The Realest Ever

Chapter TWELVE

ROLAND

Donovan dropped Kyra off at 9:45, like a proper gentleman. When she walked through the door, Aunt Ruth checked the clock and told her she would charge $10 per hour for babysitting when Kyra went out with Donovan or anyone else she might meet. Ruth said she’d only charge $150 a week for babysitting Kat while Kyra was at work, rather than use the hourly rate. After talking with Donovan, Kyra thought that sounded reasonable enough. She surprised her aunt by saying, “Okay,” before retreating to her room to change into something comfortable.

By ten-fifteen Kyra was nearly bored out of her mind. She wished Donovan would’ve taken her to the movies after dinner or even to his house. It was clear they weren’t going to get anything freaky going on, but she would’ve liked to spend more time with him. She wanted to call him now, but Kyra was a little upset about their conversation at the restaurant.

Why would Donovan tell her to go out with the UPS guy? Kyra found it hard to believe Donovan didn’t have any feelings for her at all. Their one kiss was a long time ago, but it meant a lot to Kyra. She would’ve sworn it meant something to Donovan, too.

Guess not.

Kyra lounged on her aunt’s sofa with her cellphone in hand. She could hear Quinell and Kat in the bedroom laughing at a DVD she brought them. Aunt Ruth was hidden away in her room, where she preferred to spend most of her time.

Kyra pulled up the contact list on her cellphone, in search of someone she could talk to about her man troubles. She couldn’t talk to her best friend because Donovan was the person she wanted to talk about. Kyra had less than forty contacts. It only took a few seconds to realize she didn’t have any other confidants. She paused at the newest contact she saved and stared at the name.

Roland.

He gave Kyra his number three days ago. She noticed he was awfully sweet to her whenever he delivered packages to the school, so his approach wasn’t a big surprise. At the time Kyra told him, “I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

He asked her, “Why?”

“This is where I work,” Kyra had said. Roland didn’t work for the school district, but his and Kyra’s only interactions were at the school. She didn’t want any drama there.

“I understand how you feel,” the UPS guy had told her. He was a tall man, not as tall as Donovan, but almost. He wasn’t as big as Donovan either, and his skin was dark where Donovan’s was golden brown. But once Kyra was able to look at Roland objectively (without Donovan reigning supreme over all men who dared to walk on two legs), she had to admit that the delivery man was attractive.

He wore glasses, and he had a perfect baby-afro. He opted for shorts with his uniform. He had a nice build. He was speedy with all of his deliveries, no matter how many or how big the parcels. And he never broke out in a sweat. He was definitely fit.

“Trust me, I don’t do this at every place I deliver to,” Roland had told her. “I find you very attractive, Miss Reynolds. I would like to see you for more than two minutes a day. Take my number. If I get shuffled to a different route tomorrow, and I never see you again, I’ll feel better knowing that at least I tried.”

Roland had a great smile, with the cutest dimples. His eyes were dark and alluring. His job may have been blue collar, but he carried himself with an air of dignity and authority. Kyra found it hard to reject him. It wasn’t possible at all while he was standing there, staring at her with those pretty brown eyes.

She told him, “I’ll think about it,” and she saved his number in her phone. She stared at it now wondering if it was time to give up on her dream.

Going out with a handsome man with a good job is not giving up on your dreams, she told herself. But you are living a dream if you’re waiting for Donovan to profess his love to you. He told you to go out with this man, for Chrissake. And he didn’t tell you he and his girlfriend broke up. Don’t you think that would’ve been something worth mentioning if he wanted to be with you?

Kyra pressed the call button, mainly to shut up the voice in her head. And then she regretted it when she saw what time it was. 10:17 pm. Was it too late to call? She’d been out of the dating game for so long. She didn’t know what the rules were nowadays.

“Hello?” The voice that answered didn’t sound sleepy.

“Hi. This is Kyra. Is, may I speak to Roland?”

“Hey, this is me.”

His voice was not as deep as Donovan’s – Stop it! Kyra told herself. His voice was nice. It was just fine.

“Hi, this is Kyra, from J.T. Elder. Were you in bed?”

“No. Thanks for calling. I didn’t think you would.”

“Were you busy?”

“Nope. Watching TV. Relaxing. Had a rough day.”

“You had to work?”

