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.
Er schaffte diese magische Atmosphäre  von Vertrauen zwischen uns, indem er mir sein  Geheimnis anvertraute: Ab dem Alter  von vier Jahren war er brutal und  wiederholt physisch von seinem Stiefvater  missbraucht worden. Der Missbrauch war so schlimm geworden, dass er  in der achten Klasse die Schule abbrechen musste, obwohl er sehr intelligent war, und er hatte fast 20 Jahre damit  verbracht, sein Leben neu aufzubauen.