The start of everything

Johnny was something more than a buddy.I opened the book and a slip of paper fell off.There's a phrase i could not forget; you're gold when you are a kid,like green.When you are a kid,every thing's new,dawn.I knew someone should tell their side of the story.Maybe people will understand by not judging a boy by the amount of grease oil he wore.It was important to me.I phoned my English teacher and asked how long can the theme be.He said as long as i want.I sat down remembering a handsome,dark boy with a reckless grin and a hot temper. A tough, towheaded boy with a cigarette in his mouth and a bitter grin on his hard face. Remembering - and this time it didn't hurt - a quiet, defeated-looking sixteen-year old whose hair needed cutting badly and who had black eyes with a frightened expression to them. One week had taken all three of them. And I decided I could tell people, beginning with my English teacher. I wondered for a long time how to start that theme, how to start writing about something that was important to me. And I finally began like this: When I stepped out into the bright sunlight from the darkness of the movie house, I had only two things on my mind: Paul Newman and a ride home....