Chapter 1: New Life

The first couple of days after I left home were life changing–and not in a good way. I didn’t go very far. I just went to the next town over. It was so close to home that I could actually run into my mom here. I hoped I didn’t. At least I wasn’t ready to face her at that time. I spent my first days living it up. You know how young knuckleheads do.

Most nights I got so drunk I just passed out wherever I was!

But some nights, the reality of my situation would hit, and in those moments I remembered that I was homeless. Night after night I walked the streets of Willow Creek as if it were going to change my situation. Or, as if someone would notice me and take me in. And, yes, at times the thought of just fixing things with my mom and going back home crossed my mind. But, I was so determined to prove her wrong, I stayed away. I slept everywhere:  outside, the gym, the library. I was miserable.

One day, I was jogging through a very wealthy neighborhood, and I saw a beautiful plot of land for sale. I thought it was strange that a piece of land so large and in such a nice neighborhood would be empty. I tried to forget about it, but it stayed with me. I went to the library to look it up. It turned out that it was the largest plot of residential property in the whole town! On top of that, it was only $10,000.

“I can actually afford that,” I said to myself.

I thought about it for a few days and ran past it a few times. One night I visited it, and I thought to myself, “Wouldn’t it be funny if I bought this land, built a house, and had the most successful family in town? Hmmmm….” The next day I found myself in city hall receiving the deed to MY land! Remember when I said that I wasn’t stubborn, but I was ambitious? 🙂 I didn’t waste all my money on parties and booze. I had just enough to buy the land, build a shoe box house, a bed, and a toilet.

My father died when I was younger and left me a small inheritance. My mom had it in an account for me all these years collecting interest, and she finally gave me access to it as a graduation present. She hoped I would use it to go to college, but school just wasn’t for me. Besides, most of the wealthiest people in the world didn’t attend college. I planned to be one of them.

After I bought the land and built the house, my world changed. I had something that was mine, and I wanted to take care of it and grow it. I found a job as tech support agent. I even started scrounging around town for things I could sell to make extra money.

I had been tempted to get a credit card to finance some furniture, but that was a terrible idea. Highly successful people don’t finance furniture! I decided to be happy and content living debt free and buy things as I could afford them. So, for food, I always made friends with people having picnics–some weren’t that friendly though. I showered at the gym.

Things were tight and uncomfortable, but I was enjoying life. I had finally become a man.