Too Tough Too Cry

The Story

At the age of seven, Paul (then known as LaVern) Powers lost the two most important things in his life: his mother and his puppy. What he didn't realize was that he had also lost something just as precious and irretrievable -- his childhood. Beaten by his father for crying over the death of his mother. LaVern vowed he would never cry again. For the next 13 years, despite an abusive and poverty-stricken family life which culminated in his murdering a woman for $500, the young man kept his promise, suppressing the fierce pain that welled from within.