100 Days of Character Development - 15
How would you describe your childhood in general?
“Fine.” he said, shrugging and looking elsewhere.
I pressed him on the meaning of fine, which got me a blank stare, the one I get when he doesn’t wish to talk about a subject. I reminded him that he agreed to be interviewed, was warned the questions might be difficult, and he still agreed. After looking at me for a few uncomfortable moments, his shoulders sagged and he sighed quietly.
"My childhood was… odd I suppose is the best word. My uncle Sean was the head of the household. He was universally feared by the family, including me, but he taught me a lot, and encouraged me to better myself. His punishments for misbehavior, however, were always cruel and usually painful. My cousins were loathsome, vile, cruel, and amoral. I lived with them until I left Gilneas a little ahead of the law and a lynch mob at around age 15."
“Until I grew large enough to beat them soundly and they knew I would not hesitate to thrash them, they made my life a living hell. Both they and their visiting friends would taunt me because of my disfigurements until they grew to fear me. They called me Kurt the Creature, or they would run away from me when they saw me, screaming that there was a monster loose."
“My favorite times were with two of Uncle Sean’s men I called Nameless and Blameless. They were hard, cold, men who handled my Uncle’s more difficult enforcements and I idolized them. They took me under their wings and taught me a lot about the criminal trade. I think they liked my names for them.”
“Can you imagine? The best times of a child’s life were ones he spent with two men who were both hardened criminals and murderers. That is how I’d describe my childhood in general."
He looked away out the window, as a mood of silence took him. I knew he would not speak again the rest of the day, so I slipped away.
