band t-shirt, denim shorts and black combat boots. For a moment, she kind of reminds me of Clove: same boyish aura.

I close the door behind her and watch as she scans around the house with keen eyes. I take it that the house is not how it is today the last time she visited. As soon as the door click shut, she twists her body to face me, her head tilting sideways whilst her arms falling on her sides.

“Who are you?” She asks. “Are you Thresh's friend? I haven’t seen you around before.”

I lift my shoulders and hold it in a shrugging position, my lower lip sticking out. “I…I—”

“Rue! There you are.” Thresh suddenly comes out of nowhere (not literally, he came from the living room which approximately is ten feet away from the front door). He places a hand on the small of her back and leads her to the living room.

I catch sight of Thresh glancing over his shoulder, urging me to follow them. His shoulders are a bit tense and his whole body appears to be stiff. He is definitely nervous about the whole situation.

I sit down on one of the leather couches in the house – apparently, Thresh has a fondness for them – the same time the siblings do so. While engaged in their awkward conversation (Thresh being the most awkward), I study them carefully. They seem to me that they are the type of siblings that don’t appear to be — well, siblings. Thresh's features are nowhere near Rue's. He has black hair and brown eyes, as Rue adorns a naturally curly brown hair but same deep brown eyes. His nose is tall and evidently pointy, while Rue's is small and slightly pointed. But the bigger difference between the siblings is their height.

“So Rue…” Thresh starts. “I want you to meet my friend, Cato. He came from District 2 and he’s going to be living here now.”

“District 2?” Rue snorts. “How did you end up here?”

Thresh and I share a quick nervous glance. The reason I’m in District 2 is highly confidential. We haven’t really talked about the possibilities of someone asking such query that we don’t have a plan on how to answer it.

I’m about to open my mouth when Thresh takes control of the tensing situation. He wraps an arm around her awkwardly and leads them both to the kitchen.

“Do you want anything to eat? Drink?” He offers.

“I’d appreciate a pop.” Rue replies softly.

“Water it is.”

I remain sitting on my spot on the couch, carefully eyeing Rue up and down, studying her every move and how she acknowledges her brother. I don’t know if she’s acting that way just because of the incident that happened merely two years ago or that’s just how she is. I almost let out a chuckle as I realize that Rue is no less than a Clove. I swear they can be sisters. They tend to have the same airy presence that can intimidate anyone the second she steps foot in the room.

Suddenly, an idea pop into my head and I can’t help but allow a smirk to show.

“Why don’t you go up to your room and unpack?” Thresh instructs his soon-to-be-fourteen-year-old little sister.

With a small sigh and an eye roll, Rue stomps up the stairs to her room exhaustingly dragging her suitcase behind her.

Thresh and I watch until she’s completely out of our sight. I return my attention to my friend noticing him making his way to the living room, two water bottles in hand. He hands one to me as he slumps down on the couch.

“She’s a handful, huh?” Thresh acknowledges before sipping from his bottle.

I chuckle. “You’re looking at a thirteen-year-old Clove actually.” I answer.

“Huh.” He breathes. “I guess that’s just how girls are these days.”

“But actually, I think having Rue around will kind of help me along the way.” I blurt out, absently twisting the cap of the bottle, tightening it and then letting it loose.

“How so?”

“According to my observation, Rue acts exactly the same way as Clove. If I learn how to deal with Rue, then I’ll learn how to deal with Clove as well. Easy.”

Thresh continuously points his finger at me as he finishes his another round of drinking. As soon as he is done, he nods at me. “I like your thinking.”

“Thresh! Get your big ass up here! I need your help!” Suddenly, we hear Rue screaming at the top of her lungs, instructing her big brother to come up.

“Language, Rue!” He yells back.

“Whatever!”

Thresh looks at me and rolls his eyes, but even before he could get up from the couch, we end up laughing as rolling the eyes reminds us of Rue very much. We both know it will definitely be one of our inside jokes from now on, as if we silently agreed on it.

* * *

I feel my comforter being pulled off of my still body, as the sun streams through the window uninvitingly. I refuse to open my eyes so I pretend I’m still in my slumber. Whoever it is that tries to wake me, is not going to get his or her accomplishment any time soon.

“Come on Cato, or whatever your name is, get up!”

I groan and roll over to the other side of my bed. I smile to myself when I hear Rue letting out an annoyed sigh before walking to the side of the bed I’m currently facing and started poking me hard on my arm.

“Get. Up.” She instructs with every poke, each getting harder than the last one. It’s pretty painful to be honest, considering that she has unbelievably long nails and if she digs harder, blood will definitely ooze out.

I reluctantly sit up, groaning while sending Rue a glare. Nobody disturbs me from my sleep that is why I developed a strong hatred for my nightmares. “What time is it?” I ask her, suddenly forgetting where I placed my clock on the room.

“It’s five in the morning.”

“Rue, if we’re going to be spending a month in a house together, you should know by now that I don’t wake up for another four hours.” I mutter, allowing my body to fall back onto the soft mattress.

“No. You need to get up now.” She hisses, grabbing my arm and attempts to pull me up from the bed.

“Why do I have to anyway?”

“Because Thresh left early for work and I need someone to run with me.” She reasons.

“Thresh runs in the afternoon. Besides, I used to run alone every time. Why can’t you do it?” I ask.

“Becausseeeeee…” She holds out the last syllable longer than necessary. “I’m thirteen and I need some adult supervision?” She grins deviously at me.

I was right. I’ve been right all along. Sisters can be manipulative, especially if she’s younger.

“Please.” She begs, this time with a matching pout.

