I had just turned 14 years of age and for the most part I hated my hometown of Jackson, Tennessee. My father gave me permission, thank God, to stay with my older sister in Houston. So, as my sister drove past the city limit signs, I flipped the bird toward my old home. The only thing I enjoyed about Jackson was playing sports such as football, basketball, and baseball. Sports got really boring though because my junior high was so good and others were so bad that we basically crushed everyone we played.

The drive from Houston to Jackson is about 16 hours and the time went by really fast. As we crossed state lines I grew even more excited about going to Houston. A few hours later, we were passing through downtown Dallas. We were still about two hours from Houston but it was refreshing to see city girls instead of country-sweet girls. No plain Jane’s at all in Dallas. Watching such beautiful women walking the streets made me realize how much more there is in the world. We spent about 10 minutes in the city of Dallas but it only seemed like 10 seconds because of the eye candy that was there. Those were the best 10 minutes of my life.

Houston was similar to Dallas , but even more beautiful women were there and I couldn’t wait to wander around the city. As I entered “H-town,” I noticed it was huge and there was only flat land instead of the hills and annoying rocky roads of Jackson. There were freeways in Houston instead of the highways in Jackson. But housing in H-town was cheap like in Jackson. My sister and her husband just bought a huge four-bedroom house in a beautiful subdivision in North Houston. The living rooms were long and spacious but the ceilings weren’t that high. I felt like the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, because I went from a shack to a first-class suite.

That night my cousins and I got dressed and went to a mini theme park called Celebration Station. They had bumper cars, arcades, miniature golf, and a racetrack—all a part of a child’s dream. Everyone was friendly and had a lot of style. My aunt sent me fashionable clothes from Los Angeles, thank God, or else I would have stuck out like a sore thumb.

Before I walked in the place I took a deep breath, closed my eyes, and took another deep breath, then opened my eyes to a beautiful tall biracial girl, who looked the same age as me. She smiled and I was at a loss for words but gathered myself in a split second to get her telephone number. I will never forget those pretty green eyes and her long, Pocahontas hair. She was so stunning; she would have made a blind man see.

It didn’t stop there. Girls of all ethnicities surrounded me and grinned from ear to ear. One after another passed by me and I got their telephone numbers. I forgot how the rides were but I could remember every pretty face I met. As midnight approached, I counted out 24 different telephone numbers as I sat in the car leaving Celebration Station. I looked older than 14 though, so most of the girls I approached were 16 or 17. On top of that, most of them wanted my number as well! I thought I had the night of my life but it got even more fun as we decided to go to the multiplex theater at one in the morning.

As I entered, I didn’t close my eyes because I didn’t except anyone to be there so late. Boy, was I wrong! My pockets were full of numbers and the theater concession stand was full of girls. “This city is just amazing,” I thought.

During the movie, I purposely bought more candy and soda in an effort retrieve more numbers. Of course I succeeded and received five numbers out of the five girls I asked.

When I got home, I was so exhausted from the great night I had I just flopped on my bed still wearing my clothes and shoes. The next day my sister told some coaches at the high school that I was a very talented quarterback. I expected to see a lot of competition but I had a serious edge. I had played baseball all my life. From that I had the ability to throw long and accurately with both hands. Coaches fell in love with my abilities on the field and I continued to impress them with my throws to receivers. Being able to throw 60 yards with both arms would impress anyone. I thought this city was too good to be true.

The year I spent in Houston was heaven to me. That whole year nothing bad happened at all; not even a common cold hit me. Everything and everyone was exciting and it just seemed like I was soaring above the world and nothing could stop me.