"You should've stayed with her" Madame Thérnadier said, glaring at her husband "I don't care how many cognes were there."
"We were surrounded, at least half a dozen, with dogs and all!" Monsieur exclaimed, he was seated at the table in front of his wife. "She'll be fine."
"She's just a girl, she's alone and it's late. Please tell me you at least got something good"
"Yeah"
"Enough to pay?"
"Well it depends on how much they'll offer for this" He replied, pointing at the sack on top of the table "And whether the girl comes back with the other bag."
"Best case?"
"Best case, considering I can sell everything, plus what we had saved…Yeah it's almost enough."
"Almost?"
"I've been thinkin', you were right about something."
"Just something?"
"I can't keep working like this. Out with two brats, no, it's not enough. What I need is something better"
"What do you have in mind?"
"I need what that Jacques has!"
"A brain?"
"A gang" Monsieur glared at her. "Skilled people, people who know what they're doing. I need a gang, preferably my own, and a reputation."
"Well that sounds like the smartest thing you've said in a while. But how do you plan to get it?"
"I've got an idea, I'll talk to Jacques tomorrow."
"And get the rest of your teeth knocked down?"
"No, woman, this time it'll work out, you'll see."
"We'll see" She then took the bag on the table and began looking at its interior "meanwhile let's take a look at what you brought."
"Oh fancy cutlery, look at this lovely spoon" Madame said, looking at her own reflection on the curved metal "I feel like a duchess. We should keep one or two."
"Gotta sell it all."
"We need some, or we'll have to eat with our hands."
"My dear, we barely even have anything to eat." He said, snatching the spoon from her hand
Before she could take out the next item, the door opened, and in came her eldest door, panting heavily. Éponine closed the door behind her, placing her back against the wood as she breathed loudly.
"Told you she'd be fine" Monsieur Thérnadier said, standing up and walking towards his daughter.
"Oh thank God!" He exclaimed once he noticed she carried the bag with her. He took it as he ruffled Éponine's hair.
He smiled and walked towards the table to pick the other bag before going into his bedroom. Upon hearing the noise, the two younger kids ran out of their room and embraced their sister who was still trying to catch her breath.
"Leave her alone, go to bed" Madame Thérnadier said, though she was talking to both kids, she only picked Gavroche by the shirt to push him aside. That boy was getting on her nerves, as he grew he was eating more and soon she would just have to kick him out.
Azelma and Gavroche obeyed, and walked towards their room, while madame guided her eldest daughter to a chair in front of the table.
"You look pale and you're freezing, I'll serve you some soup" Madame said, walking towards the stove. She poured the few spoonfuls of soup that were left. It wasn't really soup, she knew, it was just water with some salt and a few lonely peas floating on top. But it was something.
"What happened to you anyway?" Madame asked, placing the bowl in front of her daughter along with a wooden spoon which was slightly chipped on the edges. She sat on the other chair.
"Got lost" Éponine said, without thinking twice before grabbing the spoon. As she began eating the soup, she used the other hand to rub her neck brusquely.
Madame Thérnadier looked at her daughter silently, suddenly noticing that the mark on her daughter's neck could only have been left by a fierce kiss.
"Got lost didn't you, little devil?" Madame smiled from ear to ear.
"What?" Éponine asked between sips.
"You better tell your admirer to be more discrete next time." Madame replied pointing at her own neck.
"Admirer? It was nothing like that."
"I was young once too, y'know?"
"It was nothing like that." This time her daughter gave her such a grim stare that madame understood right away.
"What else did he do to you?" Madame asked, her smile quickly replaced by a frown.
"Nothing, I hit him and ran away before he could...before…"
Madame Thérnadier leaned back on her chair pensively. She took a deep breath and leaned forward.
"Look, Éponine, you see the world out there? That world hates your guts, you know why? Because of you what you've got between your legs, or rather because what you haven't got. Everyone thinks they can step right on top of us and they do. Men, they take what they want, they take your dignity, they take your youth, they take your pride, they take your clothes, they take you. But there's something they can't take unless you let them: your strength. We keep moving, chin up, walk right ahead, no matter what they take from us. And with time, you might learn that the thing between our legs, that weakness, can be a weapon if you know how to use it."
