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“Nothing except I had to wear a dumb tie,” he said. “Hulk Hogan probably doesn’t have to wear ties.”
I held my hand up to high-five him.
“I’m with you, bud. I hate having to wear ties,” I told him.
The program started, and after some of the faculty spoke, they announced Morgan as this year’s valedictorian. Morgan stood to an ovation and walked toward the podium casually, as if this wasn’t a big deal. He was the poster child for calm, cool, and collected. He was one of the most popular kids at school and one of the most well liked among staff. Morgan literally had it all. Patrick and I stood and hollered Morgan’s name, and Chase jumped out of his seat and yelled Morgan’s name too. Morgan couldn’t see us, but he definitely heard us. He stood at the podium and grinned from ear to ear and pointed out in the crowd in the vicinity of where he thought we were at.
“Those are my brothers somewhere up there,” Morgan began as he looked out over the rows and rows of students. “I have three of them, and they’ve all been supportive and inspiring to me. I’ve been fortunate to have had the opportunity to grow up around them and draw something from each of them.”
Three. I bumped Patrick’s foot with mine to get his attention. He looked at me, and I mouthed the word three.
“My two older brothers have shown me that if you dedicate yourself to something you want to do, you’ll be happy in life. I’ve looked up to my big brother ever since I was little. He always watched over me and made sure I was okay at school or during karate classes. I was always impressed and enamored by him, but I was particularly impressed in first grade when he single-handedly took care of the school’s bully. I was really upset over losing my popsicle.” The crowd laughed. “I knew then I wanted to be like him. He had a clear path and dedicated himself to it… Though, as it turned out, he ended up as this gifted martial arts fighter.”
A few of his classmates hollered out my name.
“Hollis!”
“The Dragon!”
“Yep, I’m proud to say that’s my brother.” Morgan pulled his sea-green tie out from the top of his blue gown. “Like the tie, Hollis?” I smiled quietly as I sat on the edge of my seat. “So, safe to say, I couldn’t follow in those footsteps.” The crowd laughed.
Morgan’s speech went on to talk about finding inspiration. It was a damn good speech, and all of his classmates were glued to listening to him.
Morgan straightened his arms, pulling the sleeve of his suit back and exposing his wrists. Before he continued, he took hold of his blue thread bracelet. I bumped Patrick’s foot again. Morgan and Patrick both had these blue bracelets. Morgan gave it to Patrick for his birthday the first year he came to live with us. It was their “brothers” bracelet.
“While I was in my ninth-grade year, our family gained another member. He’s become my brother, and since being around him for the last four years, I’ve seen what courage means. He wasn’t dealt a great hand, and he often times struggled and faced adversity. He kept going and dragged himself out of bed to show up each day, even though it would have been easier to throw the towel in. My dad has told us that showing up is half of life. Remember that when you’re lying in bed trying to decide if you want to go to that college course you signed up for.
“As my older brothers inspired me through their dedication, courage, and perseverance, my youngest brother has inspired me to not be afraid to go with the flow and live off the cuff. You can’t take life so seriously all the time, and sometimes everyone needs to put an apple slice in their mouth and grin at the world.”
I grabbed Chase’s knee and jostled him a little. Chase smiled and was happy to be mentioned.
“So, as we get ready to go out into the world, look around yourself. I mean, really look. The opportunity to be inspired is everywhere. If you say there’s no one around you who’s inspiring, I challenge you to look harder. Inspiration can come from the most unassuming places. And if you don’t open your eyes, you’ll miss out on the opportunity to be happy.”
As everyone clapped, Morgan turned to walk back to his seat on the stage. Attached to the back of his gown was the Hulk Hogan action figure. Chase gasped and looked at me while we clapped.
Patrick and I met everyone else at the restaurant. Since we got there first, I gave the server my credit card to put the bill on. It wasn’t expected, but I wanted to do it. Patrick sat to my right and Chase sat between Morgan and me. While Morgan talked to our grandparents, Chase grabbed my attention.
“Did Mom tell you?” he excitedly asked.
I cocked my head to the side and looked upward as I tried to recall if Mom had said anything that he would be excited about.
“Sweetie, it was just confirmed last night. Why don’t you tell Hollis and Patrick?” Mom said.
“Okay. So we were coming out of a store at the mall the other day, and this guy told Mom and Dad that I have a good look about me and asked if I was modeling. He gave us his card. He’s a talent scout or something. I wasn’t sure if he’d really call, but he called last night and invited us to a casting call for sneakers,” he excitedly explained.
“Hey! That’s great, Chase!” I high-fived him, then Patrick high-fived him by stretching behind my back.
“Way to go, Chase. It’s your killer smile. Wait till they see what an awesome personality you have,” Patrick told him.
“Yeah, I’m pretty cool,” Chase agreed.
Dinner was great, and during dessert Morgan opened a few gifts. My parents gave him a camera, and my grandparents gave him two different lenses and some accessories.
I handed Morgan the card. Along with the check, I put the address of the condo I bought for him on a little piece of paper. He leaned back in his chair and stared at the check.
“That’s so you can have money to live off of and not have to worry about working to have a little fun. You earned the chance to get a degree, so take advantage of it and work hard. But not too hard. Gotta have some fun too. And that little piece of paper with the address…” Morgan pulled it out from the card and held it in his hand as he looked at it. “That’s to help with you having a little fun.”
“What is it?”
