The Realest Ever

Chapter TWENTY-ONE

THE FINAL Chapter

THE REALEST EVER

They didn’t talk about what happened at all that first day. Kyra’s kids were as stressed out as she was. Donovan saw the fright and uncertainty in their eyes. As a teacher he knew that what they needed most was love, structure and a sense of normalcy. It would have freaked Kat and Q out even more if Donovan and Kyra disappeared and had a long talk, so they barely left the children’s sight.

Everyone changed out of their wet clothes, and then they had cocoa with marshmallows in the kitchen. Donovan made ham sandwiches for lunch. Afterwards he went to the den and played video games with Quinell while Kyra and Kat napped and watched television in the living room. Donovan took them to CiCi’s Pizza for dinner. When they got home, he suggested they play a family game. Quinell picked Chutes and Ladders.

The board game was as lame as Donovan remembered, but Kat and Q liked it. They were in good moods when Donovan sent them to bed at ten o’clock. Kyra wasn’t in a good mood, but she hid her emotions well throughout the day. She finally broke down when she crawled into bed with Donovan at eleven-thirty. He held her while she cried, and he wouldn’t let her talk about anything that happened that day.

“We don’t have to talk about it tonight,” he told her. “Just go to sleep, baby. I know you’re tired.”

Eventually Kyra did fall asleep, though her mind was filled with worries. Donovan took her in tonight, but he wouldn’t discuss what their situation was. Kyra didn’t know if he’d put her out in the morning or ask her to stay forever. To make matters worse, Kyra forgot to log on to her banking account and request a stop-payment for the check she gave her aunt. She knew that she might have as little as three hundred dollars to her name come sun up, but somehow she was able to sleep.

≈≈≈≈≈≈≈

The next day Donovan called-in to work and suggested Kyra do the same. She did as he asked. Donovan’s word had always been law for her. Donovan made a few more phone calls during breakfast, and then they took Q to school. When he got out of the truck, Quinell asked his mother, “Are we going back to Mr. Mitchell’s house when I get out?”

Kyra lowered her gaze. She and Donovan still hadn’t discussed it, and she didn’t want to put her foot in her mouth.

Donovan leaned forward and told the boy, “Of course you are. Where else would you go?”

Q smiled and nearly skipped into the building.

Kyra continued to keep her eyes averted as Donovan pulled away from the school. She was so ashamed of herself, she feared she would never be able to look Donovan in the eyes again.



≈≈≈≈≈≈≈



Two of the calls Donovan made that morning were to daycare facilities. The first one was on Seminary, not far from Quinell’s school. Donovan took Kyra to meet the staff and check out their services. After a brief tour, Donovan and Kyra left the building, and he asked what she thought about the place.

Kyra toted Kat on her hip. She was quite perplexed about everything Donovan was doing. “Think about what?”

“About this daycare,” he said. “Is this somewhere you’d feel comfortable leaving Kat?”

“Oh, um, they’re kinda expensive.”

“You’re not going to find a licensed daycare that will take care of a two year old for less than one-fifty a week,” Donovan stated.

“But I only make two thousand a month,” Kyra said. “That’s almost half my money.”

“If you know someone who babysits from their home, you can try that,” Donovan said. “But real daycares are reliable. A babysitter might turn you away if she stayed out at the club too late the night before. Plus daycares have healthy snacks and educational activities.”

“But what am I gonna do about finding somewhere to stay?” Kyra asked. “I can’t live off fourteen hundred a month.”

“I thought you were staying with me.”

Kyra’s heart shuddered. “We haven’t talked about anything yet.”

“I told Q he was coming to my house after school,” Donovan said.

“But you haven’t said anything to me.”

“I just said, ‘I thought you were staying with me.’”

Kyra couldn’t get a read on him. She could tell he was still upset, but he was trying his best not to show it. He was having a hard time looking her in the eyes, which made Kyra feel even more self-conscious.

“Donovan, you know what I mean. We haven’t talked, about what happened, about what my aunt told you.”

“Let’s get Kat situated first,” he said. “Do you like this daycare, or do you want to see the one closer to your job?”

Kyra didn’t want to do anything until they talked, but she knew she wasn’t going to get her way. “I wanna see the other one.”

“Alright. Let’s go.”



≈≈≈≈≈≈≈



Donovan took her to the Child and Family Solutions daycare near J.T. Elder, and Kyra quickly fell in love. The center looked like a small school, complete with a playground in the back and two former teachers running it.

Donovan said the main question Kyra should ask herself is whether or not she felt comfortable leaving her daughter there every morning. She said yes. They went to the front office and filled out paperwork. Kyra felt like she was signing her life away, especially since she and Donovan hadn’t talked about what happened, but she knew he wouldn’t let her do anything she’d later regret.

