Friday June 20, 1997
"Take out the papers and the trash,
Or you don't get no spendin' cash."
Henry leaned his body out of Victor's red 1958 Plymouth Fury and shattered a mailbox outside of Jackson street with a baseball bat.
"If you don't scrub that kitchen floor,
You ain't gonna rock and roll no more,
Yakety yak (Don't talk back)"
When they drove by the next house on that sunny afternoon, Henry smashed that mailbox to the ground.
"WOAH! OU! OU!" Henry yelled with adrenaline with his head out the window as the teens travelled twenty over the speed limit in the suburban neighbourhood.
Henry sat back in the passenger seat and looked at his friends who were drinking some beers. Henry took a sip from his own beer.
"School's out! Where is my next victim? I can already taste their blood and fear!" Henry said with excitement as he placed his hand outside the window and hit the top of the car as he thought about death.
Belch burped in the backseat.
"We'll probably run into one of them, man!" Victor took a swig of his beer. "Mr. Gray said that they're going to have to be dead by the end of the month. It's time to start killing."
Henry looked at the side of his face as he spoke. The part inside of him that was still himself, felt the fear and dread over the instruction. He was getting use to the bullying, but actually killing was a whole other degree, but he kept thinking about the future with Winter. His future with Winter depended on if he could fulfill the clown's orders, and he had to. He didn't want to live in a world without her.
The spirit in the jacket spoke for Henry as he continued to have his doubts; "Let's start the blood bath, boys!"
Derry looked different this afternoon as the boys cruised in Victor's new pussy wagon. The town seemed cleaner, but that wasn't the weirdest part of it. The ladies walking around town wore very conservative blouses and long skirts, like pencil or circle skirts, poodle skirts, capri pants, high waisted jeans and Peter Pan collar blouses. The guys were wearing over-sized shirts, bomber jackets, double-breasted suits, loafers and fedora hats.
The three guys drove into Main Street, however there was a street festival so they had to park in one of the side streets and walk into the town.
Even Main Street looked different that afternoon. The shops had different names and there were diners and barber shops everywhere. The cars that were parked along the side streets were the vintage type that he had only seen in old movies and in vintage car magazines. There were 1957 Chevrolet Bel Air convertibles, 1957 Nash Cosmopolitans, 1950 Crosley station wagons and 1951 Studebaker 2-door sedans.
Although Henry thought the town looked different, he didn't react differently. He just knew how to blend in without looking out of place. It was the power of the jacket.
There was a musician playing a saxophone on the side of Main Street while some cars drove by with banners on the sides with store advertisements. There was a man walking on stilts with clown makeup on. Henry stared at the clown on stilts, and he knew it wasn't Pennywise, but the look of him still creeped him out.
As Henry stared at the change on the Main Street, the real Henry surfaced as he was unsure what was going on around him. His face changed to the normal Henry as he spoke to Victor and Belch, "I should get going to see Winter, guys. She's probably wondering where I am." He had already stayed a half hour later after school with the guys and needed to make sure Winter was okay.
Victor and Belch noticed the real Henry surface and saw the unsureness in his expression. Victor put a reassuring arm around Henry's shoulders; "Just grab a coke with us, boss! Then we are going to see Mr. Gray, and then you can go."
Henry relaxed. Within moments, the spirit that possessed Henry in the jacket surfaced again, and Henry's facial expression turned back to angry and controlling.
They went into Steve's Diner at the corner of Main Street. It was a diner that had remained in Derry since 1954 and it was always a vintage spot for people to feel like they were experiencing a 1950's diner experience. Winter and Henry had gone in there a few times for breakfast and dinner.
This time as the three teenagers walked in, it didn't feel exactly like a vintage experience like it always had when Henry and Winter went in. This felt like it was a brand-new restaurant made for the teens and families in Derry, and that the style fit with the era that they were currently in.
"Mr. Sandman, bring me a dream,
(Bung, bung, bung, bung)
Make him the cutest that I've ever seen,
(Bung, bung, bung, bung)"
The juke box in the corner was playing the usual 1950's hits as it always did when Henry went into Steve's Diner.
"Three cokes!" Belch said to the waiter who was running the diner bar.
"Six cents each!" the waiter said while grabbing the cokes and popping off the caps on them.
"Give him two lips like roses and clover,
(Bung, bung, bung, bung)
Then tell him that his lonesome nights are over."
As Victor pulled the change out of his pocket, the waiter studied the three boys faces before speaking, "You know if the manager catches you guys in here, he'll call the cops. You guys damaged the juke box so bad last month with your crazy shit shenanigans!"
"You can tell the manager that he can kiss our asses!" Victor laughed.
