At a young age max's mom had died and his father was put in jail so max had to live with his grandparents which he calls "gram and grim". max had gone to a daycare near their house and he met Freak/Kevin. they would call max " kicker" because he would kick people. his grandparents didn't trust max enough to sleep in a room next to them so they made him sleep in the basement.
In the basement, Max tells Freak about Grim and Gram, and Freak uses vocabulary beyond Max's understanding when observing that Grim must have gotten his “sobriquet” because of how he acts. Sobriquet, Freak explains, means nickname.
Kevin/freak and Max walk to the fireworks display at the millpond together. This is the first time Max is allowed to go without his grandparents, but they agree so Max can watch Kevin. Max thinks dumb, but is still happy to be somewhere without adult supervision. they meet blade and his gang, but escape and run into the pond and the cops come and blade and his gang escaped, and Kevin and max where taken back home and max was called a "hero" for "saving" freak even though freak saved him.