And he also created a magical atmosphere of trust between us by confessing his secret, which was that, as a very young boy starting at age four, he had been savagely and repeatedly physically abused by his stepfather, and the abuse had gotten so bad that he had had to drop out of school in eighth grade, even though he was very smart, and he'd spent almost 20 years rebuilding his life.
Og han skabte en magisk tillidsfuld stemning mellem os ved at betro mig sin hemmelighed: At han som lille dreng, fra fire–årsalderen, var blevet brutalt fysisk mishandlet af sin stedfar igen og igen. Volden var blevet så slem, at han måtte  gå ud af skolen i ottende klasse. Selv om han var virkelig kvik. Det havde taget ham næsten 20 år at genopbygge sit liv.