Coming Clean 1

On a street in New York City, just by Central Park a girl about the age of twenty was slipping a packet of heroin into her pocket. She had just finished her exchange with her dealer and now was on her way, she briefly fumbled with a lighter to light the cigarette in her mouth and rapidly she crossed the street in a proper New York fashion of not watching where she was going. She had no destination on her mind at the time she just let her feet be her guide until she found herself in the Greenwish Village area near New York University. And who would be leaving the university but two young students who had completed their studies for the day and were out to meet their friends.

"So I did the assignment for Blondeau and spent half the night in the library," the one on the right with messy dark locks commented with a cheeky smile.

"Courfeyrac, that wouldn't have been the case had you actually started the assignment on time," His blonde friend sighed.

"Whatever, I got it done," the one called Courfeyrac sighed and turned away to see another fellow student, "hey Marius! Put down your books and come out with us tonight!"


"I have to work," Marius sighed.

"You and your three jobs!" Courfeyrac scoffed.

"Well you aren't the one that has to put yourself through College and Law school," Marius complained, "I can't even get one lousy scholarship!"

"You can blame your dear old grandpa for that," Courfeyrac smiled, "but maybe you've worked your ass off long enough to get something merit based!"

Marius just rolled his eyes and turned to walk away when he spotted his neighbor, "Éponine?" he muttered, "'Ponine!" He shouted and the somewhat Bohemian girl came running.

Courfeyrac and his friend looked her up and down, she was quiet the sight to behold. Long brown hair that was nearly waist length, her clothes were ill fitting and threadbare, she was the typical starving artist type, what her “Art” was Courfeyrac could not say as she casually knocked the ash off the end of her cigarette.

"You two know each other?" Courfeyrac inquired with confusion.

"Of course we do," Marius smiled, "this is Éponine she lives next door to me, we are good friends."

"Well that explains a lot," Courfeyrac muttered, "pleasure to meet you Éponine," he smiled at her.

"Charmed," Éponine held out her hand and as she did a small packet fell, the blonde fellow picked it up.

"Is this-" He began.

Éponine hastily snatched it away hoping that Marius did not see, but as luck may have it he did.

"'Ponine, you said you would stop, I thought you did stop," Marius scolded her.

Éponine looked away in embarrassment.

Courfeyrac began to look uncomfortable, "I think Enjolras and had better go,  we'll see you later."

Marius ignored their departure, he merely gave Éponine a hard gaze, "'Ponine you promised."

Éponine felt awful for lying to the man she loved, "I know and I am so sorry," she replied.

Marius said nothing he just held out his hand, with a sigh she placed the recently purchased heroin in his hand. "I don't want you to become another statistic, for you to contract HIV or to OD."

"It's so hard to stop," Éponine replied.

"Well then I will help you," Marius decided.

Éponine bit her lip and looked at the sidewalk as people hurried past them, "You shouldn't worry about me, you've got school, your jobs-"

Marius sighed because he knew she was right, "I still care about my best friend, now I don't ever want to catch you with this stuff again, okay?"

Éponine smiled weakly, "Alright, from this day forth I swear I will be clean."

Marius' eyes sparkled, "Good, I'll see you later," he then went off to work leaving Éponine alone.

She sighed and turned around and continued her aimless walking until she found herself on Avenue C where her apartment was. Éponine had promised Marius she would get clean and that is what she would do. This wasn't her first time trying but she would do it this time, as much as withdrawal scared her, she had to do it, if not for her or Marius but for her little brother. Maybe if she could get herself together she could get him out of foster care and they would be together at last like she had promised him those many years ago. She opened the door to her apartment and went inside, she changed her clothes and grabbed her things, after all she still had a job, of course being a bar girl wasn't glamorous but it did pay the rent and the bills she had... If even that much. With the application of dark black eye liner and cherry red to her lips she was ready to go to work.

Éponine went to work at a bar called the Corinth pretending as if she had gotten her usual hit but she knew something didn't feel right. She got to the bar and went behind and almost walked straight into Musichetta, a fellow worker and friend.

"It's barely 60 degrees outside, you don't own a coat and yet you look like you've just stepped out of a sauna," Musichetta commented.

Éponine wiped her forehead on the back of her hand and realized that Musichetta was right. The other girl handed her a clean rag and she wiped off her face.

