The Realest Ever

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 sank. 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.”



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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.

Donovan 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.

Nice try, Donovan thought and smiled again. “Yes, I’m the tall one,” he said. “So, is Kyra in?”

“Naw,” Ruth said. “She left with her baby-daddy.”

Donovan thought he was ready for this woman’s acid, but that comment threw him for a complete loop. He couldn’t even pretend to be okay.

“Wh, what?”

“You said you’re Donovan?” the older woman asked.

A car horn sounded. Donovan checked his rearview mirror and saw that he wasn’t alone on the street anymore. He made a right at the intersection and pulled over in front of a random house. He put his car in PARK and tried to slow his heartbeats.

“Yeah, I’m Donovan. When did Kyra leave?”

“About ten minutes ago. I don’t wanna get all in your business, but you look like a good man,” Ruth said. “Kyra told me you coach for Western Hills.”

Donovan’s breaths were hot and heavy. “Kyra left with Kat’s father?”

“Yeah,” Ruth said. “Leonard been calling her. They talk all the time. He just came down from Arkansas to see her.”

Donovan’s head was spinning. He didn’t know what to believe anymore. He knew this woman was lying, but how much of it was a lie? Surely she wouldn’t say Kyra wasn’t there if she really was.

“She using you,” Ruth confided, “if you wanna know what I think about it.”

“I don’t,” Donovan said. “I just want to know where Kyra is.”

“I told you she ain’t here. You don’t believe me? Kyra!” The woman barely took the phone away from her face before she screamed. “Kyra! You in here?” She was very loud. After a moment, she said, “See. She ain’t here. She with Leonard, like I told you.”

Donovan’s eyes burned. What the hell was going on here? Kyra told him Leonard was trying to contact her, so Donovan believed that Kat’s father might come to Overbrook Meadows. But why would Kyra leave with him? Why now? Donovan told Kyra he was going to pick her up after church, so she and Beverly could talk. Kyra wouldn’t leave with some loser.

“Where the kids?” Donovan was speaking without thinking now. He was on the side of the road with nowhere to go. His mind was racing. His heart was, too.

“She left the kids here,” Ruth said. “I like you, Donovan, and I feel bad about what Kyra’s doing to you. I want to tell you the truth about how she’s using you and why she came back here. Did Kyra tell you why she came back to Overbrook Meadows?”

Donovan swallowed roughly. He knew Aunt Ruth was full of shit, but some of it had to be true. Kyra was always vague about what happened in Little Rock. Donovan wanted to know everything, and he knew she was holding back. But he couldn’t trust the woman he was talking to. He should hang up.

“You’re lying.”

“You don’t have to believe me,” Ruth said. “There’s a million people in Little Rock who know what I know. Aunts, uncles, cousins, everybody. I can give you any phone number you want. I’m trying to help you, Donovan. You need to know what was really went down over there. You don’t know Kyra like you think you do.”

Donovan’s soul was tormented. He felt like Ruth was carving chunks off his heart, slice by slice. “What are you talking about?” he breathed. He didn’t want to know, but his mind would concoct all sorts of terrible scenarios until she told him. Even if Ruth gave him a bastardized version of the truth, Donovan needed to hear it. He could decide for himself what parts he wanted to believe.

“Drugs,” Aunt Ruth said. “They was on drugs.”

Donovan nearly sighed in relief until the word “They” registered. “Who? Kyra?”

“Yes, she was,” Ruth said.

She sounded solemn, but Donovan could almost see her grinning, like the devil himself. His eyes filled with tears even as he barked at her. “You’re lying!”

“I’m not lying!” Ruth snapped back. “I’m trying to help you, so stop telling me I’m lying! Kyra was on drugs, and Leonard was on drugs, and that’s why them people came and took her kids. I know she told you they took her kids…”

Donovan’s silence was answer enough. Ruth hummed into the phone. “Uhn uhn uhn…” She sounded different than before. Her smugness was unmistakable now. Donovan realized she wasn’t lying, not about this, and he lost the slippery hold on his composure.

Dark shadows filled the streets as the gray clouds above blocked out the rest of the fleeting sunshine. Donovan heard a crackle of thunder. He saw a bolt of lightening streak down to the earth, miles ahead of him. His vision blurred, but it wasn’t the rain.

“The CPS took Kat and Quinell from her,” Ruth continued. “Kyra was getting high on heroin with that boy. She was a dopefiend, just like her mama.”