“Yeah. But it’s cool. Stacking that overtime. Thanks for calling. What made you change your mind?”

“I still don’t know if I changed my mind.”

“Oh. Is, do you want me to help convince you? ’Cause I can put up a pretty strong argument.”

Kyra giggled. “Okay. Go ahead.”

“Well, you may not know this, but Roland is stand up guy,” Roland said. “He’s been working the same job for fourteen years, so you know he’s getting that paper. He got his own car and his own apartment, and he’s not living with his mom. They don’t even like each other.

“And he’s been telling me how much he likes you. He never stops talking about this woman named Kyra who started working at J.T. Elder. He said you’re not just beautiful, but you’re professional, too. He would love to take you out, treat you like a lady.”

Kyra was surprised and impressed with his self-promotion. Her smile was ear to ear. “I don’t care how much money you have.”

“Oh, that’s cool,” Roland said. “I was just saying, you know, I do got some.”

“You make an impressive argument for yourself.”

“Roland’s the best man I know,” he said. “Nobody does it better.”

“Cocky?”

“No. But I’m confident.”

“Why don’t you like your mom?”

“She’s on drugs.”

“Mine, too.”

“See, we already got something in common.”

Hmmm. Honestly Kyra expected Roland to give her a reason not to go out with him, so she could tell Donovan, and he’d stop looking for someone to take his place. But Roland was witty and hard-working, and apparently he had money (which Kyra really didn’t care about). But more importantly, Kyra knew that she couldn’t be with the one she was saving herself for, so why was she saving herself?

“So, can I take you out?” Roland asked.

“Okay,” she said.

“What are you doing now?”

She laughed. “It’s a little late, don’t you think?”

“Is tomorrow good?”

“I can do tomorrow afternoon.”

“Okay. Do you go to church?”

“No,” Kyra said. But she felt that was something she should do. Maybe with Donovan. He did invite her, after all.

“Me neither,” Roland said. “I’ll call you around eleven, and you can let me know where to pick you up at.”

“Alright.”

“Thanks for calling,” Roland said. “I’ll talk to you tomorrow.”



≈≈≈≈≈≈≈



Roland called the next day at 11 am sharp. Kyra gave him her aunt’s address, and he said he’d be there at 12:30. Kyra had butterflies in her stomach as she got dressed. She still wasn’t sure if she should go out with someone she worked with – even if they only worked together for two minutes a day.

When Roland knocked on the door, Kyra ushered the kids into her room and told them to stay there until she left. She answered the door wearing a black skirt with a sleeveless blouse. She didn’t think she looked all that special, but Roland’s eyes widened as he admired her from head to toe. Kyra smiled. Donovan used to look at her like that, when she first got back to town. Not anymore, though.

“Kyra, you look amazing.”

Roland reached for her hand. Kyra was confused, but she offered it. Roland brought it to his mouth and kissed it softly. Kyra blushed. She didn’t think anyone had ever done that to her.

“What a gentleman,” she exclaimed.

Roland had a nice build, not particularly muscular, but he wasn’t fat at all. He wore a collar shirt with black Dockers. His shirt was rather tight. He had it tucked in with the top three buttons open. Kyra had a good view of his chest, which was strong and smooth, but she thought his style was a little flashy.

Roland’s skin was dark and beautiful. His baby ’fro was perfect, as usual. He wore a moustache with another tuft of hair on his chin, but not a full goatee. He sported aviator style sunglasses. He sleeves were rolled up, revealing an expensive watch on one wrist and an equally expensive bracelet on the other.

Kyra couldn’t help but tell him, “You look a lot different than you do at school.”

Roland smiled. “Different good, or different bad?”

“I… don’t know yet,” Kyra said. She was a simple girl. Most of the men from her past who dressed like this were pimps or drug dealers. But Roland’s income was legit. He worked his ass off, five to six days every week. Kyra wondered if she was on a fault finding mission. “Different good,” she decided.

Roland was still holding her hand. He led her down the two porch steps.

“You look just as good as you do in school,” he said. “Have I told you how beautiful you are?”

Kyra smiled and looked away coyly. “A couple of times.”

“Well you are,” Roland said. He walked her to a new Chrysler 300 and opened the passenger door.

Kyra’s jaw dropped. Now this was too much. “I’m sorry, but what do you do for a living?”