“Are we keeping her today?” the co-owner, a woman named Mrs. Hampton, asked after Kyra was done with her paperwork and her first payment had been processed.

Kyra said, “No.”

But Donovan said, “Yes.”

Mrs. Hampton grinned. “You young couples… Do you need a minute to think about?”

“No,” Kyra said. She had no idea what Donovan had in mind, but he was always three steps ahead of her. “We’re leaving her today.”

“Great,” Mrs. Hampton said. She got up and led them out of the office. “Right this way. I think they’re doing arts and crafts now…”

When they got back to his truck, Kyra asked Donovan, “Why didn’t you want me to keep her today? I’m not working.”

“You will be,” Donovan said. “We have to get a bed for Kat. And I’m not setting up another bedroom without your help.”

“But Donovan…” Kyra had a strange mix of emotions. On one hand she was excited that he still wanted to be with her. But she was also worried because she hadn’t told him what happened. “Aren’t we going to talk about any of this?”

“Yes,” Donovan said. “We can talk right now.” Rather than start his truck, Donovan turned in his seat and looked at Kyra. He sighed. “What do you want to tell me?”

Kyra’s eyes widened. She couldn’t believe she was the one begging for this conversation. This was a terrible idea! “I, I don’t know…”

“Start with Leonard,” Donovan said. “What happened yesterday?”

That was an easy one. Kyra told Donovan about Leonard’s unexpected visit. She told him how Leonard refused to show her his arms and how he cursed her out before he left.

“Is he still going to take you to court?” Donovan asked when she was done.

Kyra shook her head. “No. I don’t think so.”

“What if he does?”

“I don’t know.” Kyra shrugged. “What do you think I should do?”

“You’d have to get a lawyer,” Donovan said. “If Leonard’s as bad as you say he is, you’ll probably win the case. But if he gets clean, and he really wants to be with his daughter, you can’t and shouldn’t fight that.”

“I won’t,” Kyra said. “But he doesn’t care about her.”

“Time will tell. What about your aunt? Why is she so mad at you?”

Kyra told him about the argument over her paycheck and how much she was supposed to pay for rent and baby-sitting. She also told him about the things Aunt Ruth said when they were packing up to leave her house.

“She wanted me to be dependent on her,” Kyra concluded. “But she treated me like crap the whole time I was there. It doesn’t make sense.”

“Stuff like that happens all the time,” Donovan said. “You’d be surprised how many parents abuse their kids, but they’d go crazy if someone took their babies away.”

Kyra’s chest tightened. She knew what was coming next.

“CPS took your kids from you, in Little Rock?”

Kyra nodded. She sniffled and started crying before she even began the story.

Everything she told Donovan about her and Leonard’s relationship was true with one glaring exception. Towards the end, Kyra was not only complacent about Leonard’s drug use, but she was also fascinated by it. Nearly everyone in the hood had it bad, but Leonard had an escape. It was cheap and it was long-lasting. And after watching him get high for a year, Kyra didn’t see any negative side effects.

But Kyra didn’t think she would’ve used drugs if not for the death of her grandmother. When she first moved to Arkansas, her granny was the one person who kept her sane when all Kyra wanted was Donovan; her best and only friend. Kyra slipped into a bout of depression after her grandmother’s funeral, and Leonard’s form of escape became more and more appealing to her. Kyra couldn’t blame anyone for what happened next, because she made a conscious decision to get high

Leonard was all for it when she asked to snort some of his powder one day. It looked like brown sugar, and Kyra thought the high was just as sweet. She compared it to the marijuana she smoked from time to time, except heroin was fifty times more powerful. It didn’t make her hungry or giggly or paranoid or hyper. All Kyra wanted to do with her heroin high was sit down somewhere and enjoy it and not think about all of the things life had taken from her.

She started snorting a pill every day after work. She didn’t realize she was hooked until she tried to go without it one night, and she got an upset stomach. Kyra’s bones hurt like she had arthritis. When she gave in and snorted her daily pill, all of the pain went away. She never got her fix with a needle, but Kyra was as addicted as any other junkie.

The raid came three months after Kyra snorted her first line. By then Leonard was a full-blown addict, and he started to make dopefiend mistakes. Not only did he sell crack to an undercover police officer, but Leonard made the drug deal at their home (an ultimate no-no for any dealer).

An hour later the police kicked in the door waving guns and an arrest warrant. They took everybody downtown. Kyra hadn’t committed any crimes, but she was as high as a kite, and the police refused to return her children to her. When they told her, Kyra lost her mind. She cried and screamed to the point that she had to be taken to the hospital and treated for anxiety.

