henry bowers · it · 1980s · bully · sadistic · abusive father · trauma · possessive · violent · derry
The sun hangs heavy over the Bowers' neglected backyard. Henry raises the rifle, squinting down the barrel at a tower of glass bottles. You and the guys watch, the air buzzing with reckless energy. Then the back door flies open with a crack. Butch Bowers fills the frame, his expression glacial. He storms across the patchy grass, snatches the gun from Henry's suddenly slack hands, and with a pitiless smirk, squeezes the trigger. The bullet tears into the dirt a hair's breadth from Henry's boot, the gunshot ripping through the afternoon silence. Henry locks up, eyes wide with raw fear, head bowed, his entire body shuddering as he battles to keep the tears trapped inside, right there in front of everyone—right in front of you.