Henry looked at the waiter, "Would you like a knuckle sandwich, kid? I could give you a nice shiner!"
Belch burped in the waiter's face.
Henry looked over to a man in a business suit and fedora as he read the paper as he sat on the bar bench. The headline read: "Elvis Presley is inducted into the Army!"
Victor handed a vintage glass bottle coke into Henry's hand. Henry took a moment to respond and looked down at the beverage.
Henry gave the waiter behind the bar one last glare before he said, "Let's cruise, boys!"
"Thanks for nothing, asshole!" Belch gave the waiter the finger as the guys exited the diner back into the warm June sun.
They walked down the street towards the Derry Public Library as they watched a parade go through the Main Street.
Henry stared as high school cheerleaders cheered in the parade holding a banner that read:
'SUPPORT THE DERRY HIGH SCHOOL SPORTS TEAM OF 1958!'
"There's Cindy Sanders! We were necking in the guy's washroom a few weeks ago!" Belch laughed.
"That sounds made up," Victor laughed.
"Fuck off!" Belch pushed him, "She gave me that hickey, right? I'm so pissed that she's going to The Under the Sea Dance with Stewart Crain. He is such a pussy!"
Henry continued to look around as the two guys behind him bickered.
"Would you guys like your picture taken? It'll be in the year book!" a kid with a big photo camera asked.
Henry, Belch and Victor laughed; "Okay!"
Henry and Blech lifted Victor up by his legs and smiled for the camera, thinking it would be fun. The camera man took four photos; one for the year book and one for each of them.
They looked down at the black and white photos and laughed.
Henry put the picture in his back pocket to show Winter later. He hadn't even mentioned his new friends to her. The picture would probably make her smile.
"At least now the school will always remember The Bower's Gang!" Victor said.
As they approached the Derry Public Library, which looked like it was only built a few years ago, they didn't go towards the direction of the doors to the entrance. Instead they went to a man sitting on the park bench beside the library building.
As they approached the man, Henry felt a force coming from him that felt evil and vile. Although it was a man in his 40's with a receding hairline and a business outfit, the way his lower lip drooped into a V shape made Henry think of Pennywise in the moon.
"Hello, Henry..." said the man as he looked up from his newspaper and grinned.
His voice.
His grin.
It was Pennywise.
Bob Gray was his human form to blend in with the everyday life in Derry. It was to make himself less noticeable as he picked out his victims.
"I like the smell of the fear that is coming from the group of kids that you've been taunting. You're making them weaker as I become stronger," he said evilly.
"How come you choose me to do this?" as Henry feared the force in front of him, it made the real Henry resurface and he wanted to know why he had to be the one to kill the losers.
"Let me show you, Henry..." Mr. Gray extended his hand out to Henry, which was covered by a white glove, "Take my hand..."
Henry looked up to Mr. Gray's face and stared as Its lower lip was dripping with drool as It stared into his eyes. He pursed his lips wondering if It was trying to trap him. He slowly put his hand into the evil beings hand.
Everything around him had disappeared and Henry went blind by bright white lights.
Henry sat in his backyard with his older brother, Robert. Henry was a baby, one-years-old and Robert was two-years-old.
Henry could see his mom running into the house to grab the phone that had been ringing as the two boys sat patiently out in the backyard, playing together.
Pennywise appeared in the backyard and walked up to Henry. He looked up to the clown but didn't understand who or what It was and just stared up at It.
The clown placed a red balloon in front of Henry, which was too far away for him to grab. It just floated there with the ribbon nearly touching the ground, but it wasn't floating away into the sky and the wind didn't make it fly away. It just floated there in one spot.
Henry stared at the red floating balloon.
Pennywise put Its hand on Henry's head and he felt a rush of negative energy go into him. It was the emotion that would one day surface as Henry's anger, his sadness, his rage.
"I'm apart of you now, Henry. You have a little piece of me inside of you that will grow when you do. That balloon will always be there for you until you decide to grab it. When you take it, I will fully be a part of you. I won't just be your anger and rage, but I will be every part of you. I will drive you mad and psychotic so you can do what I need you to do. When you are ready, take the balloon."
Pennywise picked up Henry's brother, Robert, into his arms.
"In exchange for my madness, I will take your brother. This will be the beginning of your anger. When the years pass when I am ready to feed again, I will need you. The balloon is yours, Henry."
And then Pennywise and Robert were gone.
Henry's mom came back outside as Henry stared at the red balloon. She couldn't see it.
Henry let go of Bob Gray's hand and stared at him with wide eyes and shock. He thought that It might have taken Robert, but now he knew it for sure.
