Eponine

CHAPTER 5: The rain of Paris

Eponine shuts the windows of their home with the rain spilling violently as ever. Now a young girl of thirteen, Eponine must have blossomed into a beautiful young lady like most girls her age, but fate had been unkind to her.

Eponine's once flawless skin is now covered with bruises, small cuts and lacerations. Her once bright red-brown curls are now reduced to dark tangles. Her hazel eyes that once flickered with delight are now dulled with emptiness. Whatever body fat she had before had vanished. The once called Eponine Thenardier, the doll of Montfermeil, is now just simply referred as the Jondrette girl, the gamin of Paris' slums.

What happened?

Months after little Gavroche was born, the inn was bankrupt. Their patrons either died or went away; the corrupt economy of the country is now starting to show its effects. Although the shifting events of the country were made known a couple of years ago, the Thenardiers weren't wise enough to save for the rainy day. The inn keeper and his wife now blame society of their cruel fate; they are mostly stripped off the luxuries they once knew.

Like most people in France's country side, the Thenardier's moved out and tried to set foot on Paris, the country's capital, hoping that they could make a fortune. They had moved in with a few minorities of other people. M. Thenardier assumed a different name for the family: Jondrette.

Change had been so fast that Eponine, who used to be well fed and clothed, now knew starvation and pain. She had given up so much: her toys, her dresses and most of all: Nina.

"We need more money to make it to good ol' Parie..." the head of the house stated. His dark steely eyes, searching among his family members, he thought, something must be sold.

Eponine clutched her grip on Nina tighter; she wasn't willing to give up her only treasure so fast. She hopes that her father would not point out what the girl was hiding.

"All of our possessions exhausted, there is nothing else to give!" Mme. Thenardier exclaimed.

"Ahh... but I could still see a little ray of light," M. Thenardier smiled. One look on Eponine and the girl has received his message. The little girl of nine looked horrifically at her father. Could she give up Nina?

"No!" she screamed "I won't let you!"

"Cooperate young miss, y'know what's gonna happen" M. Thenardier suddenly took on grab the little girl's most treasured possession.

Eponine held tightly on it, but began to lose her grip when her father kicked her at the stomach. Eponine began to cry violently in protest, though this wasn't the first time M. Thenardier hurt his daughter, ever since things went downhill, he could not put a blame on anyone, that was when he started to abuse his daughter he once pampered.

Eponine tried to fight back once before. There was a time M. Thenardier beat her hard, she got hold of his arm and bit as hard as she could that it bled. M. Thenardier, pissed off by his daughter's reaction, locked her up in a room till she starved.

All the hurts Eponine received, she tried to fight back, but whenever she did, she ended up hurting more than ever. Those nights isolated in a dark room, that growl she heard from her stomach, the bruises that started mapping her skin, the tears she cried in vain, the little girl has lost her innocence at last.

Once, she pleaded her mother to stop her father from beating her at regular basis. Mme. Thenardier, though she hated it when her husband would abuse her little Eponine, she never made her stand and feared the patriarch. When Eponine begged for her to reason out to the monsieur, she gave her daughter a cold shoulder, she tells her that she wasn't cooperative enough, she wasn't good enough, and she deserved it.

Now, four years later, living in the Gorbeau house, the Jondrettes lived a dysfunctional life for the wealthy and a normallife for the poor. The rain is pouring hard, cleansing the street of its impurities yet the water collected under its sewers, much like the dirt that still smeared on girl's face. "No money on the street today, hope father doesn't come what may, hope that father drowns in the river Seine," Eponine mused softly in her head.

"You'd be sorry if he'd hear ya'," a little voice squeaked in a little corner of the room, little Gavroche is turning five and is with a rich vocabulary, most of he knows is argot, the language of the streets. "But yer voice miss, is very beautiful."

Eponine raised an eyebrow. Ever since that woman named Fantine sang to her daughter, she took a liking for music. She decided that anyone could take anything away from her except her voice. Gavroche would always express his love for her voice; sometimes they would sing a duet to pass time.

"Silly 'vroche... My voice is no where stellar." Eponine smiled at her brother.

"Sure is miss... Your voice lulls me to sleep since I was this small," then he made a gap between his hands to demonstrate how small he was before. "You're an angel Eponine!"

"You, small sir, are dreamin',"

"Am not!"

Eponine laughed. For her, little Gavroche was her comfort. He made her smile, a genuine smile; she believed that he was a gift from heaven. Without him, could she ever adapt to changes so fast? Those times when she felt alone and unloved, a little hand that touches hers, then she'll see his face full of innocence. He loves to play, he always does. Caught in the teasing, the two siblings started chasing each other around the small cramped room until both of them lay exhausted on a thin mattress. Eponine slept in an instant. Gavroche soon followed her as he made himself comfortable by his sister's side.

XXX

Within months of moving into old Paris, the Thenardiers, starving and unemployed committed their life to a life of crime. M. Thenardier gathered around a small group of thieves and misfits. They named the group The Patron-Minette.

Eponine, being of age and wit, was being used by her father for benefit. Their business is stealing but stealing includes a lot of practices. Some steal by the night, with unknown faces of soot. Some steal by midday in the crowded streets unrecognized. However, in the acts of stealing, the most challenging of all is the work of a con.

For the monsieur, the beauty and talent of his own daughter did not go unrecognized; Eponine is soon exploited to fulfill his needs.

"Steal from a rich man in broad daylight, with your face exposed and your manner is false, rob him of anything he has, wealth is precious than a soul burning in hell." he told his daughter. "Why do we have to suffer, if we would all be damned in hell?"

At first, Eponine resisted, she did not want her father's insane ideas to get in the way of her living, but when her father threatened to employ Gavroche into his business, she started to give way.

"Gavroche, listen to me, never follow whatever father tells you to do, that's my job, do you understand?" Eponine told her brother another night, cuddled together under thin blankets, the rain is pouring heavily outside again, Gavroche shivers and his sister pulls him closer for warmth.

"I'm here 'vroche, an' always will be," Eponine whispers and kisses her brother goodnight. She then hums the rest of the night away until she sleeps, the world is slipping away and she'll be in a place she knows she is safe.