"Girl, if you are sick you shouldn't be here," Musichetta spoke up, "I'm sure boss wouldn't mind.

"I'm fine," Éponine replied briskly.

"Whatever you say," Musichetta shrugged, "just don't get our customers sick." She turned around and went to polish some glasses.

"They can't get what I have," Éponine muttered darkly, she had no idea that withdrawal would set in so quickly, but her last hit had been the night before, actually almost nearing on twenty four hours, the longest she had ever gone without a hit.

A group of young men made their way over to the bar headed by the curly haired boy from before. "Miss Éponine! Marius' friend! It's good to see you!"

Éponine returned his smile, "Nice to see you to Mr..."

"It's Courfeyrac, just Courfeyrac," Courfeyrac replied.

"Is there a first name with that?" Éponine teased in her own flirting matter.

"It is not important, you can think of me a sort of a Heathcliff in that way," Courfeyrac grinned.

"If you think you can win me over with a knowledge of classic literature, 'Wuthering Heights' is not my favorite, Mr. Darcy is better." Éponine replied her eyes sparkling as she grinned, "now it's obvious that you and your friends are not here to spend the evening talking to me, what can I do for you?"

Courfeyrac leaned on the bar, "We are here for a study group, you don't happen to know of a quieter place in this joint, do you?"

"Take your friends and follow me," Éponine ducked under the bar and led the students into a small hallway that in one direction was the bathrooms and kitchen and in the other was another door. "This place used to be a pharmacy way, way back and it was also used as a speakeasy, right in here." She opened the door to a room that looked like it may have been grand an one point, nice wall paper, classy furniture it even had a bar, "some people like to play cards back here, but we've never had a study group, seems almost pointless, or is this one of those study groups so that your mothers don't question your motives?"

Courfeyrac ignored her grabbed her hand, "You are a doll!" he kissed it, "my you are awfully warm, are you alright?"

Éponine withdrew her hand from his grasp, "Yes I'm fine, I'll be back to check on you, and if you need anything you know where to find me." She returned to her usual post to continue her night as always, the only difference was that she managed to score herself some decent tips by the end.

Early in the morning she walked down the quiet streets of Alphabet city not feeling well at all. Perhaps Courfeyrac was right, she did feel feverish and now she could feel the sweat dripping down her body. When she came into her apartment she could smell the scent of Chinese take out and Marius was sitting on her couch.

"God you look awful," He commented.

"Gee thanks, you really should try going through withdrawal sometime, it's a lot of fun," Éponine replied sarcastically.

"I know this is hard, so I got you your favorite, I even splurged and got the extra egg rolls," Marius smiled at her.

"You shouldn't have," Éponine replied as she sank into the couch reached for the food, she took a few bites when she was overcome by feelings of nausea, "shit," she squeaked as she got up to go to the bathroom.

"'Ponine," Marius called after her and followed her, she was on the floor wrenching what little contents she had in her stomach into the toilet bowl. Marius knelt beside her and gently rubbed her back, "It's going to be alright, you'll get through this."

Éponine could hardly answer, her stomach ached and her throat burned from the acid, "C-could you-" she weakly gestured towards the medicine cabinet.

Marius got up and started rummaging through the cabinet and he picked up her tooth brush.

"That's it," Éponine replied.

Marius grabbed her toothpaste and filled the cup on the sink with water and handed it to her.

Leaning over the toilet bowl she brushed her teeth and rinsed her mouth out, when she was done she flushed it all away. "I can't do this," she looked at him with sad brown eyes.

Marius sat in front of her despite the lack of space in the bathroom, he gently took her hands. "You can, and you will, you will be so much happier," Marius looked her straight in the eye, a smile then played at his lips, "I guess no Chinese for you."

Éponine laughed quietly, "I guess not."

Marius ran a hand through his hair, "I feel so stupid, for not being here to help you with this until now..."

Éponine shook her head, "You couldn't have known, besides you have too much going on in your life."

Marius squeezed her hand slightly, "'Ponine-"

"You know it's true," Éponine cut him off, "but I'm glad you are here with me now." She lay her head on his shoulder and slowly drifted off to sleep as the fluorescent light above them flickered.

The two of them woke with a start the next morning when they realized they had fallen asleep in Éponine's bathroom. "I'm going to be late for work!" Marius exclaimed.