"You took Robert that day?" Henry confirmed.
Bob Gray nodded and grinned, "He wasn't supposed to survive, but that stupid force that was born that day took him from me. It took him to safety. I gave you the balloon to fully embody my madness."
"The balloon was supposed to make me crazy? It was supposed to turn me into a psycho?" Henry asked, "Then how come I feel empathy? How come I feel love? I know I love my girlfriend and I love my family."
Bob frowned at the word 'love',"That's why you need to wear the jacket to turn into the dangerous man I need you to be, Henry. For the years that the balloon followed you, you never took it. I live inside of your anger, but I haven't taken you over completely because you never took the balloon, and that's why you need the jacket. The spirit of the jacket is what's controlling you when you see those loser kids."
'A force that saved my brother? How come I never got curious and grabbed the balloon?' Henry's mind was racing with question after question over everything Bob Gray was telling him.
"Speaking of a loser..." Victor spoke up after minutes of silence from him and Belch. "Look at that Haystack!"
As Henry turned to look at Ben walking down the street, his anger surfaced and the jacket took over as Henry retreated back and let the spirit from the jacket take over for him. He quickly glanced back to the bench, but Mr. Gray was gone.
Each day when Henry would see one of the losers, his madness became stronger.
"Let's go!" Henry instructed as they ran over to Ben.
They grabbed him from behind.
Ben screamed in surprise and looked into Henry's angry eyes as they pushed him against the fence.
"What do you want from me, Henry?" he asked. "I didn't do anything to you!"
"Your existence offends me, fat boy!" Henry spat in his face. "You want me to cut off all that fat for you?" Henry took his switchblade out from his back pocket, "We can make you look skinny just in time for summer!"
Victor and Belch laughed as they kept Ben still by holding onto his sides.
"You're always going to remember my name, kid!" Henry began slicing his name in Ben's stomach as he screamed in pain.
"STOP, HENRY!" Ben cried.
Henry didn't stop, which caused Ben to cry more. Then, to Henry's surprise, Ben kicked him in the shin and the force of the kick made Ben flip over the fence and roll down the hill into the Barrens.
Henry looked down the hill and yelled, "YOU'RE GOING TO BE HISTORY SOON, FAT ASS! YOU WON'T BE ABLE TO RUN FOREVER!"
Henry, Victor and Belch watched as Ben hit a few trees and bushes.
"Do you think he's dead?" Victor asked.
Henry shook his head, "Maybe. Hopefully. That means it would be one down."
"The fat ones are the easiest to kill," Belch laughed.
Henry looked down at his watch and then looked back up at the guys, "Winter's nurse is going to be going over to her house soon and she doesn't know where the spare key is, so I have to be there. I'll see you guys on Monday."
Henry turned to walk up the street into Winter's neighborhood. As he walked up the street, he kept seeing things as they were on Main Street – everything was in the 1950's. Some of the houses on Winter's street looked brand new or they were vacant lots. Henry realized it was the jacket that was making him see things that way, and he had to remember to take it off before going into Winter's house.
Winter sat in her bedroom. She had been home for a day and was in her pyjama pants and tank top that she slept in. It felt so much more comfortable being home than being at the hospital. She was so bored all day, though. Her health was slowly coming back, but she felt like she had lost so much weight, especially as she stayed in her pyjamas all day that use to fit her just perfectly before she was sick. She still got nauseous at the thought of eating, and her lungs still felt like barbells, but she wasn't coughing as much and her breathing was becoming stronger with the help of her inhaler.
Winter sat on her chair in her room by the window as she watched the life outside. It was so sunny and people were having fun outside after school. She was waiting for Henry to walk up to her house, but he was later than usual. Sometimes going to all her classes to grab her school work did take some time. She was just happy that the school was letting her take her exams later in the summer so she could still go into senior year in September.
She periodically looked from her Biology Textbook and homework to the window to see if Henry was outside.
As she glanced out the window, she had to look twice. Her heart started to race and she felt all her fear rise from her stomach.
'No way! That can't be...' Winter rubbed her eyes as she got up from her chair and looked out the window.
It was Ace Merrill walking up to her house.
Winter backed away from the window and began to hyperventilate.
"No! No! No!" she said to herself as tears began to fall from her eyes. "Why is he here?"
All the images of Ace from her nightmare in the hospital started to flash through her mind.
"You look so sexy laying there..." Ace jumped on the bed and placed himself on top of her and looked into her frightened eyes, "Laying there so helpless."
Winter heard the front door open. How did Ace knew where the key was?
She looked around her room, but she felt helpless with her IV still hooked into her arm. She cried as she panicked as she heard footsteps coming up the steps.
