mentioned a finished-out attic space, just off his room on the second story. It was unoccupied and would serve as a great locale for a makeshift gym. Adam was excited and quickly agreed to the arrangement.
Bart and Adam spent many days together lifting weights, usually two or three times a week. In between reps, the young turks talked about life, women, and, of course, their favorite subject—money.
Hipp recalled how most of their conversations went. “It seemed to be a common subject of how we both wanted to get ahead in life and be able to do things now versus when we were fifty or sixty.” The two young men discussed “everything from the money that our parents had set away for our college accounts, and maybe different investments and monies that we had set aside for us.”
As bizarre as the image of two young teenagers lifting weights and talking about finances might seem, it was all very normal to Bart and Adam. Both young men were pampered by financially successful parents, attended one of the most academically superior high schools, and considered themselves on the top rung of the social-strata ladder of Sugar Land. Precocious and presumptuous, Bart and Adam believed they were the top dogs in the pack and carried themselves in such a manner at all times.
“We were definitely over average,” Hipp recalled in regard to his and Bart’s financial and social statuses in Sugar Land. He described his family and Bart family’s wealth as a barometer that “defines you as a class, separates you for what you have and what you don’t have.” Adam did not believe that he and Bart ever had to “portray” a wealthy and sophisticated image to their peers, because they simply just were. “I did not have to portray that, it’s just who I was,” and Bart too.
Over time, and thousands of reps of weights, Bart and Adam grew even closer. Their conversations took on a new life beyond just girls and money. They were mainly about Bart’s family. Adam had taken an instant liking to the Whitaker family, as they always graciously welcomed him into their home and treated him like one of their own.
While Adam took a shine to the Whitakers, he noticed that Bart never seemed truly happy around his parents. “He got along somewhat with his dad,” Adam recalled. “He identified himself, aligned himself, more with his father than with his mother.” Adam also noted that Bart “felt estranged from his mother for various reasons.” He just was not sure what those reasons were, because Bart would never completely open up to him.
Adam was able to glean a few reasons for Bart’s discontent with his mother. “He felt she paid too much attention to his brother,” Kevin. Hipp described this as very much “a sore spot” with Bart. According to Hipp, there were a multitude of reasons why this ticked Bart off. Number one on the list was that Bart believed he was, by far, Kevin’s intellectual superior in every way. Bart also believed Kevin was weak. He felt he was too feminine, too much of a pushover. He did not believe his little brother was tough. He did not believe he was a true man yet. Kevin was no superman.
Bart’s mentality tended to follow that of German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche. According to the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Nietzsche’s concept of the “superhuman” first made an appearance in his work Thus Spoke Zarathustra, A Book for All and None ( Also Sprach Zarathustra, Ein Buch für Alle und Keinen, 1883–85), wherein the famed philosopher described the spiritual development of Zarathustra, a solitary, reflective, exceedingly strong-willed, sage-like, laughing and dancing voice of self-mastery who…envisioned a mode of psychologically healthier being beyond the common human condition. Nietzsche refers to this higher mode of being as “superhuman” (übermenschlich).” He believed it to be a doctrine for only the healthiest who can love life in its entirety—with this spiritual standpoint,
Bart and Adam spent many days together lifting weights, usually two or three times a week. In between reps, the young turks talked about life, women, and, of course, their favorite subject—money.
Hipp recalled how most of their conversations went. “It seemed to be a common subject of how we both wanted to get ahead in life and be able to do things now versus when we were fifty or sixty.” The two young men discussed “everything from the money that our parents had set away for our college accounts, and maybe different investments and monies that we had set aside for us.”
As bizarre as the image of two young teenagers lifting weights and talking about finances might seem, it was all very normal to Bart and Adam. Both young men were pampered by financially successful parents, attended one of the most academically superior high schools, and considered themselves on the top rung of the social-strata ladder of Sugar Land. Precocious and presumptuous, Bart and Adam believed they were the top dogs in the pack and carried themselves in such a manner at all times.
“We were definitely over average,” Hipp recalled in regard to his and Bart’s financial and social statuses in Sugar Land. He described his family and Bart family’s wealth as a barometer that “defines you as a class, separates you for what you have and what you don’t have.” Adam did not believe that he and Bart ever had to “portray” a wealthy and sophisticated image to their peers, because they simply just were. “I did not have to portray that, it’s just who I was,” and Bart too.
Over time, and thousands of reps of weights, Bart and Adam grew even closer. Their conversations took on a new life beyond just girls and money. They were mainly about Bart’s family. Adam had taken an instant liking to the Whitaker family, as they always graciously welcomed him into their home and treated him like one of their own.
While Adam took a shine to the Whitakers, he noticed that Bart never seemed truly happy around his parents. “He got along somewhat with his dad,” Adam recalled. “He identified himself, aligned himself, more with his father than with his mother.” Adam also noted that Bart “felt estranged from his mother for various reasons.” He just was not sure what those reasons were, because Bart would never completely open up to him.
Adam was able to glean a few reasons for Bart’s discontent with his mother. “He felt she paid too much attention to his brother,” Kevin. Hipp described this as very much “a sore spot” with Bart. According to Hipp, there were a multitude of reasons why this ticked Bart off. Number one on the list was that Bart believed he was, by far, Kevin’s intellectual superior in every way. Bart also believed Kevin was weak. He felt he was too feminine, too much of a pushover. He did not believe his little brother was tough. He did not believe he was a true man yet. Kevin was no superman.
Bart’s mentality tended to follow that of German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche. According to the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Nietzsche’s concept of the “superhuman” first made an appearance in his work Thus Spoke Zarathustra, A Book for All and None ( Also Sprach Zarathustra, Ein Buch für Alle und Keinen, 1883–85), wherein the famed philosopher described the spiritual development of Zarathustra, a solitary, reflective, exceedingly strong-willed, sage-like, laughing and dancing voice of self-mastery who…envisioned a mode of psychologically healthier being beyond the common human condition. Nietzsche refers to this higher mode of being as “superhuman” (übermenschlich).” He believed it to be a doctrine for only the healthiest who can love life in its entirety—with this spiritual standpoint,
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