We arranged an afternoon conversation at a community center where Nathan’s counselor could be nearby, and I waited in the lobby with a book I never managed to read.

Nathan had prepared three questions on a notecard.

He later told me he asked them in order.

Why did you leave when we were four?

Why didn’t you keep your promises?

Do you want to know us, or do you want other people to think you do?

Brian had trouble with the third question.

He admitted that after the competition he initially worried about what colleagues would say.