BORN AT GOOD SAMARITAN HOSPITAL IN WEST ISLIP ON THE 5TH OF NOVEMBER 5, 1984, BRYSON MASTERS WAS NO SUCH THING. HIS FAMILY HAD BEEN TRAVELING TO GO TO A WEDDING THAT WOULD ONLY BE MISSED DUE TO SOMEONE'S WATER BREAKING DURING THE TRIP. INSTEAD OF SEEING THIS AS A BAD SIGN, THEY CHOSE TO SEE THIS JOYOUS MOMENT FOR ALL THAT IT WAS. IT DIDN'T MATTER THAT THIS UNPLANNED PREGNANCY ONLY SPIRALED INTO OTHER UNPLANNED ISSUES. HIS PARENT’S ALWAYS LIVED OFF OF HIGH HOPES THAT THINGS WOULD GET BETTER. SHORT COMINGS THAT FELL UPON THEM WITH MONEY, NOW HAVING TWO CHILDREN, IT WAS THE BEST THEY COULD DO. PERCEPTION WAS KEY, THAT'S WHAT HIS FATHER ALWAYS TOLD HIM, BUT NO ONE BUT THEIR MOTHER EVER REALLY BELIEVED IT. THERE WAS ALWAYS THAT SUPPOSED JOB PROMOTION COMING UP FOR HIS FATHER, ONE THAT NEVER HAPPENED. AND HIS MOTHER DID WHATEVER HOUSEKEEPING JOBS SHE COULD GET, BEING PAID UNDER THE TABLE. NOTHING EVER WAS GOING TO GET BETTER, AND IT CREATED ITS OWN STRAIN.

AS A MEANS OF COPING WITH THIS LIFESTYLE, HIS FATHER DEVELOPED A DRINKING PROBLEM IN THE EARLY YEARS OF BRYSON’S LIFE, AND IT WAS THE ONLY WAY THAT BRYSON EVER REALLY REMEMBERED HIM AS. HIS OLDER BROTHER HAD A FEW YEARS ON HIM, AND WOULD CLING TO THE WAY THEIR MOTHER WOULD SPEAK OF HIM. THE MAN BEFORE ALL OF THE PROBLEMS, THE BOY SHE HAD KNOWN AND GROWN UP WITH. THE SAME MAN SHE FELL IN LOVE WITH BEFORE THIS ENTIRE MESS FELL OUT OF HAND. ONLY IN THE BEST REGARDS, HOLDING ONTO THOSE HOPES THEY HELD BEFORE. HOPES OF A NEWLY MARRIED COUPLE SET ON CHANGING THEIR LIVES AND MAKING SOMETHING OUT OF NOTHING. BUT THERE WOULD COME A TIME WHEN SHE WOULD NO LONGER KEEP BELIEVING THEM OR SIT AROUND INTERNALLY BLAMING HERSELF FOR THE VERY REAL ABUSE THAT WAS BROUGHT UPON HER AS TIME WENT ON.

THE BOY’S MOTHER ONLY MADE TWO KNOWN ATTEMPTS TO FREE HERSELF FROM THIS HELL. ONLY ONCE DID SHE TRY TO TAKE THE BOYS WITH HER. THE FIRST TIME THAT SHE TRIED, BRYSON WAS NO OLDER THAN TWELVE. SHE HAD DECIDED TO DRUG HIM, BUT WAS WORRIED ABOUT THE DOSAGE, NOT WANTING TO KILL HIM. THAT TURNED OUT TO BE HER FATAL MISTAKE. SHE HADN’T USED WHAT SHE NEEDED TO. THEY HADN’T EVEN BEEN ABLE TO MAKE IT OUT OF THE DRIVEWAY BEFORE HE FOUND THEM. GRABBING THE WOMAN BY THE HAIR, BEFORE SHE EVEN HAD THE CAR STARTED, THE BOYS WATCHED IN FEAR, NOT KNOWING WHAT TO DO. THEIR FATHER BEING A SIGHT TO BEHOLD, PUTTING FEAR INTO THEM, NOT JUST OVER WHAT HE WOULD DO TO THEIR MOTHER FOR TRYING TO LEAVE HIM, BUT WHAT HE WOULD DO TO THEM. HIS BROTHER, ANDREW, REFUSED TO CONTINUE TO WATCH. GETTING OUT OF THE CAR, HE RUSHED FOR THEM BOTH, BEFORE THEY WOULD BE HIDDEN BEHIND WALLS INSIDE THE HOUSE. THIS DID LITTLE GOOD, AS HE ENDED UP BEING DRAGGED INSIDE WITH, LEAVING BRYSON TO HEAR THE TORMENT, EVEN IN HIS OWN DREAMS LATER ON.