Winter walked up to the door and held on the doorknob so he wouldn't be able to open the door.
The doorknob began to turn and Winter held it down crying.
"Winter? Are you okay?"
It was Henry.
"Henry?" Winter cried, wanting to be sure.
"Yeah, it's just me!" he said.
Winter opened the door.
She was relieved to see her boyfriend standing there. Henry had taken his jacket off downstairs before he came into the room.
Henry looked at her concerned with the scared look on her face and her crying eyes.
He grabbed her shoulder and glanced around her room, glancing for the clown or whatever may have scared her; "What wrong, baby?" He hugged her.
"I saw Ace Merrill walking up my driveway, but it was you!" she cried. "I don't want to see that asshole ever again!"
Henry looked at her concerned, "Ace Merrill? That ghost you said you saw in the sewer?"
Winter nodded, "I don't think I've ever been so scared of someone in my life."
Henry kissed her lips, "It's me, though. I'll protect you from ghosts." He smiled at her. "I'm sorry I scared you, though," he wiped the tears that were running down her face.
Winter sighed, "It's probably because I'm going crazy being stuck in my room. Can we go out tomorrow, babe? Please?"
Henry smiled softly at her, "You have me all weekend, okay? We can go to the bookstore, go for walks, go for a walk around the mall. I'll even buy you something nice at the mall." He kissed her nose; she smiled and wrinkled her nose in response, "Whatever you want to do. Your nurse needs to show me how to undo your IV, though, before we go out anywhere..." he quickly looked at her hand with the needle in it.
Winter smiled up at him and put her face closer to his, "You know what I really miss doing?"
Henry smiled, catching on that she was hinting to sex; "Not until you're better. Trust me, I really miss it, too." He stared deeply into her eyes before he kissed her. He put his hand down to his crotch where he was starting to get hard; "You see what you did?" he smiled at her, "This is all your fault."
Winter giggled and began kissing him passionately.
Henry pulled away and smiled more at her, feeling himself becoming more aroused, "You're not helping the situation. When you start eating again, then we can have sex again. Eating seems more important."
Winter bit her lower lip at the thought as she was feeling turned on by the look of arousal on his face, "Then we can spend a whole day in bed? Maybe you can spend the entire day in my pussy?"
Henry rolled his eyes and grinned, "Oh my, God! You're gonna be the death of me!"
Winter laughed in response, "Okay! I'll stop talking about it."
Henry stared at her lovingly and sighed. He put her in his arms and hugged her as he nuzzled his face in her neck; "I only feel normal when I'm with you. It's so hard without you at school..." he said seriously.
Winter could sense his stress. She kissed his cheek as they embraced, "I know, but next week is the last week of school. We can spend the whole summer together."
Henry smiled at the idea, "I'm so excited! I need next week to go by quick, and then it can just be you and me all summer."
She looked at his face and kept her arms around his neck, "That sounds like the best summer ever."
Winter could tell by the look on Henry's face that he looked stressed. His smile couldn't disguise the stress in his eyes. She remembered that Eddie asked her the other day if she found Henry was acting different. She didn't see any changes other than stress, but maybe he was different at school.
"Is everything okay at school?" she asked, stroking his cheek with her thumb.
Henry didn't know how to answer. While he had the jacket on, he only had flashbacks from the day. He mostly only remembered being in classes doing his school work. Anytime one of the losers was in sight, the jacket would pull out the psychotic entity within it. He didn't know how to answer her questions without lying to her.
"Exams are next week so I've been stressed out about it," he lied. His exams were pretty much over. "I did make some new friends, though!" he said happily.
Winter smiled, "Really? Who are they?"
"Victor and Belch..." Henry pull the picture that was taken earlier on Main Street out of his pocket. He looked at it before giving it to her and noticed how much the picture had aged in quality since the photographer gave it to him, and the black and white photo wasn't as clear as it was before.
Winter pinched the photograph in her fingertips as she looked at the two guys and Henry. She questioned why all three of them were dressed like they were from a different decade, and how come the photo itself was aged. 'Who takes black and white photos anymore?' It was like it was taken forty or more years ago. She noticed how the two boys hairstyles must have been where Henry was influenced to change his hairstyle like a greaser. But she questioned why three teenagers in 1997 were dressing like 1950's greasers?
As Winter remained quiet as she studied the photo, Henry continued to talk, "The guy in the middle is Victor and the other guy to the side of him is Belch. Victor just got this really cool, brand new, 1958 Plymouth Fury, and we were taking it out for a spin today."
"Brand new? I thought that type of car wasn't made anymore..." Winter questioned.
Henry shook his head and laughed, "They're not. I think his dad might be rich or something and was able to get one custom created."