Roland laughed. “You know what I do for a living. I met you while I was working, as a matter of fact.”

“But this car, your jewelry. Do you have a side job? Something illegal?”

“Nope.” Roland shook his head. He looked surprised that she would ask. “I work hard, and I don’t have a wife or any kids. I grew up with nothing, so now I like to have nice things. There’s nothing wrong with that. I told you, I got paper.”

“And I told you, I don’t care about your money.”

“Loosen up, please,” Roland said. He spoke softly. “You wanted to know if I do anything illegal. I’m telling you I don’t. I won’t say anything else about money, if you’ll get in this car and let me treat you like a queen.”

After a noticeable pause, Kyra said, “Okay.” She tried to let go of her hang-ups. She took a seat in the Chrysler and admired the style and elegance. Donovan’s truck was nice, but this automobile was sleek and beautiful, with so many lights and dials on the dashboard, it could’ve been a cockpit. Definitely built to impress. And that wasn’t counting all of the after-market bling Roland added to his whip. Exactly how much did he spend on this car?

Would you stop that? Kyra shook her head. Not only was she comparing Roland to Donovan at every turn, but she had him on the defensive for the way he chose to spend his money. She agreed to go out with him, so the least she could do was give him a fair shake.

Roland entered the vehicle and took a seat next to her. Kyra reached and touched his arm.

“I’m sorry.”

“It’s cool,” Roland said, his smile bright and genuine. “Wanna see one of my money clips?” He laughed and said, “Gotcha,” when Kyra’s mouth fell open. After a moment she laughed, too.



≈≈≈≈≈≈≈



He took her to Cattleman’s steakhouse in the historic stockyards section of the city. The restaurant was top notch all the way. Kyra couldn’t believe she was being wined and dined by two handsome men in two consecutive days. Roland ordered a two pound T-bone steak called The Cowboy. He suggested Kyra try The Cowgirl, but she opted for filet mignon with corn on the cob.

Roland asked her an assortment of getting-to-know-you questions, but Kyra didn’t tell him much about her past. From her queries, Kyra learned that Roland was from Waxahachie, and he was the oldest of twelve kids. His mother and father were still together, and all of his brothers and sisters graduated high school. Some went to college. Kyra was thoroughly impressed.

The more Kyra got to know him, the less she thought of Roland as a showboat. He was sure of himself, and he was proud of the things he’d accomplished. But he was down to earth. His modest upbringing gave him an appreciation for the finer things in life. He liked to eat good foods and drink exotic wines and take vacations to locales his parents never even dreamed of.

But as interesting as Roland was, Kyra found herself thinking about Donovan again. She remembered what he said about Kyra taking him to an upscale steakhouse. Cattleman’s might have been the best one in the area. Kyra was a little chagrined that she wasn’t sharing the experience with her best friend.

When she realized her thoughts had wandered to Donovan again, Kyra pushed him out of her mind and looked into her date’s brown eyes. Roland really was handsome. His confidence pushed his attractiveness up another couple of notches.

“Do you like working at the school?” he asked.

Kyra nodded. “Yeah. I’ve only been there a couple of weeks, but I can already tell I want to stay there for a while. What about you? Do you like your job?”

“It’s alright,” Roland said. “The pay is good, and I get to meet interesting people, like you.” He gave her a warm smile.

Kyra returned his smile, but she wondered how many interesting people Roland met on his route. He told her it was rare that he was attracted to the women who signed for his packages, but Kyra would be a fool to think she was the only one.

“I want to open a business,” Roland said. “That’s my dream.”

Kyra raised an eyebrow. “What kind of business?”

“A restaurant. I love food. And I love making money. I’m going to combine the two. I’ve been taking classes at the community college. Once I finish my business degree, I’ll give it a shot.”

“How do you have time for school?” Kyra wondered. “I thought you were always working overtime.”

“I am,” Roland said. “I can only take two classes a semester, sometimes just one.”

“What kind of restaurant do you want to open? Soul food?”

“No. Why does it have to be soul food? Because I’m black?”

Kyra giggled. “Yeah, I guess so.”

