The Realest Ever (5 page)

Tommy called her a bitch, and then Alisha punched him in the chest.  She ran away, and Tommy stumbled back into the living room.  Tommy tried to tell Kyra that Alisha had something in her hand when she punched him, but Kyra could see for herself.  There was a steak knife sticking out of his
bony chest.  At first Kyra thought he was holding it in his arm pit (
Ha ha, you so funny!
) but she saw the blood, and she saw the look of shocked confusion in her baby-daddy’s eyes.

She laid him on the couch and watched in horror as Tommy
yanked the knife from his wound.  The blood began to flow in earnest then.  Kyra’s screams brought her grandmother running from the main bedroom.  The ambulance responded within ten minutes, but Quinell’s father was pronounced dead an hour after being stabbed.  Tommy was only eighteen years old.  The doctors said he would’ve died whether he pulled the knife out or not, but Kyra never believed that. 

Alisha was arrested, but she managed to get her murder charge dropped to second degree because no one actually saw her stab Tommy and no one could prove she took a knife to the residence specifically to
kill the love of her life.  Kyra had her bastard child in February, and once again she was right on par with the other girls in her neighborhood.  Whether they lost their daddy to the grave or the penitentiary, there were enough fatherless black children in Little Rock to fill several high schools.

≈≈≈≈≈≈

When they got to the library, Kyra had to wait nearly an hour for a computer.  But that was okay.  She found a couple of romance novels to check out as well as a few DVD’s to watch with the kids this weekend.

When she
was able to get online, Kyra checked her career builder site.  But by then she couldn’t deny that she was too preoccupied to care about a job at that moment.  It had been two days since she sent Donovan a friend request on Facebook.  Kyra was dying to know if he accepted it yet. 

She abandoned her job search and logged onto
Facebook, surprised to see fifteen notifications this time.  Most were to inform her that people accepted her friend requests.  The last person on the list was Donovan Mitchell.  Kyra’s heart shot up in her throat when she saw that Donovan sent her two personal messages as well. 

She
worked to steady her breathing as she clicked on his name.  Kat was trying to talk to her, but Kyra was so excited she wouldn’t have noticed if her daughter recited the whole Gettysburg Address.  Two seconds later Donovan’s profile popped up.  Kyra found herself staring at the same screen she accessed the other day – except now it was virtually uninhibited. 

Kyra’s eyes were wide and nearly frightful.  She wiped her mouth and
noticed her fingertips were cold.  She chuckled nervously, trying to shake off the jitters.  Sheclicked on Donovan’s
“
Photos
,
” and then she clicked on the first album labeled
“
Profile Picture
s
.”  A page full of small images appeared.  Kyra clicked on the first one, and
finally
, after more years and dreams and prayers than she could keep up with, Kyra saw the boy who ascended Mount Sunrise Elementary with her and never tried to steal a kiss when they got to the top.

Donovan was a grown man now.

Kyra took a deep breath and blew it out slowly, her eyes quickly filling with tears.

The last time she saw him
, Donovan was a junior in high school.  He was skinny and athletic with brown skin like cognac and one of those high-top haircuts that were all the rave in those days.  Kyra could see that this was the same Donovan, but the differences were nearly as shocking as reconnecting with him in the first place.

The biggest
dissimilarity was the sheer bulk Donovan added to his school-boy physique.  As Kyra clicked from one picture to the next, she noticed at least one hundred pounds of new Donovan that completely dwarfed the old Donovan images in her mind.  The added weight was mostly muscle.  It was stacked oh so perfectly on his chest and arms and shoulders and thighs.  He wasn’t too muscle-bound.  He was just right. 

A
s Kyra clicked away, she saw that he accomplished his dream of playing college football.  She saw that he coached high school football, and he still had a good relationship with his mother, Ms. Beverly Mitchell. 

Kyra backed out of his profile pics and
noticed Donovan had eight more photo albums.  The largest one was labeled
“
Vacation Pic
s
.”  It had more than fifty photos.  Kyra was both nervous and elated as she explored the albums one by one.  It almost felt like she was peeking into Donovan’s personal life, but she noticed comments on a lot of his pictures and figured this type of snooping was acceptable.

With the
Facebook photos, Kyra was able to trace much of Donovan’s life, from his graduation from Western Hills to his football days in Ohio and his subsequent return to Overbrook Meadows.  Kyra didn’t know why he didn’t go on to play for the pros, but Donovan looked successful and fulfilled in his recent pictures, and Kyra was increasingly happy for him.

One thing Kyra didn’t like was her omission from Donovan’s high school photos
.  But she knew she shouldn’t get upset about that.  The few high school pictures Donovan posted were from his senior prom and graduation.  Kyra was long gone by then.  But still, she couldn’t help but wonder if Donovan missed her, because he looked so happy with his other friends from Western Hills.  Kyra forced the silly thoughts from her mind.

Her smile didn’t slip again until
Kyra came across more recent photos of Donovan in the presence of (and sometimes the arms of) a beautiful woman.  Kyra didn’t believe she was jealous of the brown-skinned girl who kept appearing, but she couldn’t think of a better explanation for the unease she suddenly felt. 

She never expected to return to Texas and spark a relationship with her old friend.  She and Donovan never attempted a relationship before she left
, as a matter of fact.  And why would they?  He was her best friend.  They introduced themselves as brother and sister so often, a lot of people thought that actually was the case.