As Henry continued to talk, Winter's attention focused on Henry's jacket in the picture. Her eyes went wide and her hand started to shake, and she could also feel her sliced hand start to throb. She had seen that jacket before. It was the jacket she picked up in the sewer that had the switchblade inside of it. Right when she picked up the jacket, Ace Merrill appeared.
That jacket belonged to Ace Merrill.
"That jacket..." Winter began to have goosebumps, "Where did you get that jacket?"
Henry noticed the fear that had appeared on her face, "Victor and Belch gave it to me... Why?"
Winter rubbed her forehead with her fingertips as she tried to think how it could have been possible; "That jacket was in the sewers. I picked it up so I could stay warm but, Ace Merrill appeared. This is Ace's jacket. There was also a knife that was in the pocket and that's how I sliced my hand."
Henry thought about the switchblade in his back pocket.
Winter looked up at Henry nervously, "It was Ace that walked up to the driveway. Did you wear the jacket here?"
"Yeah..." he was becoming nervous as she looked scared, "I left it downstairs."
Winter pursed her lips, she was scared for Henry; "Why do they want you to wear it?"
'I want to tell you everything, baby. I want to tell you what the clown wants me to do, the stress of having to kill your friends weighing on my shoulders, the thing the clown showed me today from when I was a baby, how the jacket makes me feel like I have uncontrollable rage when I'm in it, how I can barely remember anything that happens when I take off the jacket and how the world turns into the 1950's when I'm wearing it. Trust me, baby, I want to tell you everything, but I can't. I'm scared It will hurt you if I tell you everything or if I don't follow Its orders...'Henry thought.
"I don't know..." Henry said, "They're trying to get me to wear their style, I guess."
Winter stared up at him, not knowing what to say. It didn't make any sense.
"You can't wear that jacket, Henry. It belonged to a real dangerous, crazy guy..." she nearly started to cry, imaging the danger that the jacket could put Henry in.
'I have to, Winter. I have to wear it to protect you. I can't do what the clown wants me to do when I'm not wearing it...' Henry was thinking as he looked at her sad pleading face.'I wish I didn't have to do this . I need to make sure you're safe.'
As Henry looked at Winter, he saw someone appear sitting on her chair in the back of the room.
"You invited me into the house, Bowers!" said a voice in Henry's head. It wasn't the clown's voice, but it was the voice of the guy sitting in the chair. "Put the jacket back on and let's ditch this place. There's people we've got to kill together."
It was a blonde guy that was wearing the jacket. He was smiling at Henry as he listened to the conversation. Henry knew this was Ace Merrill. Then the reason why he would have appeared in the room dawned on him... He wasn't suppose to leave the jacket anywhere else other than his locker.
Henry grabbed onto Winter's shoulders and wanted to make sure she wouldn't turn around. This guy was dangerous and he remembered her saying that he wanted to rape her in the sewers. Henry knew he needed to protect her.
"I'm so sorry, baby... I didn't know it belonged to him..." Henry was beginning to sweat as Ace stared at him with a big grin on his face, knowing his presence in the room was stressing out Henry.
"Are you okay, Henry?" Winter noticed the fear and sweat that was forming.
"We got to burn rubber, Henry..."
Henry kept looking from Winter's face to the guy sitting in the corner of the room. Winter noticed the fear in Henry's eyes.
"I'm fine..." Henry lied, keeping his eyes on Winter. "It's just this whole town has become really weird lately."
Winter nodded slowly. She knew there was more than Henry was telling her, and she wondered if it had to do with the clown. Of course it had to do with the clown. Everything lately has to do with the clown. She put her hands on his forehead to wipe the sweat as he stared around the room scared.
Winter quickly turned her head around to see what Henry kept glancing at, but nothing was there. It was just her chair there the way she left it.
Before they could speak any further, the front door opened and a friendly voice said, "Winter, I'm here to check up on you!"
"The nurse is here," Winter said to Henry who was starting to look relaxed again, but there was still paranoia in his eyes.
Henry thought about the jacket downstairs and he needed to get it out of the house or else Ace's spirit was going to be running free in the home. He needed to protect Winter from everything, and that meant taking his jacket and putting it in his locker. He would deal with it on Monday.
The nurse came up to the room and smiled at Henry and Winter.
Henry turned to her, "I forgot some books at school. I'll be really quick. Would you be able to stay with her until I get back?"
The nurse was looking at Winter's IV liquids as Henry talked. She turned to look at Henry and nodded at him, "Of course, sweetie!"
Winter kept her eyes on Henry. She was trying to understand what was going on. How was the clown doing this to him?