Chapter 1

Less than a week later, David was in the back seat of the family car heading south on Interstate 95. He, his Mother and Father were heading to Orlando, Florida and Walt Disney World for a week’s vacation in celebration of his graduation from junior high school; next year he would be attending high school. Little did he know, and his parents wouldn’t be telling him until after their stay at Disney World, that they were moving to Boca Raton, Florida. Mr. Richardson had been asked to begin preparations for a new product line of IBM computers. It meant a vice presidency for him and a lot more money if the project was a success.

David would be attending the Boca Raton Christian School, a small private school with classes from K through 12 and a 100% acceptance rate into college upon graduation. Of course, it meant that he’d be leaving behind all of his friends and classmates, many who he had known from the first day of school. One person he would especially miss was his best friend Willie.

“How could he just leave me without even saying good bye,” she cried as the tears cascaded down her cheeks. “I thought he really liked me, I thought he really cared.”

“Awilda, he didn’t know; his parents didn’t tell him before they left. In fact, I’m not even sure he knows now. His mother said to me that they didn’t plan on telling him until they left Disney World. She begged me not to tell you until after they left. His father was especially insistent about that. They wanted him to enjoy their vacation and knew he would be upset the whole time if he found out beforehand. If the moving van hadn’t come this morning, I probably wouldn’t have told you until next week. I’m sorry, but that’s the way it had to be. Maybe he’ll write to you when they finally find a place in Boca Raton, Florida.

Awilda spent much of her time during that first summer at her father’s dojo. She improved her skills to the point that she qualified as a second degree Black Belt and began taking lessons in Taekwondo, a Korean form of Martial Arts. When she began school in September, she spent the first several days defending “her David’s” honor.

“No, he did not change schools because he was afraid of me. His father was transferred to Florida and they had to move to Boca Raton right after school ended last year. No, I haven’t heard from him, maybe he’s just been too busy to write. I’m sure I’ll hear from him soon.”

But she didn’t hear from him, not a telephone call, not even a letter. It was like he wanted to forget all about her.

In fact, David had written several letters to her. He had left the letters with the other bill payments that his Father was mailing. What he didn’t know was that instead of mailing his letters, his Father, wanting David to make a clean break from his past so he could devote all of his efforts towards the future, had removed them and had fed them into the shredder at work. After several months with no reply from Willie, David just assumed that she wanted no part of him. Disappointed, he reluctantly, went on with his life.

Sadly, each missed the other’s metamorphosis.

Awilda grew into her beauty gracefully. She grew nearly two and a half inches in height and added twenty pounds of solid muscle to her already powerful body. She became a dominant, self-assured young woman, eager to take on the new challenges of a rapidly changing world. Not being a very good student, she set her sights, not on going to college; instead her path in life would be cut through the male dominated world of the United States Marine Corps.

David’s changes were even more remarkable. It was like his body had been storing energy in the form of fat, just waiting for the right moment. Seemly overnight, he grew eight inches in height, while actually losing nearly ten pounds. With his model-like good looks and his tall trim physique, he had no trouble attracting members of the opposite sex. He had plenty of dates, but no lasting or deep relationships. Instead, he spent much of his spare time sitting with his Father; picking his brain, learning about how IBM worked, its corporate culture, its proud history of innovation, and how best he could prepare himself to join this global giant. He accomplished the first part of his plan with his acceptance into the Stanford University’s School of Computer Science.