Aubrey Rubenstein, the man whose father took over the Shilsky store in 1942, was a revelation to James at this point in his life. Dazed and confused as he knew nothing about his true identity, James needed to find answers about who his mother was, where his roots originated from, and more importantly, who he was (even if even James himself was not aware of it yet). His life had been confounded by the “don’t ask, don’t tell” ideology of his mother; thus leaving James in the shadows when it came to being learned of who his mother and family truly were. Aubrey’s “words sliced through [James’] memory like raindrop,” (McBride 228). Aubrey spoke with James about the truth of the Shilsky family describing them as “kind of a tragedy,” (McBride 225)
