Children Shouldn't Live Like This – Chapter 9
Waving cordially to Enjolras and Courfeyrac, and getting the usual cheerful wave from the latter and grunt of recognition from the former, Eponine walked towards the bedroom door. Rapping her knuckles gently on it, Eponine then opened the door, only to be greeted by the sight of her brother on the bed dressed in a clean shirt and underpants, struggling to pull his pants up his ankles with only one working hand. A dirty pile of linen lay next to the bed. When Gavroche saw his sister at the door, he shrieked, embarrassed.
"Eponine! I'm changing!"
"Please, Gavroche." Eponine rolled her eyes as she entered the room and shut the door. "I've seen you naked before. I even helped to change your diapers when you were just a baby!"
"And I'm sure that we agreed to never bring that up again." Gavroche growled at his sister through gritted teeth as he continued to struggle against the pair of pants that absolutely refused to get past his ankles. Shaking her head, Eponine walked over to the bed and, within seconds, got the pants onto Gavroche with minimal difficulty. Mortified and blushing heavily, Gavroche looked away from his sister and mumbled under his breath.
"I hate not being able to move my arm."
Grinning at her brother's embarrassment, Eponine affectionately stroked Gavroche's hair.
"You'll be able to move it in a few days, won't you? Joly told me that your arm and leg are almost healed. After all, it's been almost a month since you've started living here."
"That day can't come soon enough."
"I'm just glad you're okay, Gavroche." Catching sight of a small stack of paper on the table, Eponine reached out and picked it up. "Hey, what's this?"
"Huh? Oh, I've been practicing my writing. I think I'm getting better!"
"I think so too…though you might want to work on your penmanship a little…" Eponine frowned as she tried to make out some of the crooked letters. "Like this…what's this word? Oh wait, never mind…'à bientôt'. I get it."
"I guess I need more practice." Gavroche admitted sheepishly. "Monsieur Marius has been a great help though. Speaking of him…" Eponine rolled her eyes as a familiar cheeky grin popped up on Gavroche's face. "He's a great guy. I officially approve of you dating him."
"Thank you, Gavroche, but I want to remind you again that I don't need your approval to date him, and neither is he interested in me in the first place." A slight pang of sadness arose in Eponine's chest, but she pushed it away for the time being. "This approval thing works the other way, though, since I'm your older sister. One day when you get a girlfriend, I'll be giving her the talk."
Gavroche then contorted his face into one of disgust.
"Why would I ever want a girlfriend? Girls are…gross! They've all got coot-ow!"
He then winced as Eponine cuffed him on the side of his head. Pouting and rubbing his forehead, which was by now already clear of bandages, he then grumbled under his breath.
"Especially if all girls are as violent as you, I wouldn't want to have a girlfriend…"
With ears as sharp as a bat's, Eponine picked up his words and raised her hand threateningly yet again, this time grabbing onto her brother's left ear, smirking as he visibly flinched.
"What was that?"
Nervously, Gavroche stammered out an answer.
"Nothing! Nothing at all…girls are great! You're great! Please don't hurt me!"
Satisfied with her little brother's answer and glad that she was taking advantage of the opportunity to teach him some manners, Eponine let go of Gavroche's ear and set his papers back down onto the table. Reminding herself that she had to bring up a particularly sensitive topic, Eponine then sat down comfortably onto the bed and stared at her little brother, who frowned in response.
"What, Eponine? You're freaking me out."
"Gavroche, I know you'll be better soon. In about a week you'll be perfectly healthy, so I need to ask…what are your plans?"
Gavroche had already expecting that this question would come up at some point, either from Eponine or one of the students. However, he didn't have a clear, direct answer to give.
"Well…I'm not completely sure yet, but…"
Feeling slightly guilty for dropping this piece of news on Eponine, Gavroche looked down at the bed before continuing.
"…I really don't want to go back home."
Eponine had already anticipated Gavroche's response, and understood his reasons. He had just spent the past one month under the care of people who were genuinely concerned about him. He had spent the month away from his abusive parents who mistreated him to no end in their house, especially their father, who had bedridden him in the first place. He had spent the month learning about French history, and how to read and write, a valuable education that he had not received before as a result of never being sent to school, thanks to their parent's opinion that sending their son to a school was a "waste of money".
