In his essay, Someone Else, Offutt describes himself as “free”, “vulnerable” and as a “lonely boy”. His parents only cared about his “academic grades,” leaving him alone in the world as a fourteen-year-old boy. The abuser provided for him in a way his parents had not. “The Fatman listened to me,” Offutt says, “offered me a kind of sympathy and attention that I needed.” (140). Through Offutt's eyes, the "fat guy" gave him everything his parents had never given him: attention, sympathy, candy and popcorn at the movies. Offutt was looking for affection to replace the emptiness he felt. He writes that his parents are "used to his absences", so they did not notice what was happening to their son. (140). Once again, the lack of attention and protection from the parents has brought the kids into such a situation. His parents trusted him to take care of himself, and Lopez's mother trusted Shier with her