The Realest Ever (34 page)

Kyra’s eyes burned.  She felt like she might cry, but she refused to let that happen.  Her face
turned red as she smothered the hurt and swallowed the hateful things she wanted to say. 

“The only people I’ve been out with
since I got here is Donovan and Roland.  I only saw Roland
two times
.  And Donovan watched my kids one of those times.”

Kyra
spoke through clenched teeth.  Her nostrils flared with each heartbeat.  “You told me you were charging one-fifty a week for babysitting while I was at work.  That comes out to six hundred dollars.  As far as me going out, I only asked you to watch my kids five or six times.  You said you were charging ten dollars an hour for that.  That should come out to… a hundred and eighty dollars,
tops
.”

“What about when you didn’t come home
all night
?”

Kyra shook her head.  She rubbed her hands together anxiously.  Why did she think Aunt Ruth wouldn’t charge for
every hour she spent with Donovan? 
Whatever
!  Kyra didn’t care.  That was their first night together, and it was worth it. 

“Alright, so what’s that?  Another hundred and fifty?”

“That’s about right.”  Aunt Ruth nodded.

Kyra calculated quickly.  The total she came up with made her
stomach hurt.  “Alright, so, so that’s nine hundred and thirty dollars.”  The tears were falling now.  She wiped her eyes roughly.  “Why you say it was fifteen hundred?”

“The rest is your regular rent,” Aunt Ruth said.

Kyra couldn’t do anything but sit and stare.  She was devastated, but she barely reacted.  Acting a fool wouldn’t do her any good.  She’d been had, plain and simple.  Kyra felt stupid.  She felt pathetic.  She felt lower than dirt.  But most of all she felt stupid, stupid, stupid.  How did she not see this coming?

“I’m only charging you three hundred dollars a month to live here,” Aunt Ruth said.  “That’s a good deal.  You not gon’ find nowhere else to live for that.”

No.  The truth was Kyra wouldn’t be able to find anywhere to live
period
because she’d forever be in debt to her manipulative relative.  If she paid Aunt Ruth what she wanted, Kyra would be left with three hundred dollars for the rest of the month. 

But there was an out.

Kyra’s heart knocked as she thought of Donovan.  She didn’t want to move in with him under these circumstances.  She wanted to go to him with her head high, her finances in order.  She wanted to be independent; in a position to help him for once in her life.  She appreciated everything Donovan did for her, but she was tired of always running to him for help.

But she could run, if she wanted to.  Kyra fought to keep a straight face.  Her mouth was itching to curve into a smile.
  Aunt Ruth didn’t know that she had an option.  She didn’t know that Kyra could grab her kids, jump in her car and hit the highway
right now
, and never look back.

“You didn’t tell me you were charging me rent,” she said.  She was just stalling at this point.  She already knew what Ruth would say.

“Kyra, you can’t live nowhere for free. 
Nowhere
.  You old enough to know that by now.”

Yeah, and
I’m old enough to know how to deal with a snake in the grass like you
, Kyra thought.

“Alright, I’ll write you a check,” she said.

She must have been thinking STOP PAYMENT too hard because Aunt Ruth said, “Naw, I want cash.”

Kyra still had her.  “Today’s Sunday.  I can’t get cash today.”

“You can withdraw it out the ATM.”

“No I can’t.  I just opened my account yesterday.  I don’t have direct deposit, and my check hasn’t even cleared yet.  I can’t get cash till Monday.”

Ruth didn’t like that one bit.  It showed all over her face.  “Gimme a check now, Kyra, and then bring me my money on Monday.  I’ll give you your check back when I get my cash.”

Perfect.  “Okay.”

Kyra went to her room.  Kat and Quinell watched her silently.  They heard everything, and they saw the pain and tears in Kyra’s eyes.  She ignored them as she dug through her purse, looking for her checkbook.  She went back to the living room and sat across from her aunt.  Ruth watched carefully as Kyra wrote a check for fifteen hundred dollars. 

