Did Anyone Have a Henry Bowers in Their Life?
I've never had a bully in my life quite as sadistic as Henry Bowers, but I did know a kid who was similar to him back in high school. The kid never went to class so he either dropped out or got expelled, and then managed to fail out of a trade school for welding. He was racist beyond all belief and hated anyone who was not white, and a friend told me his family was the same way. He had been known to make racist comments during classes and end up getting kicked out. If he was drunk or high enough he was known to actually even threaten minorities before. Eventually he was arrested for something having to do with drugs, and then got sent to a rehab. I remember the day he came back to town he started doing heavy drugs again, and he told me he went around with random people slashing tires the night before while high. A friend also told me this kid went around a local cemetery pushing over headstones, which ended up making the news. I remember hanging around playing video games with this guy, and he would say things like: "Hey, where's that stupid cat? I want to set it on fire!" Henry Bowers did not do drugs in the book, but this kid had many similarities to him besides that. It's very unpleasant being around people like this, but I feel like many of us have had the experience.
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