Éponine slowly raised herself and stretched her aching muscles, "You better go, I'll be fine."

"I'll stop by before I go to class later today," Marius called, "and don't go to work, you should probably call in sick."

"But it's my job, I need to pay rent," Éponine turned to him, "how can I do that if I don't go to work."

"At least take it easy, do me a favor and don't take shots with the customers at least," Marius replied.

"I'm still underage," Éponine reminded him.

Marius pulled on his coat, "It's never stopped you before."

Éponine sat back down on the couch and sighed, "What a waste of food, we left it out all night."

"'Ponine, stop worrying, just go to bed, and I mean your bed, not the couch, and get some sleep," Marius directed.

"Yes sir," Éponine offered him a mock salute.

"I'll see you later then," Marius called from the doorway.

"See you later," Éponine replied.

When Marius closed the door behind him, Éponine sunk into the couch, she was feeling a little better. She still felt feverish but she wasn't sweating as much, but her stomach ached terribly. She couldn't tell if it was from lack of food or the symptoms of the withdrawal process. She had to do this, she had to get clean she saw mixed among the trash littering the table a photograph of Gavroche the last time she had seen him before he was taken away, he had been five years old at the time.

Slowly she picked up the uneaten take out and tossed it in the garbage, just because she lived in a decrepit apartment didn't mean she had to help it's process. After that she heated up some water and used one of her remaining tea bags. Even though she was hungry she was sure her stomach couldn't handle solids, even glancing at the kettle a slight wave of nausea seemed to sweep over her. Ignoring it she poured the now hot water into a chipped mug that depicted Snoopy atop his doghouse. Slowly she sipped at the tea but her stomach began to churn violently and she ran to the bathroom once again where she remained for the better part of an hour. She was so weak she could scarcely move and she had begun to shake violently.

"Éponine?" Marius called as he entered the apartment, "I got a call from the book store saying they would be closed today, Éponine, are you here?" Slowly Marius approached the bathroom and peered in, "Oh my god," He exclaimed and ran to her side, "I'll call for an ambulance," he pulled his cell phone and dialed 911, Hello? My friend, she is going through heroine withdrawal, very sick, 5052 on Avenue C, apartment number 5, top floor." He hung up the phone and held Éponine close to him, "I won't let anything happen to you."

Éponine could scarcely speak, she was so frightened, afraid that she was about to die. "Help me," she whispered quietly, "I'm so scared."

The ambulance arrived and they took Éponine to the nearest hospital with Marius accompanying her. Now he was in the waiting room while they ran test upon test to decide what to do with her. A young man in a lab coat walked past and gave Marius a sideways glance, "Marius... Is that you?"

Marius slowly raised his head to see who addressed him, "Joly? What are you doing here?"

"Residency," Joly replied, "Combeferre is here too, what about you?"

Marius sighed, "My friend 'Ponine is going through withdrawal, she started yesterday and isn't doing well at all."

"Heroin? That stuff is nasty, instead of doing this by herself she should go to a rehab, higher success rates," Joly replied calmly.

"The girl can't afford rent, how is she supposed to afford rehab?" Marius asked wearily.

"There are programs in the city, I'll get you some brochures, trust me they care more about people getting clean than money," Joly reassured him.

A doctor came in at that point, "She's awake, you can go and see her now," he informed Marius.

"I'll come by later," Joly added.

Marius smiled slightly before following the doctor to the room where Éponine lay, he had always known her to be petite but with only a hospital gown on she looked tiny. Her arms were now exposed and he could see the many track marks that littered her arm. Slowly she turned to face him and smiled, "I'm alive." she spoke quietly.

Marius couldn't help but smile as well, "Thank god for that," he pulled up a chair beside her. "Don't worry we'll get you out of here soon enough."

Éponine's smile turned into a frown, "I can't go back, I can't do this alone... That much I've learned."

Marius was about to reply when there was a knock at the door and Joly entered holding the pamphlets. "Hi," Joly spoke awkwardly as he looked at the girl in the hospital bed and realized he knew her. He had only met her the night before at the Corinth and she had taken them to the back room. He had noted then that she seemed sweaty and her complexion rather pale but he had thought it was the lighting. "We've met," Joly tacked on to the end of his sentence.

"Really?" Éponine cocked her head, she couldn't recall him.