Thinking about Kyra’s mother broke Donovan out of the trance this evil woman had him under. Donovan tried to love his neighbors and forgive his enemies, but Kyra’s mom was one person he still despised. She let drugs replace the love she once had for her children, and she ruined all of their lives, especially Kyra’s. Donovan could not believe that the woman he loved was in any way similar to her despicable mother. He refused to accept that.

“I’m getting off this phone,” he growled. He wiped his eyes and nose angrily. Why did he entertain Kyra’s spiteful aunt in the first place? He knew Ruth wasn’t right. Kyra told him so nearly every day.

“Why don’t you ask Kyra?” Ruth said. She was tired of this conversation, too. Donovan’s nose was so wide open, he wouldn’t listen to any negative comments about his pearly white princess. “You ain’t gotta believe me,” Ruth said. “Ask Kyra. Ask her if she was on dope. Ask her if them people took her kids. Ask her your damned self!”

She hung up in his face. Literally. Aunt Ruth had an old school telephone.



≈≈≈≈≈≈≈



Donovan returned to his mother’s house a few minutes later. Beverly took one look at him and knew that this was the kind of pain only a woman could cause. She sat with him in the living room while Donovan told her about the conversation with Aunt Ruth. Beverly tried to make him feel better with the same reasoning Donovan used when he was on the phone with Kyra’s aunt.

“She’s lying, Donovan. Why do you believe her? You told me how she was.”

As he talked to the woman who knew him best, Donovan managed to get his emotions under control. His eyes were dry as he shook his head, his body slumped over, his forearms resting on his knees. He looked up at his mother.

“I don’t think she was lying, Mama.”

“Why do you believe that, Donovan? Sit up, baby.”

He sat back on the sofa, but his body still slumped. Beverly had never seen his spirits so low.

“Because of the way she sounded,” Donovan said. “She said everybody knew about it. She said I could ask Kyra herself.”

“And that’s what you should do,” Beverly urged. She was nearly as exasperated as he was. “That lady’s trying to come against you and Kyra’s happiness, Donovan. I can feel it in my bones. You don’t need to think nothing else bad about Kyra, until you talk to her yourself. When was the last time you called her?”

“When I was on my way over there,” Donovan said. “She still not answering.”

“Call her now,” Beverly suggested. “She’s the only person you can get the truth from.”

Donovan knew that was the best advice anyone could give him. He dug his phone from his pocket. Even that movement took a lot out of him. He felt completely drained. But Donovan’s face lit up when he checked the display on his cellular. He had a missed call from Kyra. And a message.

“She called,” he told his mom.

“When?”

“I had it on silent, from church,” Donovan said as he accessed his call log. Kyra called him two minutes after he talked to her aunt. What a fool he was! The whole time he was giving his mother this sob story, he could’ve been talking to Kyra.

“Did she leave a message?” Beverly asked.

Donovan didn’t respond because he had the phone to his ear, already listening to his voicemail. Beverly waited. Twenty seconds later Donovan sighed and smiled. “She sounds fine. She said she was outside, and she didn’t hear her phone ringing.”

“She didn’t say anything about her baby’s father?”

Donovan shook his head. His smile wavered. He was so happy to hear that Kyra was alive and well, that he momentarily forgot about the terrible things her aunt said about her.

“I’m gonna call her.”

Donovan’s pulse thumped as he returned Kyra’s call. His mother watched him nervously. Kyra answered after a couple of rings.

“Hey. I’m sorry I missed your call.”

“I was going to pick you up,” Donovan said.

“I know. Baby, I’m so sorry. Are you still coming?”

She sounded normal. Donovan held out hope that the things her heard about her were not true.

“Did you leave?” he asked. “I called your home phone. Your aunt said you left.”

“What? I didn’t go anywhere,” Kyra said. “I was here. You talked to my aunt?”

Donovan knew Ruth was a liar! He half smiled at his mother.

“She told me Leonard came from Arkansas, and you left with him.”

There was a pause. Donovan’s smile slipped again.

“He did come,” Kyra said. She cleared her throat. “But I didn’t leave with him. I just went outside with him so we could talk, without the kids hearing us. My aunt knows I didn’t leave. I don’t know why she told you that.”

Goose bumps sprouted on Donovan’s forearms. He had a feeling Ruth was mixing lies in with the truth. But Kyra didn’t tell him about Leonard at all. He had to bring it up first. The whole time he had known her, Donovan never doubted Kyra’s word. But now he wondered if she was going to tell him Leonard paid her a visit. He wondered if maybe Kyra did leave with him after all.

