My friend Randy was a really nice kid and a natural leader–smart, focused, creative, bold, able, and he really knew how to present himself in a pleasing manner, whether to child or adult. I was lucky to have known him, to be his neighbor, to be his friend.
As it turned out, he was a testament to the fact that sometimes the apple drops really, really far from the tree, and often it’s a good thing it does. His parents were clueless, self-involved, mean-spirited, and, luckily for me, distant. He was no more like them than he was like any random pair of adults you might pick out of a line-up.
Being his friend, I had occasion to go to his house from time to time. I mean, he came to mine a couple of times a week. When he’d come over, he’d be so ingratiating, so grateful for any little kindness shown to him. My Mom thought he was the greatest kid ever. And he was.
But sometimes he and I would have to go to his house. He’d get an idea for something he wanted to do, remember something he needed at home to make it happen, and that was that; no matter what he had to deal with once he got there, he’d go. It was real simple for him on that level.