"Heroes get remembered, but legends never die." -Babe Ruth
Richie Tozier remembered the first time he heard that quote as if it just happened yesterday. He was 7 years old and was running around his living room with a towel tied around his neck, pretending to be a superhero. He had already saved his mother from the dreaded lava monster that was terrorizing the city (in reality, it was just their dog chasing them around the living room), and was now in the process of saving his dad from being brainwashed by the evil temptress into doing chores. When Maggie gave in and dismissed Wentworth to continue playing with their son, Richie cheered at his victory and giggled as Wentworth picked him up, spinning him around the room.
"You saved me!" Wentworth exclaimed, holding Richie close to him. "Today is the day that Superboy, formerly known as Richie Tozier, became a legend!"
Upon hearing the word, Richie gave a childish pout and shook his head. "Not a legend. A hero. Heros are the best."
His father simply put him down on the couch and kneeled in front of his small son. "Now Richard, you want to know why I think legends are better than heros?" He waited for his son to nod yes in response before continuing. "Heroes get remembered, but legends never die. You know who first said that? Babe Ruth. He was a legend."
Richie watched his father speak with immense admiration, keeping his full attention trained on the his face as he went on to talk about Babe Ruth and all his fantastic feats. The way his father respected Babe Ruth... it was like nothing Richie had ever seen. Richie nodded with childish determination gleaming in his dark chestnut eyes. He wanted to be a legend.
As the years went by, Richie kept that lesson in the back of his mind, never forgetting it. He, Richard Tozier, was going to be a legend. He was never going to be forgotten, nor would his memory ever die. Problem was, he didn't know exactly how he was going to achieve that. Sports weren't exactly his thing and he'd never heard of someone really going anywhere doing voices and impressions, despite his love of doing it. So here he was, 17 and feeling especially small and forgettable now that his parents seemed to have better things to do than sit to dinner with their one and only child, and all his friends were too busy to make this lonely night somewhat bearable.
He gave a pathetic sigh as he put his head down on the table next to his bowl of mac n' cheese. Richie was pretty familiar with the feeling of hopelessness that seemed to take over him more and more often these days as he began to realize how small and insignificant he was in this world. There were millions of people in the world. And he was just one boy. He knew he would never be anything special.
He sighed again and stood up, quickly disposing the remaining noodles in his bowl into the garbage and making his way to the landline by the doorway of the kitchen. Without even thinking, he dialled.
After two rings, a voice picked up on the other end. "Hello, Kaspbrak residence."
"Eddie! Eds! Eddie Spaghetti! What're you doin', man?" Richie couldn't help but grin when he heard the voice of his beloved best friend on the other line. "Can you meet me at the quarry in, like, 20 minutes?"
He heard Eddie sputter a bit into the receiver before admitting, "I don't know if I can, Richie. Ma had me at the hospital all day for a checkup.. and you know I hate when you call me that! Just call me Eddie, asshole."
Richie's momentary glee from talking to the shorter boy quickly disappeared and he frowned, yet again feeling terribly lonely and desperate for some sort of attention. "Then do you think I could come over? I'm bored and I need my spaghetti man to make me feel better." Though his tone was lighthearted and playful as usual, there was a slight waver in it that begged the other boy to please hang out with him because he couldn't be alone.
Why would he ever want to hang out with you again? Eddie is going places. He's going to grow up and leave this shit-hole town and get a good job and never look back. He's going to forget all about you.
Richie bit his lip and tried to ignore the taunting, intruding thoughts that threw themselves around in his head. Eddie could never forget about him; they were best friends! They were Eddie Spaghetti Kaspbrak and Trashmouth Tozier, an unstoppable duo. Eddie would never leave him behind... right? "Please?"
As if Eddie could sense the slight plea that broke through his last word, he sighed and agreed. "Okay, fine. Just be quiet when you come. I don't need my mom catching you crawling through my window."
Richie inwardly cheered and gave a quick "thanks, I'll be over in a few!" before hanging up and practically sprinting for the door, knowing his parents wouldn't miss his presence from the house.
Once he reached the familiar Kaspbrak residence, he wasted no time climbing the old oak tree that sat conveniently outside Eddie's bedroom window, being careful not to catch himself on any branches as he scurried up. Once at eye level with Eddie's window, he looked into the room and listened carefully for the voice of Mrs. Kaspbrak, knowing she would absolutely lose her mind if she caught him in Eddie's room, contaminating everything with his mere existence after Eddie spent his day in a sterile hospital. Finding no trace of the dreaded woman, Richie rapped at the glass, laughing a little when he saw how badly Eddie jumped at the noise. "Damn Eds, it's like you weren't expecting me."
