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Nineteen years old/May
All throughout my morning workout sessions, my mind was busy trying to figure out what Patrick might have said last night. I wasn’t able to come up with anything that sounded concrete, though. I worked out until the last possible minute when I absolutely had to get ready for Morgan’s graduation.
While I showered and got dressed, my mind still tried to come up with possibilities as to what Patrick mumbled last night. I was no closer now than I had been then. I shrugged into my suit jacket as I walked out of my bedroom and into the great room. Patrick was sitting at the kitchen island reading the newspaper.
“Anything good?” I asked as I went to the fridge to get a bottle of water.
“Yeah.” He set the paper down and turned it to face me. “You should save this.”
I pulled the paper closer and read the headline. “Fighter on the Rise: Hollis Ward.”
“Cool. Did you read it?” I asked. I grabbed the graduation card for Morgan and opened it up to sign.
“Yep, it says you’re a dick.” I glanced at him without bringing my head up. “Just kidding, man. It’s a great article.”
“I’ll read it when we get back.”
I signed the card and then slid it across the counter for Patrick to sign.
“I feel weird signing this.”
“Why?” I asked as I wrote out the check to my brother.
“Because. I didn’t chip any money in.”
“I don’t care. Besides, it’s just a graduation card.”
“With a huge check attached and a condo.”
“I want to make sure Morgan has a comfortable place close to campus so he doesn’t have to drive so far. Plus, he’s going to love having a place of his own. The check is just something for him to put in the bank to live off of so he doesn’t have to work while going to school.”
Morgan was graduating as the high school’s valedictorian, and he earned several full ride scholarships. He accepted a scholarship to a school that was really only about forty minutes away, but in Los Angeles traffic, that could be grueling. Morgan wants to get an art degree, and if he doesn’t have to worry about driving too far, or working for some money to live on, he can focus on what he wants.
“You do know that Ginny was wrong, right?”
I paused after writing Congratulations, Morgan on the memo line of the check.
“Ginny was an angry bitch,” Patrick said. I looked up at him. “She said those things about you being selfish because she knew it would hurt you. You’re the most selfless guy I’ve ever met. Your family, especially Morgan, want nothing but the best for you and for you to live this dream of yours.”
“Thanks, Patrick.”
“I mean it.”
“I know you do. Thank you. I’ve been very fortunate, and I want to make sure my family is taken care of.”
“Good. I just wanted to make sure you didn’t buy into anything that bitch said.”
I set the pen down and leaned against the counter.
“I won’t, if you won’t,” I suggested. Ever since Ginny called Patrick broken, I knew he thought about it from time to time. He nodded, stood, and leaned across the counter to bump fists with me.
“Deal.”
I put the check in the card and sealed it up as we left for the graduation ceremony. Luckily the high school we had gone to had a lot of kids whose parents were celebrities or high-profile people. So there would be lots of security at the graduation on top of Steve, Alfonso, Jacobi, and Zed.
Our family was all seated together, so I told my parents we’d meet them at the seats. Patrick and I had the tickets for our seats and found them without issue. My grandmother hugged and kissed my cheek as I walked by, and she hugged Patrick too. I playfully punched Chase’s legs as I walked past him on the way to my seat.
“What’s up, Chase?” I asked him as I stood in front of my seat. I waited to sit until Patrick walked past me and took his seat beside me.
