May I have "childhood"?

(just don't kill Satchmo, please!)

Ha! I won't kill Satch, I promise. :)

Neal was aware that his family was unusual from an early age. There were a few years where it was great; he had a mom and a dad and friends to come to his birthday party. Then, everything changed overnight. He was woken from a deep sleep and carried out to a waiting car by a man he'd never seen. His mother was right behind him, but she didn't answer his questions or tell him anything more than to be still and quiet. It was dark and rainy the night his dad died, the night that his whole life changed forever.

After that, things were weird. He was given a new name, and they moved from apartment to house to apartment across the St Louis area. His mother faded more every year until she barely had anything to say to him. Gone were the days when she helped him with his homework or asked about his day at school or if his friends wanted to spend the night on a weekend.

Neal knew that she was sad about his dad, and he was sad too, so he learned to get along on his own. He got himself to school on time, and he did his homework every night. He brushed his teeth and combed his hair nicely and conned kids out of their lunch money with card games and tricks on the school bus so he would be able to eat lunch himself.

In those school-age years, Neal learned the valuable lesson of how to take care of himself.