“Wh, what’s wrong?” she asked. “I was gonna tell you. But I wanted to talk about it later. I got a lot of stuff to talk to you about. I can’t believe she told you I left with him.” Kyra growled. “I can’t stand her, Donovan. I gotta get out of here. A lot of stuff happened today. I need to talk to you in person. Me and the kids, we gotta move out.”

There was so much to process. Donovan felt like his world was slowly turning upside down. He had a million questions, but one was more important than all of the rest.

“Your aunt told me you were on drugs, Kyra. She said CPS took your kids. Is that true?”

In the five seconds it took for Kyra to come to terms with the fact that her biggest secret was out, and she didn’t have the opportunity to tell Donovan herself, her boyfriend’s face fell apart. Beverly threw her hands over her mouth as she watched him.

Kyra wanted to scream, and she wanted to cry, and she wanted to kill her aunt. Her brain quickly decided that crying was the only one of those options that was acceptable. Her eyes twitched, and then the tears flow unabated. She wiped her nose and said, “I’m sorry, Donovan. I was gonna tell you.”

Her admission broke down the last wall of defense Donovan built around Kyra. He knew she wasn’t perfect, but Donovan never would’ve believed Kyra fell into the same pattern of drug abuse as her mother. After all they went through as children, it was unthinkable that Kyra put Kat and Quinell through the same hell.

“How could you do that?” Hot tears flowed down Donovan’s face. He didn’t know why, but this almost felt like a personal slap, in his face. He felt like everything he did to protect Kyra when they were children was all in vain. All of the help he offered Kyra since she came back was based on a lie. What else had she lied about? Donovan had no idea, and he hated that he couldn’t take Kyra’s word for it.

“I need to talk to you in person,” Kyra cried. “I’m sorry, Donovan. I didn’t lie to you, I just didn’t want to talk about that. I was too embarrassed.”

Her voice was laced with regret. Her breath came in shudders. Donovan knew she was hurting, but so was he. And Kyra was the one who caused it, with her lies and her half-truths and her, her drugs! It was hard enough to think it; Donovan was by no means ready to talk about it.

“I gotta go.”

“Please, baby. I’m sorry!”

“Kyra you lied to me. All I ever did was try to help you. I never did anything to hurt you.”

Donovan’s eyes were nearly bloodshot. His mother was crying, too. She placed a hand on his shoulder and rubbed comfortingly. But there was nothing Beverly could do to make the pain go away.

“Donovan, I need you! Please don’t leave me!” Kyra cried.

“I gotta go,” he said.

“Donovan, please.”

“Kyra, I’ll call you later. I gotta go. I need to think.”

“Baby, please!”

“Kyra please let me call you back!” Donovan didn’t mean to shout, but his heart, mind and soul were all swirling in a whirlwind of uncertainty. But as upset as he was, he still loved Kyra too much to simply hang up in her face.

“I’m sorry!” she wailed. Kyra released a litany of sounds that weren’t intelligible before ending the call herself.



≈≈≈≈≈≈≈



Donovan stayed with his mother for another thirty minutes. Beverly didn’t offer much advice. She thought Kyra was wrong for doing drugs and even more wrong for keeping it from her son, but there was no need to speak on it.

Instead she pulled Donovan into her arms when he got off the phone. He surprised her by allowing it. They were quite a sight. Donovan was nearly twice his mother’s size. She could barely wrap her arms around him, but a mother’s love cannot be hindered by simple physics.

Beverly rubbed Donovan’s shoulder while he sobbed on hers. He only cried for a few moments before he sat up and wiped his face. Beverly went to the kitchen to get him a drink of water and a face towel.

After a while Donovan rose from the couch and went to the bathroom to straighten up. When he emerged, he looked almost normal. Except for his eyes. They were filled with so much pain, it broke Beverly’s heart. She had to look away.

Donovan went to his truck and got his toolbox. He took it to his mother’s bathroom and hunkered down under the sink. Beverly tried to stop him. She told him he didn’t have to do that today. But Donovan insisted, saying it would only take a minute.

He took the pipes apart and rescued a diamond earring his mother lost two days ago. He put the pipes back together and washed his hands and gave her a kiss on the way out.

Beverly stood on her porch watching the road after he drove away. She finally went inside because, after a great crackle of thunder, it started to rain.