"Last night at the bar, you were talking with Courfeyrac," Joly explained.

"Oh!" Éponine explained, "yes you were standing close to the back! I never forget a face," her face twitched into a slight smile. She then sank back into the bed in pain and she kept rubbing at the tubing that was providing her oxygen, "I want to get out of here," she murmured.

"That's actually why I stopped by," Joly spoke up again and passed the pamphlets to Éponine, "Marius explained your well... Situation... And I have the names of some good rehabs in the city that are geared more towards inner city people with small incomes."

Éponine began to read the pamphlets as Joly talked, could they really help her come clean?

"I have heard many good things about the one called Montrieul, headed by a Dr. Clarice Simplice," Joly continued, "the it's is completely charity based and their success rates are very high, very few relapses."

Éponine looked at Montrieul's brochure and thought about it, "This won't cost me?" She cocked her head in disbelief.

"Correct," Joly nodded, "they only ask that you be willing to try, they are not going to force you to quit."

Éponine was very interested now, "Alright, so when do I get out of here, I feel like a lab rat."

Joly walked to the front of her bed, "According to this," he flipped through the pages of her chart, "if everything checks out you can get out of here in a couple of days."

Éponine smiled, "Really?"

Joly nodded, "So far everything has come back clean," he continued to glean the test results, "I see they are still waiting in the results from the HIV test."

Éponine didn't want to hear anything else about it and she interrupted Joly, "So what was wrong with me?"

"From your symptoms it seems like a nasty bout of what happens when you go through withdrawal," Joly explained and adjusted his glasses.

Éponine fidgeted with her hands, "Oh," she murmured.

"Like I said they are running tests still just to make sure," Joly explained, "be thankful it's nothing life threatening."

Éponine nodded, "Right." The words "HIV test" still lingered in her brain, what if they came back positive? Sure she was stupid enough to do drugs but not stupid enough to share needles. Yet there were certainly other things in her life that she was not proud of that could yield the same result, to put it lightly she was no blushing rose.

"I hope you recover well, and if you want I can make a call to the rehab, give them your name and make arrangements for you," Joly replied and he pulled out a pad of paper and pen he kept in the pocket of his lab coat, he then began to scribble down information. "Eponine... Does that have an accent in it?" he asked.

"Yes," Éponine replied.

"And your last name, Miss-"

"It's Thenardier," Éponine answered and smiled slightly, "thanks for everything."

Joly adjusted his glasses and smiled back at her, "It's good to see people trying to get clean, it gives me hope." He then glanced at his watch, "I've got to go, if you want I can send Combeferre over?" This time his words were directed at Marius.

Marius had been slumped in his chair and he shrugged his shoulders slightly, "It's not necessary, but I suppose you can tell him I'm here."

"Alright," Joly gave a nod and departed.

Éponine sighed and turned to Marius, "You know it's not in the best friend contract that you must stay with said friend as she goes through withdrawal."

"I think there must be a different contract for people who make friends with soon to be ex-junkies," Marius smiled, "what kind of friend would I be if I left you here by yourself?"

"A smart one," Éponine replied, "one who needs to earn a living by working multiple jobs and will eventually go to John Jay School of Criminal Justice," she then let out a series of coughs.

"'Ponine, you are my best friend," Marius replied.

Éponine struggled to hold back her laughter, "Funny that not even a year ago you had no idea I even existed."

"Your point?" Marius shrugged.

"Nothing," Éponine shook her head, "it's just our friendship..."

"So we haven't known each other our entire lives," Marius smiled, "does that make me a lower quality of friend?"

"I have really no other friends," Éponine admitted, "so no, besides, if I had not met you I highly doubt I would have the will power to be coming clean."

Marius smiled, "I'm gonna go check out the gift shop, maybe they have something for you to do while we're stuck here," he got up from his chair, "I'll be right back."

"No," Éponine called to him, "it's okay, don't waste your money on me, please." she practically begged him.

"I'm not wasting my money," Marius replied, "my best friend is going through heroin withdrawal and I just want to make sure she doesn't die of boredom." He had walked back over to her and ruffled her hair slightly, "I'll be right back."

Éponine sank back into her bed and breathed deeply, it was now very quiet in her room now that she was alone, the only sound she could hear was the steady beep of the EKG.