“Here.”

Ruth looked at the check for what felt like a long time before she folded it and rose from her seat.  She left the room without another word.  Kyra returned to her room and told her children no to worry. 

“We’re going to live with Donovan soon.”

They were both very happy to hear that.

≈≈≈≈≈≈≈

At twelve-thirty Kyra started watching the clock.  Donovan would be leaving church any minute now.  He wanted to pick Kyra up and take her to his mom’s house for lunch.  He didn’t say anything about the kids going, too, but Kyra had no choice but to take them now.  She didn’t feel comfortable leaving them with her aunt anymore.  Kyra realized she had to find a
real
babysitter or daycare for Kat by Monday morning, or she couldn’t even go to work.  Kyra chewed off nearly all of her thumbnail as she tried to sort things out.

When Donovan picked her up, she’d bring her kids and tell him about the fight with her aunt.  She’d tell him that she was ready to move in with him. 
Damn
.  Kyra shook her head.  She wished it didn’t have to be like this, but she had no choice. 

But
it wasn’t like she didn’t want to live with Donovan.  He was the man of her dreams and the love of her life.  She just didn’t want to go to him crawling, beat up by the world.  Kyra sighed and swallowed a big slice of humble pie.  She knew Donovan wouldn’t care how she went to him, so she should be happy about it.  This was actually a good thing, spurred on by an evil woman.

On Monday
Kyra would put a stop-payment on the check she gave her aunt.  Better yet, Kyra could do it today, when she got to Donovan’s house.  She could pull up her bank account on his computer.  That way she wouldn’t have to worry about Aunt Ruth trying to cash the check first thing Monday morning.  Kyra grinned devilishly.  That would show her!  Aunt Ruth thought she was the master manipulator, but Kyra could be a slick bitch, too.

But Kyra wasn’t an
evil
bitch.  She’d pay her aunt for the babysitting.  Nine hundred and thirty dollars was more than half her check, but Kyra agreed to pay that, and she would.  Aunt Ruth would only be able to complain to the family about not getting the money she was trying to
steal
from Kyra – not the money she was rightfully owed.

Speak of the devil
.  Kyra looked up when her aunt appeared in her doorway.  Kyra’s whole family was either sitting or lying on the one bed in the room.  They all regarded their landlord with either suspicion or fear.

“Somebody here to see you,” Ruth said. 

Kyra thought she saw a smirk on her aunt’s face.  She checked the clock.  It was 12:35.  Donovan was early.  And he didn’t call to say he was on his way.  Kyra didn’t even hear the doorbell.  She didn’t care.  The sooner she got her kids away from her aunt the better.

Ruth walked away, and Kyra told Quinell, “Put on your shoes.  And help Kat get hers on.”

He moved to do what she asked. 

Kyra hurried to the front
room with love in her heart, but it turned to sheer horror when she rounded the corner and saw who was waiting for her.  Kyra was so shocked, she came to a screeching halt and brought a hand to her mouth.  Her eyes were as big as quarters.  She almost screamed.

Her visitor came all the way from
Little Rock, Arkansas.  He looked good.  But to Kyra, he was the epitome of
ugly
.  She saw drugs and needles and cash and dopefiends.  She saw blood-shot eyes, lines of heroin on the kitchen counter and babies crying.  Her babies.  She saw pain and regret.  And she felt it, too.

Leonard said, “Hey, baby.”

Kyra didn’t know her aunt was still standing there until Ruth said, “Hmph.”

Kyra couldn’t find the words to say anything at all.
 

CHAPTER
NINETEEN

A MOTHER’S LOVE

At the same moment Kyra walked into her aunt’s living room and came face to face with her worst fear, Donovan got behind the wheel of his pickup and told his
mother about his big plans for today.

“Guess what?”

“What?” Beverly asked.

“Today you’re going to
see Kyra.”