He had found more happiness within this little guesthouse than at their pathetic excuse of a home, where he had previously had to tread quietly and carefully for fear of being called out for some mistake and being unfairly punished.
Why would he want to go back?
At the same time, Eponine could feel her heart fall. For the past month she had held onto the tiny ray of hope that Gavroche would somehow return to her side permanently. Although she still had Azelma, Gavroche brought energy to their dull family life that Eponine dearly missed despite visiting him nearly every day since a month ago. Engrossed in her own thoughts, Eponine rose from the bed and walked to the window, staring out of it, not noticing the worried expression on Gavroche's face.
She would miss him.
Fiercely reminding herself not to be selfish, and that Gavroche's wellbeing was the most important thing, Eponine swallowed and turned around, a smile plastered on her face.
"That's fine. I already expected that you'd say that."
"Eponine…"
"Really, Gavroche, I'm fine." Walking back to her little brother and sitting next to him, Eponine stroked his cheek with a finger as he stared back guiltily at her. Deciding that expression looked very out-of-place on her usually cheery brother, Eponine forced on a grin and pushed Gavroche's shoulder lightly in a joking manner.
"Serious, Gavroche! It's okay, if I were you I wouldn't want to live with maman and papa again. Especially after what papa did to you…I haven't forgiven him for that, either."
"But what about you, Eponine! And Azelma!" Gavroche, conscience-stricken, questioned imploringly. "I'm being very selfish…are you two really okay with this? If you aren't…I'll beg papa to take me back! Honest I will!"
Smiling at the concern that her brother, at a tender age of eight, was sparing for his siblings, Eponine bent over and pecked Gavroche lovingly on his cheek.
"There's no way I would take you away from the guys, Gavroche. I know you're very happy here."
Expecting to see an appreciative smile on Gavroche's face, Eponine was then surprised at the sight of a crestfallen expression instead. Brushing her brother's hair out of his eyes, Eponine enquired worriedly.
"What's wrong, Gavroche?"
"I…I love hanging out with Courfeyrac, Marius and the others, but..." Gavroche picked at a piece of lint on the bed. "They've done so much for me already, and I haven't been able to give anything back to them in return."
"Gavroche, you know the guys don't care about payment. They're just glad to see you healthy and happy."
"I know, Eponine, but…" Gavroche gritted his teeth as he tried to find the appropriate words for expressing his thoughts. "I don't think its fair that I live under their charity. Even if they don't mind, it's expensive. I know that this guesthouse alone cost them a lot, especially considering how they rented it for one whole month just for me."
"What are you saying, Gavroche?"
"I'm saying that…"
Staring into Eponine's eyes and praying that she would understand, Gavroche quickly blurted out what he thought.
"I don't think I should stay here anymore."
Eponine's face fell.
"What?"
"Eponine, please understand."
"Then where would you live, Gavroche?"
Already knowing how his sister would react to his answer, Gavroche simply braced himself for the chastising of a lifetime.
"I was thinking I could just…live on the streets."
As Eponine's face darkened rapidly, Gavroche held his breath and waited for his sister to explode in anger.
"It's rude to eavesdrop, you know."
"Shh!"
Shrugging his shoulders, Enjolras refocused his attention back onto the papers in front of him, trying his best to ignore Courfeyrac, who had positioned himself outside Gavroche's bedroom and was now trying to listen in into the conversation held between the two siblings through the door. Finishing the final sentence to his dissertation, Enjolras breathed a sigh of relief and pushed the stack of papers to the side, leaning back against his chair and relaxing for the first time in days. Spotting Courfeyrac with his ear still against the door, Enjolras frowned.
"Why exactly are you listening in into their conversation?"
Removing himself from the door for a moment, Courfeyrac stared back at Enjolras with an expression that stated that his reason couldn't be more obvious.
"I'm trying to find out what Gavroche is planning to do after Joly finishes his treatment."