“That’s the problem with young brothers and sisters today,” Roland replied. “Everybody’s scared to think outside the box. For your information, I want to open a pizza joint.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. That’s the one style of food black people haven’t perfected yet. I want to put my stamp on the industry. I already have a lot of great ideas nobody’s ever heard of, like pig’s feet pizza with hot sauce and my world famous chitlin loaf.”

Kyra couldn’t help but frown. Ewww. Gross.

“Nah, I’m just kidding,” Roland said. “It is gonna be a soul food restaurant. I didn’t wanna tell you, after you guessed it.”

Kyra cracked up. “You need to stop.”

“I love seeing you smile,” Roland said. He put his forearms on the table and leaned forward. “Miss Reynolds, I had a real nice time this afternoon. I would love to spend more time with you. I find you very attractive, and intriguing. I know it’s only our first date, but I sense a connection here.”

The intensity of his gaze made Kyra’s heart flutter. Roland looked like he wanted to climb over the table and devour her. Kyra thought she might want to let him.

“Okay,” she said. “I would like to see you again, too.”



≈≈≈≈≈≈≈



Roland pulled into Aunt Ruth’s driveway forty minutes later and put his car in park. It was bright and sunny outside. Kyra had a wonderful time, but she wasn’t ready when Roland leaned in for an unexpected kiss. She turned at the last moment, and his lips encountered the back of her jaw.

“Oh, I’m sorry,” he said. “I thought, never mind. I was wrong, and I apologize.”

He didn’t look too apologetic, but Roland had his sunglasses on again, and Kyra couldn’t see his eyes.

“It’s alright,” she said. “I didn’t…” She looked down at her hands.

“You don’t kiss on the first date,” Roland deduced. “I can dig it. Pardon my manners.”

“It’s okay,” Kyra said. She looked up at him. “Maybe next time.”

“As long as I have a next time to look forward to, I’m good,” Roland said.

He hopped out of the car and went around to open Kyra’s door for her. She felt like a princess as he took her hand and helped her out. If there was one thing she could say about Roland, it was that he was a certified gentleman – which is why his next move was so startling.

Kyra was willing when Roland reached to give her a hug in lieu of his thwarted kiss, but she pushed him away abruptly when his hands began to slide down her sides, towards her butt.

“Whoa.” Kyra wore a half frown, half smile, still trying to keep it lighthearted. “Slow down there, boss.”

“I’m sorry,” Roland said. He stuffed his over-eager hands into his pockets. “Kyra, your body is amazing.” He devoured her with his eyes while shaking his head. “I swear I didn’t mean to do that. I wasn’t going to touch – okay, yeah I was, but that wasn’t my intention. My hands were literally drawn to your cakes. I am so sorry.”

Kyra wasn’t impressed by his flattery, and she was confused by his boldness. What kind of man gets rejected when he goes for the kiss, but he still tries for a little grab ass? Interestingly, a part of Kyra was attracted to his daring. Roland saw what he wanted, and he went for it, even after he’d just been told that he couldn’t have it.

She chuckled. “Alright, I’ll let that slide. Goodbye, Roland.”

“Good day, Miss Reynolds.”

Kyra knew he was watching her ass as she walked to the door. She looked back anyway. Sure enough Roland hadn’t moved an inch. Kyra shook her head, but she couldn’t wipe the grin off her face. This man wanted her, badly. But Kyra sensed Roland might be one of those love ’em and leave ’em type of guys.



≈≈≈≈≈≈≈



She debated whether she should tell Donovan about her date or not. Kyra was eager to talk to someone. Donovan was the most likely candidate, but she worried he might get upset. But Kyra didn’t know why that would be the case. It wasn’t like Donovan wanted to be with her. In fact, Kyra wouldn’t even have gone out with Roland if Donovan hadn’t insisted.

She called him at 7:30 while she was washing dishes from Sunday dinner. When Donovan answered, Kyra heard dogs barking in the backyard.

“Hey.”

“Hey,” she said. “You walking the dogs?”

“Yeah. What’s up? Did you have a nice day?”

“I did,” Kyra said. “I… I went out with Roland.” Kyra felt her heart thudding. She felt like she was confessing to an illicit affair.

Donovan stopped dead in his tracks, not sure he heard her right. His dogs were trying to go after a wily squirrel. Donovan yanked the leashes a little harder than he meant to, and Doc and Wyatt came to an immediate halt. They looked back at him with confused expressions.

