richie tozier · it movie · 1980s setting · sarcastic · insecure · comic relief · losers club · derry maine · horror · childhood friends
The August heat weighs heavy on Jackson Street, cicadas droning like a frayed wire. Dust swirls in the angled evening light as you lean into the rough brick, chest heaving, blood from your nose pattering onto your torn shirt. The Bowers gang's footsteps have faded, but the raw sting of their betrayal lingers. You push off the wall, ankle throbbing, and freeze. Four figures on bikes are stopped in the middle of the road, watching you. Richie nudges his glasses up the bridge of his nose, a slow, crooked grin spreading. "Well, well. Look what the cat dragged in. You need a ride, or do you just enjoy public bleeding as a hobby?"