~Infinite~

I knew today was not going to be a good day.

How?

Well, for starters, I overslept my alarm, and now I’m late for my own college graduation. As well as the fact that I forgot to iron my gown last night, now I’m late and wrinkly.

Great morning.

Sarcasm

Once I was done with my self-pity moment, I quickly did my morning routine. Which consists of me showering, brushing my teeth, and tongue (too many people forget about their tongue), and trying to tame these massive curls that reside on the top of my head.

When finished, I give myself a once-over in the mirror. I was able to style my chestnut curls into a half-up n half half-down style with some curls hanging down to frame my face and I smile at my image.

My dad was half Irish and half Italian, while my mom was African American. My grandmother always tells me that I have my father’s my hazel eyes but my mother’s skin complexion and facial expressions.

I lost my parents when I was three and afterwards I started living with my grandparents. My grandparents share the bare minimum information about my parents and I don’t really remember much about them.

I have asked both of them multiple times about my parents, but they always give me the same vague answers.

They would look at me and always give me some type of affection before saying, “They were wonderful people who were taken from us too soon.”

Plus, all my grandparents would tell me about their passing is that they were in a bad car accident. When I turned twelve, I stopped asking much about them because it caused more pain than pleasure to ease the curiosity. Also my grandparents would always get depressed as well and I didn’t want them to think that I was ungrateful.

My grandmother is a wealthy woman. Her family has owned a big company for generations, and since she’s the only heir left.

Everything is in her possession.

The older I got, my grandmother would make sure that I understood that just because we are well off doesn’t mean that I don’t have to work for the things that I want.

If it wasn’t for her, I wouldn’t have this ambitious drive that I love about myself.

She always reminds me that her dad never handed her the company. That she had to go to classes, she had to learn the ins n outs of business, and she had to prove to him that she was able to handle the family business without him being around.

She accomplished all this before my dad was born. After she gave birth to my dad, she and my grandfather moved to America to try to fend for themselves, as well as expand the family business. She worked her way up to the top of the company and rightfully earned her position as CEO.

The same position she still had up until a year ago when she had a health scare. We went to the doctor, and when they did the scans, they found that she had a tumor in her breast, and it was already aggressive. She tried chemo for two months, but after a while, she said that she did not have the strength anymore to continue and would like to see her husband, son, and daughter again.

She is 75, and she lived a good life, so she say in her own words.

For the past month or so, she’s been surrounded by her medical team at her estate, but every time I go to visit her, the doctor always say that she is only getting worse. My grandmother used to be able to get up and walk around, but now she can barely get out of bed, and she’s barely eating.

As I look at myself in the mirror after I put on my graduation gown, I sigh. This is not where I want to be. I would much rather be spending all the time that I can with my grandmother, but she said that I put so much hard work into getting my degree that I deserve to walk across the stage with a smile on my face.

Which, in reality, is much easier said than done when the one person who has loved and supported me my whole life is breaths away from losing their own life.

Either way, I knew it would make my grandmother extremely happy, and the school has the option to live-stream the event as well. I asked her nurse to help set up the Web stream, so my grandmother can watch it from her bed.

Once I was finished getting dressed, I went downstairs to grab an orange and an apple, something light on my stomach because I’m quite nervous, and head outside to the stadium.

I’m graduating today with my Bachelor’s in Business, and I plan to open my own Cafe or restaurant. I always love cooking, especially with my grandfather. He was an Italian man through and through. He would always let me help him cook dinner, and we would make delicious food with the freshest ingredients from the garden he and I used to tend to. We rarely ever ate fast food or processed food. During those times, he would tell me the best stories and used to give the warmest hugs.

He passed away when I was 13.

The only family I have left is my grandmother and she’s not the greatest cook like my grandfather was, but she always tended to my love for cooking. She would make sure that anytime we visit a heavy food cuisine country that I would at least have one cooking class with a famous chef from there. As well as being my food taster for years, she always gives constructive criticism, but never fails to make me feel supported.

Thinking about all this on my walk only makes my mind heavier, and I haven’t even settle on the fact yet that I will have no one in attendance for me at this graduation. I didn’t really make any long lasting friends at college. I was more focused on my grades and my future the last two years of school plus, as of lately, my days would only consist of me going to class from the morning to the afternoon, Monday through Friday, then I’ll study or watch movies until the weekend starts and that’s when I will go spend time with my grandmother.

She always encouraged me to skip a weekend and go make friends so I can go have ‘fun’, but I always will tell her that she is my very best friend and there’s no other person on this planet that I would rather spend time with than her.

My grandmother rebuttal will always be that she’s not here for much longer and that she would not be able to rest peacefully knowing that I’m in this world on my own.

I make it to my University stadium in just enough time for me to find my fellow graduates and get into line like we rehearsed. I didn’t even have time to do a quick rundown of everything we’re supposed to do, so I’m praying that the memories of our rehearsal will suddenly come back to me, and I will not make a fool of myself. Oh right! How did I start my life story without giving my name.

