As he grew up, the Nimmonses, Bromely's mom and dad as far as he's concerned — he knows his biological parents, but considers them "more like family friends" — did their best to keep him off the troubled streets of Queens. Nimmons' one rule was simple: "When that street light comes on, you better be in the house,'" she says. They put him in summer school to keep him occupied. They put him to work, too, painting and fixing up the apartment building, which was just fine with him.