THE SECOND AND LAST TIME WAS JUST OVER A YEAR LATER, SHE WENT ALONE, PROMISING THAT SHE WOULD COME BACK FOR THE BOYS. BUT SHE NEVER MADE IT PAST THE DOOR. NEVER WERE THESE MOMENTS EVER UTTERED AGAIN. A SILENT UNDERSTANDING AMONG THEM ALL. THEY WERE TRAPPED HERE IN WHATEVER REGARD, WITH THIS MAN AND A MOTHER THAT MAY OR MAY NOT HAVE ACTUALLY COME BACK FOR THEM IF SHE HAD MADE IT OUT. WITHOUT REALIZING IT ALL, THERE WAS A TYPE OF SEPARATION WITH THE FAMILY. ONE THAT ALSO SPOKE IN VOLUMES OF HOW THEY NEEDED TO TAKE CARE OF THEMSELVES FIRST, BEFORE ONE ANOTHER. AT THE AGE OF EIGHTEEN, THE BOYS WOULD BE ABLE TO LEAVE, BUT THEIR MOTHER WAS STUCK HERE.

TWO YEARS AFTER THIS, ANDREW WAS CALLED UPON TO GO AND PICK UP THEIR FATHER AT A LOCAL BAR. HE WAS CAUSING PROBLEMS AND HE WAS THE ONLY ONE WITH A CURRENT LICENSE AS THEIR MOTHER WAS WORKING. NOT WANTING TO, BUT DOING AS HE WAS ASKED, UNWILLING TO HANDLE WHAT CAME WITH NOT LISTENING, HE WENT. LEAVING BRYSON HOME ALONE AS HE DID, THIS WOULD JUST TURN OUT TO BE YET ANOTHER TIME THAT SOMEONE DIDN’T COME BACK FOR HIM AS PROMISED. INSTEAD, A POLICE OFFICER SHOWED UP AT THE HOME, FINDING BRYSON. THE PAIR HAD AN ARGUMENT IN THE CAR. THEIR FATHER WANTING TO DRIVE, BUT REFUSING TO LET ANDREW GO. HAVING TRIED TO GET OUT OF THE CAR, ANDREW WAS NO LONGER WEARING HIS SEATBELT, AND THEIR FATHER NEVER WORE HIS OWN. A CAR CAME RUSHING THROUGH THE LIGHT, A NEAR FATAL ACCIDENT THAT LEFT EVERYONE QUESTIONING WHERE HIS MOTHER WAS.

BRYSON LED THE OFFICER TO WHERE HE KNEW HIS MOTHER WAS AND FOLLOWED ALONG TO THE HOSPITAL. THIS WAS A TURNING POINT IN HIS LIFE. TO WATCH HOW THE STRONG HAD NOW BECOME THE WEAK AND BARELY HOLDING ON. THE LOOK ON HIS MOTHER'S FACE WHEN THERE WAS NO ONE THERE TO SEE. THE DIRECTION HE HAD TAKEN SEEING HUMANITY SHIFT IN THEIR FAMILY, KNOWING FULL WELL THAT NOTHING WOULD BE THE SAME AND HOW HE WISHED HE HAD BEEN OF AGE THEN. ANDREW LOOKED TO BE THE ONE THAT WAS WORSE FOR WEAR, BUT THEIR FATHER, HE WAS THE ONE THAT WASN'T LIKELY TO WALK PROPERLY AGAIN. DISABILITY WAS IN HIS FUTURE. A FUTURE THAT LEFT HIM REALLY UNDER THE CARE OF THEIR MOTHER NOW.

