Eli knew growing up that his parents had never been anything serious. They were a fling while his dad was on tour. A fling that just so happened to result in, well, him. 

Eli's mom did a pretty good job taking care of him by herself, until she just couldn't anymore. When he was four, she broke down and reached out to Richie to let him know he had a son. She didn't need help raising him, she just needed a little money to get her through a rough patch. Well, Trashmouth may have been his name, but Richie wasn't a deadbeat, so he started sending regular child support once he knew about Eli.

After that, things were pretty good. Eli met his dad a couple of times, talked to him on the phone a few more, but it was mostly just birthday cards. Eli didn't mind, though. He was happy with it being just him and his mom, and couldn't imagine needing anything more from his dad than what he got. 

Then his mom was gone. She died in a hit and run when he was eight, and he got sent to live with his mom's brother and sister-in-law. Things went from tensed, forced politeness, to hell on earth very quickly; his aunt and uncle abused him for being a "disgusting, filthy, bastard child." Eli tried to just bear with it. After all, he should be grateful to be taken in, right? He didn't know how to get in contact with his dad, and didn't have anyone else to ask for help, so he simply endured the abuse in silence. 

Richie called his aunt and uncle's house on his twelfth birthday. He asked how Eli was doing, and before he knew it, Eli was sobbing, telling his dad everything that had been happening. He never asked, but Richie showed up mere days later to pick him up. Eli never saw his aunt and uncle again. Not long after living with his dad, Elias Brandt became Elias Tozier, and that was that.