WHEEZY // an IT story

s i x

JUNE 5th, 1989

"i have to show you something," beverly said quietly, letting her words hang in the air. the silence made everyone's lungs feel out of place, as if their breathing was incorrect in some way.
"more than we saw at the quarry?" richie responded, bringing everyone back to reality and breaking the silence.

it was decided that richie would be look out.
"it is a gift!" he called after the boys, who were ascending the stairs of beverly's small apartment.
he looked for beverly's dad, feeling a sense of pride overwhelm him.
"lookout!" he said, breathlessly, as if it were something to be proud of. the other losers knew that richie could not be trusted in a girl's house, but as richie saw it, he was the toughest and most clever, so he could stay out and be lookout. he pulled out a pack of cigarettes.

after what seemed like an eternity, the losers finally descended the stairs.
"finally!" richie cheered, but immediately sensing something was wrong.
"what the hell happened to you guys?" 

"you could not have taken any longer!" richie groaned.
"shut up richie!" stan snapped.
"okay, trash the trashmouth! i get it. but i wasn't the one scrubbing the bathroom floor imagining that beverly's sink went all 'eddie's mom's vagina on halloween'." richie complained.
"she didn't imagine," stan told him.
"i saw something too," bill confessed.
"blood?" beverly asked. bill shook his head.
"i saw georgie. it seemed so real, i mean it seemed like him but there was this..." bill started.
"a clown. i saw him too," eddie finished, shuddering. it hurt richie to see eddie so traumatized. real or not, his best friend was scared and alone. the thing was, richie didn't know how to deal with any emotional shit. he could crack jokes and tease for days, but emotions he couldn't do. at the moment, he decided to try to lift his poor friend's spirits.
"can only virgins see this stuff? is that why i'm not seeing any of this shit?" richie asked, as the losers turned into a back road by the quarry.
"oh shit. that's belch huggin's car!" stan exclaimed.
"we should probably get out of here," bill replied.
"yeah," eddie agreed.
"wait! isn't that the homeschooled kid's bike?" richie asked.
"yeah. it's mike's," ben replied.
"we have to help him!" beverly shouted, before jogging into the woods. the losers followed close behind. they ended up on a riverbank. on the other side, mike, the homeschooled kid, was being pushed into a pile of raw meat. he worked on a meat farm and was probably making deliveries when henry bowers and his gang got ahold of him. henry bowers was the horrible school bully who seemed to have a taste for the losers club. him and his gang constantly tortured the losers, so they tried their best to avoid henry at all costs.
when henry caught sight of the losers, he immediately started to taunt them. then, he saw beverly.
"you losers are trying too hard. she'll do you, you just gotta ask nicely!" henry mocked, masking grotesque gestures. suddenly, a rock soared and hit henry square in the head. beverly lowered her arm, smirking.
"nice throw," stan complemented.
"thanks," she replied. henry and his gang dropped mike and started to pick up rocks. the losers did the same.
"rock war!" richie shouted, before getting hit in the eye with a huge rock.

rocks flew back and forth, hitting the kids in various places. mike belly-crawled under the flying objects until he reached the loser's club on the other side of the river. by that time, henry's gang has trickled away to just him. then, henry got hit in the head again, and he collapsed. the losers quickly turned around and ran to their bikes, but not before richie could finish with his famous one-liners.
"go blow your dad you mullet-wearing asshole!" he shouted with his two middle fingers up.

the losers parted ways after that, with mike now a part of the team. they decided to meet at the park in two days, when mike could get off from work.