KEEPING HIS HEAD DOWN, BRYSON DID WHATEVER HE WAS TOLD. GROWING UP WITH WHAT HE HAD, HE DID WHAT WAS NECESSARY TO GET BY IN SCHOOL BUT THAT WAS IT. HE DIDN'T WANT TO BE THERE ANYMORE THAN HE WANTED TO BE AT HOME. FLEEING WAS AN IDEA, BUT HE HAD SEEN FIRST HAND WHAT HAPPENED BEFORE. JUST BECAUSE THE SITUATION HAD CHANGED, DIDN'T MAKE IT A LESS LIKELY ENDING. A HIGH SCHOOL DIPLOMA, ODD JOBS TO BE TAKEN, AND NO COLLEGE TO COME. EITHER WAY, AT EIGHTEEN, THERE WAS NO WAY HE WAS WILLING TO SIT BACK AND BE A VICTIM AGAIN. QUIET, WATCHFUL, RESOURCEFUL, FEW WERE EVER GOING TO BE ALLOWED TO GET HIM DOWN. HE WAS GOING TO BE HIS OWN, FREE MAN. LIVE HIS LIFE THE WAY HE SAW FIT BECAUSE ANYTHING HAD TO BE BETTER THAN WHAT ONCE WAS.

OF COURSE, NONE OF THIS WAS AN EASY FEAT. LEAVING QUEENS FOR THE SAKE OF ARGUMENTS AND THINGS HE COULDN'T HANDLE ANYMORE, HE PULLED AWAY. LEFT QUEENS AND HEADED SOUTH. BOUNCING AROUND AND TRYING TO DO MORE THAN EATING OUT OF BOXED CONTAINERS AND STANDING IN LINES FOR HOMELESS, HE DID WELL ENOUGH TO KEEP HIMSELF CLEANED UP. FAMILY WASN'T TO KNOW WHAT WAS GOING ON OR ELSE HE KNEW WHERE THAT LED. PRIDE WAS A MATTER OF NOT ALLOWING PEOPLE TO KNOW WHAT WAS GOING ON. NO SON OF THEIRS WOULD BE DOING THESE THINGS TO SURVIVE, ESPECIALLY WITH THEM NEARBY. BUT THERE WAS A WOMAN AT THE SHELTER, ONE HE TRIED TO PICKPOCKET FOR IT ONLY TO GET CAUGHT. AMUSED AT IT ALL, SHE WILLINGLY HELPED HIM OUT AND HAD HIM CALLING HER HIS AUNT. HELPING HER OUT WITH ALL OF THOSE LITTLE THINGS SHE DIDN'T HAVE ANYONE AROUND FOR. HER OWN CHILDREN WELL OFF AND GROWN, HAVING THEIR OWN, AND HER HUSBAND LONG SINCE PASSED AWAY. IT WAS LIKE HIS WHOLE LIFE CHANGED IN A DREAM. SOMEONE CARING AND WARM ENOUGH TO WANT TO BE THERE.

HAVING TO SIT IN CHURCH WITH HER, FIX THOSE ISSUES AROUND HER HOUSE, KEEPING HER OLD WINDSTAR RUNNING, AND HAVING SOMEONE TO SIT THERE AND LISTEN TO HER STORIES OVER A HOT MEAL, THERE WAS A LOT ABOUT LIFE THAT BRYSON LEARNED FOR THE NEXT HANDFUL OF YEARS OF LIFE. HE NEEDED TO GET BACK OUT THERE, TO LIVE WHAT HE BELIEVED TO BE A NORMAL LIFE, AND SHE WAS HELPING HIM LEARN WHAT THIS WAS. EVERY FAMILY HELD THEIR SECRETS AND THEIR LIES, BUT THERE WAS SOMETHING DEEPER THERE THAT HELD IT TOGETHER. IT MADE HIM SOMETHING BETTER, STRONGER, AND IN THIS, HE STARTED TO BRAVE OUT SOME IDEAS FOR THIS LIFE. SAVING UP MONEY AND STARTING HIS OWN LITTLE BUSINESS THAT STARTED OUT ON EBAY AND SLOWLY MOVED TO AN ACTUAL STOREFRONT. MAKING ENOUGH, HE FOUND HIS OWN APARTMENT AND HASN'T STRUGGLED SINCE, BUT STILL VISITS THAT OLD AUNT EVERY WEEKEND TO CHECK UP ON HER.