He backed out of his parking spot as
Beverly turned and eyed him with confusion.

It was cloudy outside,
but Donovan’s spirits were bright.  Today’s church service was wonderful.  The pastor spoke about forgiveness.  Beverly already told Donovan she didn’t have any lingering problems with Kyra, but if there was anything she still wanted to get off her chest, she could do so today.  And Kyra could forgive Beverly for kicking her out of the house fifteen years ago.  And Donovan could ask his mom to forgive him and Kyra for disrespecting her home with their foolhardy kiss.  And after all of the forgiving, everyone would hug and live happily ever after.

“What do you mean?” Beverly asked.

“I invited her to lunch with us today,” Donovan said.  “I think it’s about time you two see each other.  Don’t you want to know what she looks like now?”

“Kyra was always a pretty girl,” Beverly said.  “I’m sure she’s beautiful.”

“She is.  And I told her about your good cooking.  She can’t wait for me to pick her up.”

“What?”  Beverly frowned.  “Pick her up when?”

“Right now,” Donovan said.  He pulled his cellphone from his pocket. 

“Wait, you’re not taking her to my house,” Beverly said.  Donovan’s heart san
k.  He thought they had gotten past that.  But Beverly wasn’t being mean.  “I won’t have time to clean up or nothing,” she said.  “You can’t just be bringing people up in my house unannounced.”

“Oh.”

“And I don’t have time to cook, either,” Beverly stated.  “You should’ve told me about this yesterday.  What’s wrong with you, boy?  Don’t be going around offering my dinner to people without asking me.”

Donovan’s smile returned.

“What’s so funny?”

“I
thought you were gonna say you don’t want to see Kyra.”

“No, I would love to
see her,” Beverly said.  “But not at my house – not today at least.”

“Can I pick her up and
bring her to Golden Corral with us?”

“Sure,” Beverly said
.  “But not in this truck.  You know I don’t like to be squeezed up with people in here.”

“She can sit in the back.”

Beverly looked at her son like he insulted womankind in general.  “Donovan, don’t you
ever
put a woman in the backseat of this truck!  You know there’s not enough room.”

Donovan’s F-150 had four doors, but the back two were half
-size.  Kat and Quinell could ride in the backseat with no problem, but it was a tight fit for an adult.

“Take me home first, and you
can go get Kyra in my car,” Beverly suggested.  “I need to change shoes anyway.” 

Beverly drove a Lincoln Town Car.  It was plenty big, and a luxury car to boot. 

“Thanks, Mama.  That’ll be perfect.”

≈≈≈≈≈≈≈

Except it wasn’t perfect.  Kyra wasn’t answering her phone.  Donovan called her twice in the ten minutes it took him to get to his mother’s house.  Undeterred, he took Beverly’s car anyway.  Ten minutes wasn’t a long time to be out of pocket, especially when you have a small child who needs help bathing and dressing and such. 

Donov
an called Kyra’s cell again as he rolled out of his mother’s driveway.  Still no answer.  As a last resort, he called Aunt Ruth’s house phone.  She answered right away.

“Hello?”

“Uh, hi.  This is Donovan.  How are you?”

She grunted.  “Fine.”

“I don’t mean to bother you,” Donovan said.  “But Kyra’s not answering her cellphone.  Is she in?”

There was a pause before Ruth said, “Which one are you?”

Donovan’s brow furrowed.  What kind of question was that?  Luckily he reached a stop sign.  The residential street was completely empty, so he remained at the stop for a minute.

“You the tall one?” Ruth asked.  “It’s so many of y’all
, I can’t keep up.”

Donovan’s fury was
immediate, but just as quickly he doused the embers that were starting to burn his soul.  Kyra told him about her aunt already.  And Donovan saw it with his own eyes when he bought groceries for them a couple of months ago.  Ruth was a hater.  She was no doubt lying about the supposed men in Kyra’s life.