How I Became a Loser

Chapter 4

My mom bursts into my room the next morning.

"Jesus mom." I groan.

"Don't swear." She scolds.

I kick my feet in frustration under my covers.

"Your auntie needs me right now to help her with some things right now... alone. So I'll be gone for about 3 days, starting today. You have enough food to last you and I'll leave $20. But don't even think about leaving. I talked to the neighbors and they'll keep an eye out for you. Call your dad for emergencies."

She slams the door and I'm giddy. The neighbors hate her so they don't care about me. This means freedom. I'm getting dressed as I hear my moms car leave. Her sister is always pulling her into some shit but I'm ever so grateful.

Freedom fills like sunshine, ice cream, swimming, bike rides, and Stanley. I bike around town looking for him, he has to know that I was just hysterical and must have imagined it.

Luckily it doesn't take me too long to find him, he's with the whole gang. We intercept paths and we all stop. Even Ben is with them.

"What's going on?" I ask.

No answer and empty stares, they all don't want to tell him. At least until Eddie spits out "Beverley called Stan and said we all needed to come over to her apartment immediately because it's an emergency."

My first thought is "why is Beverly calling Stanley?" Jealousy flushes through me.

I take a deep breath. "Can I come?"

"No." Stan says immediately. "You should stay home and rest, I mean after yesterday you rea-"

I glare at him. He shuts up.

"Come on Stan, what if Beverly called because she has some lady problems and doesn't have any girl friends." Richie pointed out.

They all looked horrified as they imagined it.

I hop on my bike and smile at them, sarcastically.

As we near closer towards her apartment, Eddie and Stanley argue about if the alleyway or the sidewalks are dirtier. She's rushing down the apartment stairs to greet us. She looks frazzled and her hair is cut. It looks good but I'll never tell her.

"I need to show you something."

"What is it?"

"More than we say at the quarry?"

"Shut up! Just shut up, Richie."

I wonder what happened at the quarry.

"My dad will kill me if he finds out I had boys, or anyone in the apartment really." She acknowledged me slightly.

Richie is left as the lookout, thankfully, and they all make there way up. I stay warily behind and Stan notices. He holds his hand out as if a safeguard, and I only take it to be nice. Obviously. We hold hands until I see the blood covered, and I mean covered, the bathroom. Ceiling to floor. I let go to cover my mouth to hide my gasp. Beverly explained to us how her dad couldn't see it.

It's like how I asked my mom about how quick she got the electricity back on. She looked confused and said it never went out.

We start to clean, and clean, and scrub, and clean. Stan points out how it's good I don't get squeamish around blood.

When we're done, he asks "What happened yesterday?"

I realize that we're completely alone.

"Stan it was nothing, okay? It must've been a bad dream or something." I muttered.

"Bu-" I cut him off.

"Forget about it, I'm sorry I came crying to you but it won't happen again." I say angrily. I'm becoming too close to him again. I walk away.

"No, I being a personal doorman really. Could you idiots taken any longer?" Richie says biking around us.

"Shut up Richie." I say.

"Yeah shut up Richie." Stanley agrees. He tries to catch my eye but I keep looking down.

"Oh, okay, trash the trash mouth, I get it. Hey, I wasn't the one scrubbing the bathroom floor and imagining that her sink went all Eddie's moms vagina on Halloween."

"She didn't imagine it." We all slow down to a stop to listen to Bill.

"I saw something too."

"You saw blood?"

"Not blood." He shook his head, "I saw Georgie." He stuttered.

I feel like I'm in shock and want to scream about Betty and the hand, but I don't utter a word as the rest of them confess what they've seen too, except Richie calling us virgins.

Beverly recognize Mike's bike and they rush to help him, I follow too because I know if that's Henry Bowers it means no good for Mike.

When I reach down there Beverly throws a rock at Bowers, successfully hitting him in the head. When they see me, they sneer "looks like your little girlfriend came to save you," as Mike craws towards us.

Of course they would think the only two black people would be a couple.

"You losers are trying to hard, she'll do you. You just gotta ask nicely, like I did." Henry said, grabbing us groin.

Ben yells and throws a rock at him. Beverly, Eddie, and them all start to throw rocks at each other, Richie yells "Rock war!" before getting nailed in the face.

I give him a hand to help him up and start to throw rocks at the assholes. It's pretty awesome given the circumstances. Even Eddie, who feared them the most, jump into the river to get closer to them. Stanley though keeps trying to guard me, I bat him away eager to hit them.

They disperse because there losing and we leave Bowers behind, leaving Richie to the last words.

"Thanks, guys, but you shouldn't have done that. They'll be after you guys, too, now." Mike warns.

"Oh, no, no, no. Bowers? He's always after us." Eddie reassures.

"I guess that's one thing we all have in common."

"Yeah, Homeschool. Welcome to the Losers club."

I can't help but wonder if they consider me a loser too now.

I fall next to Mike and talk to him along the way.

"Hi, I'm Lucy." I introduce.

"Yeah, I know." I must've looked scared or confused because he laughs and immediately explains.

"Your mom comes out and buys the meat extra fresh. She said her daughter Lucy really likes it."

I look down a little embarrassed, my mom said he was a very cute boy at the farm. Indeed he was.

We talk the whole way until I reach my street. I learned that Mike was super easy to talk to. I smile about him on my way home.