My name is Mahogani Dai Evans.

Now, I’m kind of glad for my last name starting with an ‘E’ so enough people are ahead of me in line that the memory of rehearsals have enough time to come back as I watch them march before me.

When the Dean finally get to the E’s, it was only two people with E last names before me, so I took a deep breath and squared my shoulders, hoping and praying that the nurse already have the video stream up for my grandmother because I didn’t even have enough time to call and make sure.

But she knows how important this day is to my grandmother, so I have all the confidence that the moment she woke up this morning, my grandmother demanded that the computer be setup before anything else was done.

When my name was called, I took a deep breath and made my way across the stage. Everyone else had some type of cheer or some type of call out when their name was presented but for me, it was quiet as a mouse, but I try not to let it get to me, knowing that somewhere my grandmother was watching me proudly. I quickly walk across the stage, grab my degree, shook hands with the Dean, shook hands with the teachers, pose for some pictures and made my way off the stage.

Afterward, we were told to go sit instead of going back to stand in line, and I waited until the rest of my graduation class was called. I zoned out thinking about what type of dish I should make tonight, and before I knew it, the Dean was announcing congratulations. Everyone stood, including me, but when everyone tossed the caps into the air, I held onto mine.

I always planned to keep my graduation cap.

My grandmother was having a good day, and she helped me decorate my cap with images of different cooking utensils and the words ‘Future Restaurant Owner’. I will cherish that memory forever.

When everything was said and done, I quickly went to the parking lot and make my way to my G wagon. I love this car so much and my grandmother gifted it to me with that knowledge. This car got me through my four college years and helped me move everything from my dormitory in one trip last weekend. So my dorm is already cleared out and I threw away the stuff I used this morning because one it’s replaceable and two, I knew I would want to get on the interstate before it gets too crowded with the traffic from the University.

I made it in just a nick of time and made my way to my grandmother’s estate. I’m so excited that I am finally done with college and can finally get started on the plans that I’ve been making for the last couple of years.

It takes me about an hour to get from my university to boatyard. Right now, we are living in Florida, and she has a big piece of land odd the coast. It can almost be consider an island, but it’s not quite as big as an island. My grandmother both this land the first year I started college. She wanted something that could be passed down from generation to generation in America, like her castles in Ireland and the houses in Italy. A piece of land that families after families can be raised upon but also have their privacy. We have our own poet at the closest boatyard that's accessible, which we use to get back and forth from the mainland.

I sped down the highway in my beautiful Mercedes G wagon as I got more and more excited thinking about the deal that my grandmother and I made four years ago. She told me that as long as I graduate from college with a degree, she will help fund my start-up. I know that starting a business isn’t cheap or easy, so before I can even start building a business, I need to make sure I have all my licenses and paperwork in order. Since she is a pro with this, she said that she would be more than willing to help me out as long as I get the proper education first.

I made it to the boatyard in record time and called out for the Captain.

Captain is/was my grandfather’s best friend since they were kids. When his wife passed a couple of years ago, he moved in with us. He’s like a younger brother to my grandmother and she decided to make him our boat Captain since he was really good with sailing boats and to help with his loneliness.

“Hey there, pretty girl.” Captain calls back as he exit out onto the boat from his quarters.

That has been my nickname from home since I was a little girl.

“Hey, Captain, how’s the water this morning?” I asks him.

“The water is pretty calm for ya. It must know that you halve important business to get to.”

I smiled, “Well, I definitely got to show my grandmother this,” I said, holding up my degree for him.

“Thatta Girl!!!!! Why didn’t you remind me that your graduation was today? I would’ve definitely driven down to come see ya.” He jumps over the railing to grab me up into a tight embrace.

His hugs always reminds me of my grandfather.

I bury my face into his chest, “Oh, it’s OK, I didn’t want you to have to make that long drive just for an hour and a half ceremony, and I knew I was coming this way anyway, so it’s cool.”

“Always so independent, just like your grandmother, I always wondered how Enzo was able to settle that one down.”

I smiled at the mention of my grandfather’s name, “Well, from what I remember of the Friendly Giant, he was a handful himself.”

“Yeah, you’re right, I never met two people more perfect for each other. Well, alright, the boat was already warming up. Ya ready?”

“Yup!”

He carries me the rest of the way up the boat before setting me down on my feet. He lives for the engine room and I got sit down in the chairs that were in the front. I always like to watch the ocean as we sail across. Being inside the cabin makes me more seasick than just being out and looking at the ocean.

I lie back and close my eyes. The sail is normally like 15 to 20 minutes and I’m just praying and hoping that my grandmother keeps up her end of the deal.

It’s not like her to break a promise, but it’s definitely like her to find a loophole.