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.
Y además creó entre nosotros una atmósfera mágica de confianza mutua al confesarme su secreto: cuando era pequeño, a partir de los cuatro años, su padrastro había abusado físicamente de él de manera salvaje y repetida, y el abuso había llegado a ser tan brutal, que había tenido que dejar la escuela en octavo, a pesar de ser muy listo, y que había pasado casi 20 años intentando rehacer su vida.