Much like the fictional Disney princess Cinderella, Gregory Jr. was treated with no respect at all. He explained later on, “I felt like a maid. I had to clean the house and yard, and if there was even a leaf out of place my stepmom would beat me with a stick.” And even worse, Gregory wasn’t treated like a member of the family. In fact, there were days when he was kept hidden behind a wall in the home and made to sleep in a camp bed with just a thin blanket, even if the colder nights called for much warmer surroundings. He said, “I had to sleep on a cot in front of the door of the garage. She only gave me a thin blanket to cover me and I got cold. The other kids slept in a bed.”