Kyra closed the photo album she was looking at, but she opened it again a second later and stared at the woman Donovan was embracing.  Her hair was long and curly.  Her waist was slimmer than Kyra’s, but Kyra thought her curves looked better.  The woman definitely had better hair than Kyra, but it was
probably a weave.  If Kyra had money to go to the beauty shop, she could–

What the hell?
  Kyra caught herself and chuckled.   Why was she comparing herself to Donovan’s (apparent) girlfriend?  Was she really sitting there fantasizing about being with her play-brother?

E
www!
 

Kyra
shook her headand returned to Donovan’
s
Profile Picture
s
.  She found the photo she liked the best, which was a simple shot of him from the waist up.  Donovan’s hair was short, his shirt tucked in.  He would’ve looked preppy in the collar shirt, but his physique screamed
athlete
.  His chest was awesome, his eyes smiling, but still piercing.  His neck and shoulder muscles begged for a slow massage.  His lips were perfect, and they begged for something too, but Kyra wouldn’t allow those thoughts to take hold.

After nearly thirty minutes of her photo-investigation, Kyra finally backed out of Donovan’s albums and read the messages he sent her.  They were both sent two days ago, the day Kyra found him on
Facebook.  Kyra’s blood flowed hot in her veins as she read the first one:

“
Kyra!  OH MY GOD!  I can’t believe it’s really you!  You have no idea how many times I searched for you on Facebook.  I thought I would never find you.  I looked for you just a few weeks ago, but I could never find your profile.  I’m so happy to finally see your pictures.  I can barely sit still.  I been worried about you for the last fifteen years.  Your profile says you’re back in Overbrook Meadows.  Is that true?  I know that can’t be true.  I would love to see you!  I’ll fly to Arkansas if I have to.  Write me back soon!  P.S.  I see that you’re a mommy now!  That is so awesome, Kyra!  Hurry and write me back
!
”

Kyra’s brain was racing when she finished reading
.  Her heart was racing as well.  She always knew Donovan missed and cared about her as much as she missed and cared about him, but seeing it with her own eyes gave her joy like nothing else.

She quickly read Donovan’s
second message:

“
Kyra, I’ve been waiting like crazy for you to respond, but you won’t!  I feel like I’m chasing a ghost again.  When you get this message, please call me.  Don’t bother responding on Facebook. Just call me.  Please
.
”  He gave her his number.

Kyra
pulled her cellphone from her purse.  She added Donovan’s number, but she didn’t call him – not right away.  There were too many people in the library who were already giving her strange looks because of her
extra-excited
computer time.  Kyra knew that her first talk with her best friend after two and a half decades would be much too rowdy for this hushed environment.

CHAPTER THREE

BRIANNA

On the way out of the library, Kyra spotted a few cushioned chairs in the lobby.  Her bus stop was right outside of the door, so she decided to wait inside.  She dug her cellphone from her purse and told Quinell, “Come sit down,” before she called Donovan.

“Is the bus coming?” her son asked.

“It’ll be here in ten minutes.”

“Can I go look at some more books?” Quinell asked.

“No.  I might need you to run out there and stop the bus if no one gets off,” Kyra said.  And then she heard Donovan’s phone ringing.  Her mouth was completely dry.  Kyra got up to wet her whistle at a nearby fountain.  Kat got up to follow her, and the toddler dropped her sippy cup on the tiled floor.  Nine out of ten times nothing would’ve come of that, but today the lid popped off the cup, splashing red Kool-Aid on the bone-white tiles.

Kyra barely had time to look back before someone answered her call.

“Hello?”

“Uh, hi,” Kyra said.

“Uh-oh,” Kat said.

“Mama,” Quinell said.

A couple of patrons entered the library at that moment.  They stared at the spilled juice and gave Kat a wide berth.  Kyra was mortified.  She sighed in exasperation. 

“I, uh, I’m sorry
.  I have to call you back,” she said into the phone.

“Who is this?”

“I’m sorry.  I, uh…”  Kyra put a hand to her face and rubbed her forehead.  She took a breath and let it out slowly.  “This is Kyra.  Quinell, go in that bathroom and get me some paper towels.”

“Kyra?”

Quinell hurried to the bathroom.

“I’m sorry,” Kyra said.  “My daughter just spilled Kool-Aid in the library.” 
She shook her head as she pulled Kat away from the mess.  “I should’ve waited until I got home to call you.”

“Is this, did you say
Kyra
?”

She was so stressed, Kyra barely noticed that the person she was speaking to had a rich, baritone voice.  “Yes
.  Is this Donovan?”

He sighed and chuckled at the same time.  “Kyra Reynolds.  I don’t believe it.”

Kyra took a seat.  She had to.  Her legs were trembling. 

Quinell returned with a fistful of paper towels. 
He went to work on the spill and found both parts of Kat’s sippy cup.  The toddler squirmed out of Kyra’s arms and tried to help put her cup back together.  Kyra tilted her head back on the wall behind her and took another slow breath, trying to calm her nerves.

“It’s good to hear from
you,” she said.

“
Same here,” Donovan said.  “You just don’t know.  Where are you?”

“I’m at the library.”

“Where?” he said.  “Your Facebook says–”

“I’m in Overbrook Meadows
.”

“Really?  Since when?”

“Last week,” Kyra said.

“Do you know how many times I looked for you on
Facebook?” Donovan asked.  She could hear the elation in his voice.  “Do you have any idea?”

Kyra smiled.  “I read your messages.”

“A lot,” Donovan continued.  “A lot, Kyra.  I been so worried about you.  I almost cried when I got your friend request.”

“Me, too,” Kyra said.  “It’s been a long time.”

“Too long,” Donovan said.  “Too damned long.”

“You sound different,” Kyra noticed.

“You do, too,” he said.  “And you look different, too!  I see you’re a mother now.  That’s so awesome, Kyra.  You changed a lot.”