After living with a flurry of stepfathers, American’s mother finally settled on a man who thought he was a woman. One day when American was sixteen, he came home from school to every kid’s nightmare: an empty house. The only things left were his bed, his books, his clothes, and his Commodore 64 computer. His mother had sold the home to pay for two plane tickets and the fee for her boyfriend’s sex change operation. American packed up his computer. He was on his own.