Well, it’s not like I have any options here anyway. “Fine.” I mumble, getting up from my bed.

Rue jumps in joy before heading out of my room. I follow her, taking my running shoes with me on the way out.

* * *

By the time Rue and I had reached the boundary of our residential area, I’m burning like toast. Even at such time of day, the sun is high up in the sky heating up the whole Capitol. Sweat drips off of my forehead and my body is so drench it looks like I bathed in my own perspiration. I’m also losing my well-controlled breathing so I slow down my pace transitioning my run into a light jog.

Rue appears to be nowhere near my condition. She continues running, oblivious to the fact that I’m getting a bit behind. It isn’t long before she notices though. She surcease and looks back at me, her hand shielding her eyes from the sun.

“Come on whatever your name is, keep up!”

“It’s Cato, Rue. How many times do I have to remind you? It’s Cato!”

She smirks. “I know. I just like messing with you.”

I glare at her as she claps her hand emboldening me to go on. I regain my steady breathing before I take off running once again. The good thing is, we’re getting closer to the park and Rue promised that’s going to be our finish line. I only hope she’s not messing with me when she said that.

* * *

I drop to my knees once I set foot on the sidewalk outlining the periphery of the park. Rue falls down on the grass in front of me, panting. The whole six miles we ran wore us out (mostly me obviously). She glances and smiles at me, but it soon grows into laughter. I couldn’t help but smile as well.

“What’s funny?” I ask.

Rue shakes her head. “You being dragged by a thirteen-year-old to run six miles are pretty funny to me. It’s entertaining to watch.” She mocks.

I roll my eyes at her. “Whatever.” I mutter.

“I’m gonna go find a water fountain to fill up our bottles.” Rue informs, getting up to her feet and motions for me to hand her my bottle. I soon hand her mine. “Go find a good spot. I’ll be back in a minute.”

“Nah. I think I’m good. It’s pretty shady, gives me a break from the scorching sun.” I reply.

“Well then, suit yourself.” With that, Rue jogs away.

When I made sure that no one plans to kidnap Rue or something (paranoia alert), I rest my back against the base of the tree that’s keeping me shaded. As I think about the previous events, it hits me that Rue isn’t really that bad. It just so happens that with the way Thresh treated her two years ago and how he managed to embarrass her in front of the guy she likes, a part of her grew up that day, so to say. Like, she learnt how to be independent in a way that Thresh can’t seem to understand. She wanted to show him that she’s a big girl and that she can fend for herself if ever the guy breaks her heart. That’s what Thresh misunderstood about the whole situation. He might have thought that Rue is still the five-year-old sister he remembers that he completely forgot that she’s already twelve when the incident happened.

I just hope the same thing goes with Clove. I wish that someday, she can look through the past and see the present and the bright future laid out already in front of her. I hope that she’ll realize how many great friends she has that can help her with whatever it is that made her that cold toward guys. To me, it feels like she only sees the bad side of everybody and fails miserably to see the good stuff in them. That’s the main thing that irks me about Clove. Part of me just wants to change her…completely. It’s for the benefit of every human being.

Better believe it when they say: when you speak of the devil, the devil itself comes.

“Tell me, Clove. Is there a magical tornado that sucks you in and then drops you off to wherever place I’m at? Because it seems to me that wherever I go, you’re always there.” Clove says, her hands on her hips.

“Hello to you too, Clove.” I reply, my voice dripping with pure sarcasm.

“Seriously, what are you doing here? Did you just wake up this morning deciding you want to go to the park and continue your slumber under a tree?” She fires back another one of her ‘clever’ insults. I’m pretty sure that’s what she calls it inside her head.

“No. I decided I wanted to find you and burn your precious little head—”

“Clove! I can’t find any water fountains!” Rue suddenly comes running back to me, the water bottles empty.

“It’s alright, Rue. We’ll just stop by a store on our way home.” I reply. I try to completely ignore Clove's presence up to the point where I actually forget she’s there. But she makes it so impossible.

“I didn’t know you have a little sister.” Clove utters.

“Why would you know if you don’t even bother asking on the first place?” I retort back, nudging Rue to play along. Hopefully, she’ll get the message.

“Burn.” I hear Rue muttering under her breath.

“Well…it’s not like I care anyway.” She answers me. “I’ll see you in school.”

Once Clove is out of earshot, Rue turns to me. Her arms are crossed, an eyebrow rising in which I can already foretell is meant in a teasing manner. Before she can even open her mouth to speak, I hold my pointer finger up to shush her.

“Don’t even think about it.” I warn her.

But she goes on anyway. “Clove and Cato sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G…”

“Very mature, Rue. Very mature.” I comment as she continuously sings.

I start walking away to signal Julia that I want to head home now. She follows but she goes on with her insults though.

“Is she your girlfriend, Cato?”

“No, she’s not.”

“Why? She’s pretty.”

“She’s not my type. She's too hardheaded for my liking.”

“You know what they say…when someone teases you, it means he or she likes you.”

“That doesn’t apply to me, Rue.”

“It should.”

I don’t answer after that. Before we are officially out of the area of the park, I look back and I see Clove running by the spot we were in a while ago. When I glance back at Rue, her smile reaches her ears.

“You like her, do you?” She questions me.

“I told you, she’s not my type.” I respond. “I will never like her. Ever.”   

“Won’t say I told you when it happens.”

I stop dead in my tracks and watch as Rue advances, once again completely unaware that I’m not following behind her. She may have a point, but she may also not. Never have I ever thought I’ll be saying this, but…this is the one time I wish Rue were entirely messing with me.