A Present For My Brother
"Gavroche, you can come home tonight, you know?"
I could go for weeks without seeing my brother. In this year alone, I'd only caught sight of him about five times: once in the spring, twice during the revolution that put in King Louis-Philippe, another time during my sister's birthday, and the last just now.
Each time, it took him longer to recognize me. I wonder if he still remembers me as pretty. I reached out to touch his hand as we stood in the street, and I found his fingers as cold as ice. I knew my hands were just as bad; they were chilled, and red. Our breath was white, and the sky above us was gray. It would not be a good night. "You don't have to stay out here. Maman will have food---"
"But not for me," he interrupted. His eyes were wide, and he was almost laughing as he looked at me. "I'll be fine."
"Out here on the streets, at Christmas?" I asked. It just didn't seem fair that of all the family, only he had no home to go to. "Well, don't stay with us, if you like. You can go with Eponine and Montparnasse."
He scratched his head. "I'm not sure if that's quite proper. Parnasse doesn't want me around all the time, especially if he's with Ponine."
"Then what will you do, Gavroche?" I asked.
He wiped his face. "I'll make sure you get back home, if that's all right with you?"
We walked together down the boulevard, talking of many things; the home he never remembered in Montfermeil, his friends, my friends, and the people we met. Gavroche spoke of the students he'd seen during the revolution, and how he'd ended up firing a musket. For once, I felt scared; he was no longer the cocky boy of the streets. He was not what I thought; standing right before me again was my little brother, who needed to be protected like Ponine and me. Ponine had Parnasse, I had my parents, but what did he have?
We stopped at the crossroads; one road led to the Latin Quartier, the other to below the bridge. I took off my mittens and pulled them over Gavroche's hands. "Joyeux Noel, mon frere," I whispered.
"And you too, ma soeur," he said as he rolled up his trousers and ran off.
Strangely, as I watched him go, I no longer felt cold.