"Well, I wouldn't know about that."
"Kid, I'd love to teach you everything I know. I wish I could just teach you everything there is to know tonight, so tomorrow, when you go out, I know you'll get by. But these things can't be taught, no, the only way to learn is living, getting hurt and moving on. That's the truth."
"So that's it? Just suffer?"
"Suffer and learn. Now wash that and go get some sleep."
Suffer and learn, madame thought, walking towards her own bedroom where her husband was already sleeping. Éponine had been lucky that night, she thought, lying down, she still remembered the first time it had happened to her. Madame pushed the memory away, and instead she thought of the times she had spent smiling at the richest men in the inn, and how they would follow her like moths to a flame, she just had to make a little movement with her finger and smile, maybe a little wink, a little nod, play with a lock of hair, and they would follow clumsily, do as she said, drank whatever she gave them. Usually when they woke up, she was next to them, so they would smile again thinking they had spent the night in good company, not even noticing their money was missing till they had left. Suffer and learn, madame thought, before closing her eyes, suffer and learn.
Gavroche woke up before the first bird began chirping. He stretched in his improvised bed and put his shoes on. He looked at his sisters sleeping at the other corners, he smiled and tiptoed out of the room. He would spend some time with them later, but today he had something important to do. As he walked towards the door, he heard his mother's snores, Gavroche kept walking. BHe left the room and closed the door carefully.
Outside, underneath the purple sky, Gavroche thought he had some time. He walked around the streets clenching and unclenching his fists. He then rolled the sleeves of his dirty shirt and flexed his right arm, noticing how skinny it was. He soon passed the tunnel where people sat with their children and their babies on their laps, to stare at the hats or cups where only three or four coins would gather by the end of the day. They were not there yet, but some of the rugs and rags on which they sat were, waiting.
Gavroche looked at the sky, the sun wasn't out yet, but its faint glow was already bathing the streets. He figured he had enough time to walk towards that park with the fountain. It was so early there were only a few officers strolling around. The seven year old smiled and ran towards the fountain. He left his shoes at the edge and didn't think twice before entering the cold water. He kneeled and splashed the water around. He gathered water with his hands and splashed it over his face and hair until his locks were dripping. When he heard steps coming he jumped out and put on his shoes, he shivered as the wind blew against his wet clothes which covered his protruding ribs.
His clothes were dry by the time he saw them crossing one of the streets. The seven year old looked up and noticed the sun was out, but luckily there was little people in the streets yet, just them. Gavroche followed, feeling his heart beating in his ears, like war drums. There were some four other kids with Poinçon, which was not ideal, but it could be worse. Gavroche clenched his teeth and stepped forward, but soon he stepped back and hid behind a wall, panting. Maybe he could try to talk to them again. Gavroche shook his head, no, no, it was time. He inhaled deeply and exhaled as he ran out towards the kid and launched himself at Poinçon.
Gavroche felt his fists moving franticly, but he wasn't sure if he was actually hitting the older boy. He was on top of him, punching and punching barely hearing what the other boys were saying. Poinçon's had been fighting back, but Gavroche hadn't realized his nose was bleeding until one of the other boys picked him and pushed him aside.
"No!" Poinçon ordered, panting as he got up "I don't need anyone's help."
The other boy released Gavroche but before the blond boy could attack, Poinçon charged at him pinning him to the ground. Gavroche kicked him and aimed a punch at his throat. The fight continued, the two boys rolled on the ground as the rest watched and cheered them on. Gavroche felt his knuckles burning, but he was too focused on the punching to even feel pain. With a strong push, Poinçon sent him to the ground and sat on his chest. The older boy punched him twice before Gavroche could free a hand to scratch his face. He couldn't move much underneath the boy's weight, he was finished. The seven year old stared at his enemy, waiting for the final punch.