"And what have they said so far?"
"They're talking about the French lessons and Marius. Why are you suddenly so interested?"
Enjolras impatiently waved his hand at Courfeyrac as he frowned disapprovingly in his friend's direction.
"Stop being rude and get over here. They're having a private conversation, and it's contents should remain between them. Good grief, Courfeyrac."
Accepting Enjolras' opinion, Courfeyrac sighed as he walked away from the door, still worried about Gavroche's plans. The students were all aware of the fact that Gavroche would be making a decision that would impact them all in about a week's time. Having grown very close to the peppy and effervescent child, Courfeyrac was relatively convinced that Gavroche would want to remain with them.
As though reading Courfeyrac's mind, Enjolras sighed as he stood from his seat.
"I know what you're thinking, Courfeyrac, and trust me. It's not going to happen."
Confused, Courfeyrac was taken aback by Enjolras' offhand comment.
"What?"
Stepping to the little kettle and pouring himself a cup of water, Enjolras raised the cup to his lips and took a sip before responding to Courfeyrac's confusion.
"Gavroche will not want to remain with us, as happy as he is now."
Spluttering a little in disbelief, Courfeyrac sat down at the table, not convinced by Enjolras' prediction.
"I don't get it, Enjolras. Why do you think that?"
"Come on, Courfeyrac. You've been keeping him company for the past weeks and you haven't noticed anything? Gavroche is cheerful around everybody, but his expression every time one of us enters his room tells us that he's feeling guilty about how we're letting him stay here and receive care for free. He's part of the Thenardier family, and he has obviously not been offered much since he was very young. It's not surprising that he would be relatively independent even as a child, and would not be comfortable with receiving charity."
"But this isn't charity! We're doing this for him as…friends!"
"I know that, Courfeyrac, but Gavroche definitely doesn't think so." Sipping from the cup yet again, Enjolras sat back down onto his seat. "He still addresses us all with formalities despite our insistence that he does not. If you ask me, he enjoys our company, but is uncomfortable with the fact that he's not able to give us anything in return. Seriously, Courfeyrac." Enjolras glared disapprovingly at his fellow student. "Basic deduction skills and body language reading have been covered in our lectures before. Don't you ever listen?"
Courfeyrac responded to Enjolras' remark with an indignant air.
"Sure I do."
"Yet you still have so much trouble with your dissertation, mon ami."
Ignoring Enjolras' smart and undeniably accurate comeback, Courfeyrac sank deeper into his seat and stared at the ceiling.
"So what do you think he's going to do?"
"Honestly?" Enjolras placed the cup back onto the table. "I can predict two possibilities. One, he goes back to the Thenardier household-"
"He can't do that! That's a terrible decision!"
"We don't know if he's actually going to choose that, and could you please not interrupt me while I'm speaking?"
Courfeyrac took in the flash of anger in his short-tempered friend and gulped.
"Sorry about that."
"Two…he lives by himself. On the streets."
A moment of silence, before Courfeyrac spoke.
"That's ridiculous. How terrifying would that be! The streets aren't safe for a child! Paris is dangerous, especially at night! That might actually be worse than going back to his parents' house!"
"He might still decide to go with that, depending on how he feels towards his parents now. We don't actually know yet."
Burying his head in his hands, Courfeyrac exhaled heavily in frustration as he pondered all the implications.
"To have to choose between two evils…children shouldn't live like this, Enjolras."
Raising the cup to his lips yet again, Enjolras' sipped from it contemplatively as he considered his plans for the future, the idea of change already being formulated in his head.
"Yes, Courfeyrac…they shouldn't."
Author's Note – This chapter was necessary for making a transition between Gavroche in the guesthouse and Gavroche where we're used to seeing him, the streets. I'm still deciding between ideas on how to carry out the transition smoothly.
By the way, thank you to everybody for your consistent reviews, especially on the last chapter. I'm glad nearly everybody liked the song idea, and let me assure you that that was not the last time the song would pop up in my little story. I've got a pretty clever idea and I plan to inject it into the plot at some point.
Reviews appreciated, and thank you all.
