𝐈𝐧𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐲¹; Richie Tozier

𝐱𝐢. the projector

₊‧✩‧₊

Chapter eleven:
The projector

The rest of the night went well. After Josie and Richie retrieved Mike's camera, they returned back to their friends. The Losers could definitely tell something about their vibe changed, however pretended not to notice just so they wouldn't embarrass them. Not even Eddie grew the nerve to dish out a snarky comment.

And when the fireworks met its conclusion, Richie took Josie home where they kissed once more on her front porch. They kept this one short and quick, since they knew Josie's father most likely had not left for work yet.

As much as Josie wanted to kiss Richie much more, she still managed to walk through her front door. And that smile that once overwhelmed her face quickly faded the second she saw her father on the couch.

Tears leaked from Mr. Madison's eyes as he held his old guitar in his lap, sullenly grazing the strings to no particular beat. The only time his guitar left the basement was when he was drunk, and the pile of Coors Banquets next to him answered Josie's suspicions almost immediately.

Still, Josie tried to sneak past him and slip away to her room, though caught his attention when the front door slammed louder than she anticipated. She quietly winced, hearing her father say, "Josephine, get here now," in a low voice. If the beer bottles hadn't been a dead giveaway at how drunk the man was, his slurred words were.

Her heart now pounding in her chest, Josie reluctantly approached her father, not daring to make eye contact with him. "Yes, daddy?" she answered over the loud silence, her voice wavering. The only thought going through her mind then was the possibility or her father spotting Richie, maybe even seeing them kiss.

"Did I ever tell you how I was in a band in high school?" he asked, making Josie's worries replace with annoyance.

You did, you tell me almost every week, she thought, although not daring to allow those words to be spoken out loud.

Not waiting for Josie's response, Mr. Madison continued on, "I was the lead singer and guitarist, my friend Curtis did the drums, and his brother was the bassist." He paused for a moment, glancing at his guitar, which was red with a splash of white with a cartoon rose on the corner of it. "We were the best in the school. We won the school's talent show twice; people even compared us to Aerosmith, said we had a bright future coming for us."

And after that was another pause, though this one was longer than the last. And Josie should have probably been scared, but she wasn't. Like she told Richie, she was used to it. With a sigh he said, "Until you came along." He looked up at Josie with glassy eyes, either from his tears or alcohol—probably both.

The words she was so used to hearing still felt like daggers to her heart every single time. Josie loved her father, even if he was an asshole. It hurt knowing he never felt the same way, how he always blamed her for something she had no control over.

And she wanted to believe it wasn't her fault. That her father had to give up on his dream of being a rockstar to take care of her, I mean. But when you are told something your entire life, you have no choice other than to believe it.

Josie was silent, with her head down as brewing tears stung her eyes. And for almost a minute, it stayed in silence, Josie's sniffles and the air conditioner being the only sounds, until Mr. Madison shouted, "I gave my life up," he stood up, "for a slut!"