Sonia Kaspbrak felt uneasy when Eddie left without a single word.
She felt real anxious driving around, looking for her little boy.
As soon as she saw the bikes in front of an old abandoned house, she let it all out.
'I swear, if anything happened to my little Eddie, there will be hell to pay…'
The woman got out of her car as she saw the kids approach her.
"Stay where you are!" she ordered, and the Losers froze in their tracks.
"Ma-mama, please d-don't yell," Eddie stuttered, trying to fight back tears.
"You don't tell me what to do, understand!"
Eddie solemnly nodded, the tears falling down his face once again.
"And what happened to your arm?"
"He fell, and it broke…maybe instead of bitching, you take him to a hospital."
Bev bit her tongue after saying what was on her mind; she was probably going to get a lashing, but she couldn't stand to see Eddie take one himself.
"You," Sonia pointed towards Bev, and then pointed to the rest of the Losers, "all of you stay away from my son!"
As Eddie slowly moved towards the car, his mother opened the passenger-side door, allowing him to enter, and then slammed it shut.
Before Sonia peeled out of Neibolt Street, Eddie looked back at his friends, unsure if this would be the last time he saw them this summer…if ever.
Richie was in the back of the group, shaking his head and mouthing 'sorry' over and over again.
Eddie saw this and brought his lips in as fresh tears rolled down his face, shaking his head in agony.
As the car sped out of sight, Ben asked, "So…what now?"
"We-we go back in a-again and—"
"Are you fucked!" Richie shouted, "You almost got killed, and you want to fight him again?"
"Y-yeah…there's a ba-basement with a well…I saw It go d-down there."
"For fucks sake, man, let it go," Richie said, his head shaking in anguish.
"Let what go?" Stan asked.
"The notion that we can win," Ben said, "I'm sorry, but I agree with Richie."
As Ben and Richie moved on to their bikes, Bev yelled, "So this is it! We're done!"
"You guys can fight – go ahead and get killed by that clown, but leave us out of it."
Hearing Ben back out made Bev feel uneasy. She turned her back towards Bill.
"Do you…do you think we have a shot?"
Bill turned towards her, Mike, and Stan.
"Who knows, b-but I'm not g-going to rest until G-G-Geor—"
"He's dead!"
Bill turned towards Richie, who was seething on his bike.
"…What did you say?" Bill asked slowly as he approached.
"Face the facts; Georgie is dead. You're only asking for trouble if you go out of harm's way to kill a clown."
Bill shook his head as he was over Richie.
"You take that back."
"Why, because it goes against your narrative?"
Richie stood up and pushed Bill with enough force to have the leader stumble a few inches.
"You killed him – you'll kill the others."
As soon as Bill heard this, he ran over to Richie and landed a punch towards his face.
"Bill!" Bev yelled as she approached the leader, standing between him and Richie, who was on the ground grabbing his cheek.
"You're nothing but a…" Richie started to say before rising up from the ground, "fucking asshole!"
"Both of you guys, knock it off," Bev said with arms raised, "this is what It wants from us. He wants us divided."
Richie shook his head. "I don't see a problem with that," as he mounted his bike once again.
As he pedaled away, Bill looked on with tears in his eyes.
"I…I j-just want G-G-Georgie to be o-okay," he said somberly. "Why did—"
His train of thought was cut off as Bev engulfed him in a hug.
"I don't know," she whispered to him, "but we need to play it safe for now."
Bill nodded as he broke away from Bev, wiping his face clean.
"So, what do we do now?" asked Mike, "We going to lay low until we're all together again?"
"I'm…fine with that," Stan mumbled.
Mike turned towards Ben, who was busy nursing his stomach wound.
"I need some assistance to the nearest hospital…or a good explanation for me to go home to."
It is said that time heals all wounds…well, it did for some.
Ben was bandaged after stating to his parents that he was in a gruesome fight with bullies that may have involved rocks and knives…at least he wasn't lying to them directly. He spent a good week in the library, taking up history novels of greats from the past, and how their downfall cast away all the doom and gloom of the time.
Bev remained indoors, mainly in her bedroom and out on the fire escape, not wanting to be at the end of her father's abusive ways.
Stan practiced his speech, again and again…but something felt off – he felt it being forced out instead of coming to him on the spot, and with only days to spare, he knew he had to get this right unless he wanted to be the synagogue's whipping boy.
Mike went back to working on his grandfather's farm, slaughtering lamb for the first time – he has seen some shit that the slaughtering didn't affect him too much.
Bill…well, he still did everything like he did before this summer came – alone; without the annoyance of Georgie, who he deeply missed.
Eddie was on a tight leash, only to take trips to the pharmacy to pick up his prescriptions. He loathed his mother as the week went on, having to hear her nag about his once close friends.
As for Richie…he found it in himself to spend an hour on his bike the day before Stan's Bar Mitzvah riding around and wrestling with his inner monologue.
'Everything that has happened so far – the book, the hand-holding, the ice cream, the arcade day, all the lies – seems to paint me in a different light.'
Richie – you aren't attracted to the opposite sex.
As his conscience made its point, Richie's pedaling came to a stop as he drew up towards the red-painted awning of a short tunnel.
He was at the Kissing Bridge, as many others have dubbed it.
Parking his bike, he took out his pocket knife and tossed it up in the air a few times.
'So, if I'm not attracted to, say, Bev, but attracted to Eddie…what does that make me?'
It makes you gay – and while others might have a problem, it doesn't change who you are.
For once, his conscience was right. Richie knew who he was – a kind-hearted teen that loves with all his heart.
And if his heart was meant for Eddie…well, there was only one way to make that proclamation.
Walking over to the wood that had tons of initials, he carved in his first initial, followed by a plus sign, and finishing up with Eddie's first initial.
Congrats, you just took the first step.
'The first step…towards what?'
Letting it all out there…you found yourself in love with someone, no matter how young and little it may be. Now, the next step would be letting your friend know you are there for them no matter what, and then tell them how you truly feel for him. Got it?
Richie nodded as he hopped onto his bike to head home, one thought in mind.
'Eddie…I hope you understand.'