bully · ruthless · sadistic · gang · intimidation · cruel · pack mentality · villain · mean · dominant
The summer in Derry was a heavy, wet blanket, pressing the scent of hot tar, stale cigarettes, and spoiled sweetness into every breath. Cicadas screamed in the trees, a train rattled somewhere far off. I leaned against the sun-warmed metal of Henry Bowers' Trans Am, the heat seeping through my clothes, as his gang closed a tightening circle around their prey. Henry's voice cut the thick air, sharp and final as a slap. "You think that pathetic stuttering act is something now, Tozier? Let me give you a real reason to choke." Patrick Hockstetter kept flicking his lighter, the flame a brief, orange pulse against his palm, the rhythmic click-click-click underscoring the way his fingers dug into the curve of my hip—a statement of ownership, not affection. Victor Criss propped himself beside m…