Eddie rolled his eyes and opened his window, allowing his lanky counterpart into the room. "Don't call me Eds, dickwad."
Richie simply grinned at the insult and plopped down on the shorter boys bed sighing happily as the warmth of the house slowly sank into him, warming him up from the bitter cold of the December evening. "What were you doing before I called, Eds?"
At this point, Eddie knew it was useless to correct Richie, so he chose to ignore the nickname and shrugged, sitting in the chair at his desk next to his bed. "Homework. I have a lab due for chemistry in a few days, but I guess I have no chance of working on it now since you've graced me with your presence- why did you wanna come by so badly anyway? You sounded different when you called."
Richie shrugged and tried to act like nothing was bothering him, choosing to, for once, to remain silent. He didn't want to act like everything was fine anymore. He was so tired, but he had to carry on like he was okay because Richie Tozier was always okay.
"Richie, what's wrong?" Eddie asked, his brows drawn together in concern. "And don't pull any 'nothing is wrong' bullshit because I've known you long enough to know when something is up, and I can tell something big is up with you, so spill it."
"Wha-" Richie started, his mouth agape and eyes wide. He was shocked at the tone Eddie used. He sounded so sure, maybe a little angry even. "I.. I don't know what's going to happen to me." He admitted, dropping his eyes down to his lap. Before Eddie could question him further, he continued. "You're all going places.. Bill is going to get famous from his books, Bev is going to end up modeling or designing fashion somewhere, Ben is a brilliant architect.. he's going to make it big designing the most beautiful buildings in the world, Stan is going to leave this Hell of a town and build an entire future somewhere else, Mike.. he's going to do amazing things. Whatever he does, he's going to change the world.. and you.." He paused. "You're going to get into a good school for automotive and meet someone you love and marry them and move far away and live a perfect life and forget all about all the bad things that ever happened to you here. You're going to love your new life and never look back, Eds. You're going to grow up and thrive and be so damn happy.." He was crying now. Richie removed his signature coke bottle glasses and rubbed his eyes, cursing himself for being so weak. "You're all going to do great things and you're all going to forget about me, because I'm just Richie. I'm just a trashmouth with no fucking future and I'm never going to be remembered for doing anything. I'm forgettable and useless and-"
"Richie!"
Richie immediately stopped talking when Eddie grabbed him by the wrists and looked him in the eye. He hadn't even noticed how badly he was rambling until he stopped talking, leaving the room in stunned silence except for his sniffling and choked breaths. Eddie's dark chocolate eyes bore into his own and he noticed the absolute fear that shone through. Had his outburst really frightened him?
"Do you really believe that, Rich?" The question was gentle, much softer and quieter compared to the way he said his name, demanding attention.
He nodded.
"That's bullshit. Richie, you're not useless and you're not forgettable; you're my best friend. You're part of the lucky seven. You're funny, and smart, and reliable, and loved. We would never forget about you. I would never forget about you." Eddie chose his words carefully, empathising the words that he really needed Richie to hear; he had to make him understand. "You're always there to make us laugh when we feel like shit, and you help us study, even if you have your own test to study for. If any of us call in the middle of the night because we can't sleep or we had a nightmare, you're there in minutes. I can't believe the amount of times you've had the shit beaten out of you by guys twice your size because you were standing up for one of us, even though you knew you had no chance at winning. Richie, you're an amazing person and I'm so fucking happy I met you and.. and even if we do all leave town and do great things, there's no way you're just going to stay behind in our dust because I know you're going places too. You're going to famous for your voices and comedy, and you're going to be some kids heros, y'know?"
Richie was shocked. He had no idea Eddie thought those things about him.. he never even thought the things he did were that special to anyone, they certainly weren't to him. "You really think I'm going places, Eddie? You really think I'm more than just a trashmouth?"
"Of course! Richie Tozier is the name, and voices are your game for fucks sake. You're the funniest guy around and a legend here in Derry. Everyone knows who you are and, when you're famous and on talk shows and stuff, the dusty fucks still left here will nod and say 'yeah, I knew that kid', just you wait, Rich."
For the first time in a while, Richie let a genuine smile spread across his features and he nodded. "Thanks, Eds."
Richie Tozier grew up to be one of the seven legends Derry, Maine ever produced. He and the other six liked to call themselves The Losers Club, which was quite an ironic name for people who were named legends, huh?