But Poinçon only stayed there panting. He was bleeding too, and he had a few bruises on the cheeks. Suddenly Poinçon stood up. He spat blood on the ground and touched one of his teeth with his finger, before looking down at Gavroche.
"Well, it seems like" Poinçon said, pausing to breathe as he wiped his face with his arm "this cul-terreux has some guts. Fights like a girl, but he has guts, I'll admit that."
And then the older boy offered Gavroche his hand. Just like that. The blond boy stared at the dirty hand and hesitated before grabbing it. As Poinçon helped him up, Gavroche felt the world spin around him, but contained his urge to throw up.
"You're a crazy bastard, I'll tell you that" Poinçon smiled, patting Gavroche's back, sending a pang which the blond boy concealed. Gavroche wanted to reply something, but now the pain was kicking in, his head was throbbing, his right elbow was killing him, his nose was burning and there was blood in his mouth.
"What's your name cul-terreux?"
"Gavroche" He replied with a smile, which exposed his reddened teeth, causing the other kids to laugh.
"C'mon, Gavroche" Poinçon said, walking forward. "We should get going."
The seven year old boy didn't ask where they were going, and just followed, while the other boys talked about the fight, occasionally complimenting some of Gavroche's moves. The blond boy was limping, but he didn't complain, not even as one of the other boys placed an arm around his shoulders and another ruffled his hair. Even though each step was killing him, Gavroche smiled, still trying to wrap his head around the fact that there was a "we" now.
"That's what she said?" Marie asked walking besides Éponine, who nodded, as Azelma listened closely.
"I suppose you probably know how to use it as a weapon." Éponine said, looking at her friend for a moment. Marie still had some makeup from last night, her eyes looked bigger surrounded by her blackened eyelashes and there were traces of blush on her cheeks. She was wearing a purple dress that was exceptionally clean, but looked too big for her.
"I wouldn't say 'weapon', for me it's more like a tool. You know, like the farmer's plow or the blacksmith's hammer."
"Those are some odd examples."
"I know girls who know more though. I guess they can use it as a weapon. But, what I do know about is men… I think. I've met a lot of men, and I don't think they're all bad. Most of them around here are, but not all. There are some men who smile and when they ask 'how are you today?', they really want to know and they offer you a handkerchief when you cry expecting nothing in return but a 'thank you'. There are all sorts of men, but you know what the problem is?"
"What?"
"I think men and women think differently, really, I swear on my late grandmother's gold tooth. Like, we see the world in completely different ways. So the best way to deal with men is to try to see the world like they do."
"I'm not following."
"Well there are" Marie looked briefly at Azelma before continuing, "certain things that seem important to us, but when you look at them like men do, they don't seem that important. Sometimes a gesture that means nothing to them means a lot to us, or the other way around. So it's good to learn the difference."
"I guess, but you have to admit, it's easier for men to hurt us, than for us to hurt them."
"Well everyone knows that, but if I were you I wouldn't listen to everything your mother said."
Azelma looked at Marie slightly surprised.
"Hey, that means you have to listen to some of what your mother says, alright?" Marie smiled at Azelma, who nodded. "Not all the time, at least. But listen, there is more than suffering. There's also having fun once in a while, you hear that, mademoiselle Éponine? And I would like to stay and teach you all about having fun, but I have to give this dress back to a friend."
"Alright, we'll see you around later" Éponine smiled.
"Alright, oh and I think there's one thing your mother got right."
"Which one?"
"The world does hate our guts, but it's because we have no cock and no money."
"You've gotta have one or the other then?"
"Preferably both, but, yeah, at least one. That's how it works."
"So that's why we get married" Éponine smiled
"See, you're starting to learn!" Marie smiled back before walking away. "See you later, girls, stay out of trouble."
If Éponine had known then that that would be the last time she saw her friend, she would have begged Marie to stay for a while longer. Some days afterwards she disappeared, like so many girls did in those streets. She was too smart to let herself be killed, Éponine would tell Azelma, she probably ran away with a handsome young man and she's living in a far a away manor, happily, for sure. And Éponine repeated it until she made herself believe it. One never outgrows fairytales, in the end, we just create new ones.