Donovan’s breathing was ragged. He hoped Kyra would think it was from his run. “You did what?”

Kyra’s heart shot up her throat. Now she really felt like she was telling her boyfriend she cheated on him. Donovan said, You did what? but Kyra heard, YOU DID WHAT?!

“I, uh, you said it was alright if I went out with Roland, right? The UPS guy from school…” Kyra’s eyes were wide. She stopped washing dishes and stood stiffly with her hands submerged in the water.

“Oh, uh, yeah,” Donovan said. His tone softened considerably. “Yeah, I did. You, you didn’t have to ask me, though. You can go out with whoever you want.”

Why did I tell her to go? Donovan’s face was twisted in despair. He gripped his leashes so hard the pink in his fingernails turned white. He was glad she didn’t deliver this news in person. He wouldn’t have been able to hide his reaction.

“Did, did you have a good time?” he asked.

“Um, yeah, I did,” Kyra said. She was near panic, too. They never had a conversation this awkward before.

“Where’d you go?”

“Cattleman’s Steakhouse.” Kyra felt another stab of guilt, like she violated a locale that was special to her and Donovan. But how ridiculous was that? The closest she and Donovan ever came to the restaurant was him saying he wanted to go somewhere fancy.

“I thought you were going to take me there.”

Kyra’s mouth fell open. Oh my God!

“I’m just kidding,” Donovan said. “How was Roland? Did he mind his manners?”

This conversation had Kyra’s head spinning. Was Donovan mad or wasn’t he? She wiped her hands on a towel and took a seat at the kitchen table. “He was really nice.” She cleared her throat. “Except for when he dropped me off. He tried to kiss me.”

Donovan had to take the phone away from his face so she wouldn’t hear him panting and growling. The contents of his stomach flipped. He felt like he might throw up. Of course Roland tried to kiss her! Kyra was beautiful and vivacious. What did he think was going to happen? Again Donovan regretted giving his approval for their date. But who the hell was he to interfere with Kyra’s love life?

“I didn’t let him,” she said.

“Wh, why not?”

“I don’t kiss on the first date.”

“I didn’t know that.”

“You never asked me out on a date,” she hinted.

“True,” Donovan said.

“Are you sure you’re okay talking about this?” Kyra asked.

“Yuh, yeah. Why’d, why do you ask?”

“I know we talk about everything,” she said. “But we never really talked about people we were dating.”

Dating? Was she dating him now? Donovan thought it was one goddamned date!

“You can talk to me about anything,” he said. “So how did this almost-kiss go? Did he come at you with his eyes already closed?” What the hell are you doing? You know you don’t want to know! But Donovan did want to know. He hated what he was hearing, but he needed to know everything. If she didn’t tell him, he’d go crazy imagining all types of erotic scenarios.

“He leaned in with his eyes closed,” Kyra said with a giggle. Maybe she and Donovan could talk about this kind of stuff after all. It would close the book on her fairy tale love affair with him, but having Donovan as her best friend was just as special.

“Did you scream?”

“No, I didn’t scream. I told him to back off.”

“That’s cool. You weren’t mad?”

“No. But I got a little upset when we got out of his car, and he tried to grab my ass.”

Donovan saw fire. Red, hot molten lava. “What, what’d you do?” he managed.

“I pushed him off me. He asked for a hug at first, but his hands started moving. You know how y’all do.”

“Huh huh.” Donovan wasn’t so much chuckling as he was struggling for breath. “So, are you going to see him again?”

“I don’t know. Everything was going good on our date, all the way till the end. He was moving too fast, and I didn’t like that. But if he would slow it down some, he might be a good dude. What do you think?”

I think I lied about being able to handle this conversation. “I think if you feel pressured, you need to make sure he knows where you draw the line. If he can’t accept that, then he has to go.”

“That’s great advice,” Kyra said.

Donovan thought so, too. But he wasn’t sure how he came up with it under the current circumstances. He felt like he was having a stroke. He wanted to destroy something. A UPS truck would be a great start.

“Finish your run,” Kyra said. “I’ll call you later and tell you more about him.”

Oh happy days! “Alright.”

“Don’t run too hard.”

“I won’t,” Donovan said, but he was so wound up, he felt like he could run all the way to the freaking moon! “Talk to you later.”