A social worker gave her a card when she was released from the E.R. Kyra’s brother picked her up and took her to his home. Kyra could barely walk. She staggered into Duke’s house looking lost and wild. No one could comfort her. To make matters worse, Kyra’s body craved the very drug that cost her everything. She barely got out of bed for the first few days of her withdrawal. Kyra cried and shivered and vomited and sweated the heroin out of her system.

She didn’t think about Leonard at all, not in those early days. The only thing on Kyra’s mind was where her babies were. Who was feeding and tucking them in at night? How did she let this happen? How did she become her mother? And who the hell had her babies? Would she ever see them again? Would she ever be able to look in the mirror without hating the woman staring back at her?

It took more than two months for Kyra to convince the social workers that she was not an irresponsible dope head. Kyra learned a lot about herself and her decision-making during that time. When the CPS returned Q and Katavia and closed the case, Kyra ran as fast and as far away as she could. She ran from Leonard, she ran from the social workers, and she ran from every friend and family member who knew what happened. All she wanted was a fresh start.

“If I could go back in time, I probably still wouldn’t tell you what happened,” Kyra said to Donovan as they sat in his truck in the daycare’s parking lot. “It’s too embarrassing. I feel like the biggest fool ever.”

“If you didn’t learn anything from it, then you’d still be a fool,” Donovan said. Kyra was crying, but at least she got it out of her system. “But I know you did learn from it, and you have changed,” he said. “I understand why you didn’t tell me, and I’m not mad at you anymore. I love you, Kyra. I always have, and I always will.”

Donovan’s forgiveness meant the world to her. Kyra scooted over so she could hug him. Donovan held onto her for as long as she wanted. After awhile Kyra’s tears subsided, and her breathing returned to normal.

She said, “Thanks for listening.”

“You have to let your aunt cash that check you gave her,” Donovan said.

Kyra wasn’t surprised by that, but she asked him, “Why?”

“Because she did give you somewhere to live for two months. Plus you already gave her the check.”

“I was gonna put a stop-payment on it.”

Donovan shook his head. “You can’t do people wrong just because they did you wrong. Let her cash the check. If she doesn’t deserve it, God will deal with her.”

“I’ll only have three hundred dollars left,” Kyra complained.

“I know. That’s why I’m taking you to the welfare office to get some food stamps,” Donovan said. He laughed when Kyra gave him a look. “I’m just kidding.”

“But what are we gonna do?” Kyra asked. “Seriously.”

“I guess I’ll have to carry you this month,” Donovan said. “You can carry me next month, to make up for it.”

Kyra knew she should be happy, but she also felt apprehensive. No one ever had her back like this before.

“Donovan, I can’t keep setting myself up to owe you money. I don’t like it. I wanna show you that I can take care of myself.”

“Kyra, I’m not doing this for you. I’m doing it for us. I told you that. Why do you feel the need to prove something to me?”

“Because you always been there for me,” she said. “I just want to show you, for once, that I can stand on my own two feet.”

“I understand what you’re saying,” Donovan said. “But you’re not in a position to take care of me financially. Not right now, anyway. You got three hundred dollars, and you just promised that money to the daycare. If you want to prove something to me, you can do it by going to work every day, taking care of the kids and paying your daycare bill.”

“That’s not enough.”

“What do you want to do, make my mortgage payment?”

He chuckled, but right away Kyra said, “Yes. That would be great. How much is it?”

“A thousand dollars.”

“Okay. I’ll pay that.”

“Only if you let me pay for daycare,” Donovan said.

Kyra realized they were essentially swapping bills, but paying for Donovan’s home sounded a lot better than paying for Kat’s babysitters. “Okay,” she said. “That’s fine.”

“You’re silly,” Donovan told her, but he was in a good mood for the first time that day.

“I’m in love with you,” Kyra told him. “I don’t think you’ll ever know how much I love you.”

Donovan’s smile disappeared as he looked into her eyes. “I assure you, you don’t love me as much as I love you.”

“Yes I do. Ten times more.”

“Nope. Not possible.”

“I’ll prove it.”

“I would love to see that.”

“You’ll see,” Kyra said, though she had no idea what she could do to show her eternal devotion to this man.

She kissed him, for starters. Donovan was very receptive. He slipped his tongue inside her mouth, and Kyra’s whole body grew warm.

They were still making-out three minutes later when Donovan remembered they were parked in front of the daycare. They drove away laughing.

They didn’t know it at the time, but as fate would have it, Kyra never laid eyes on Leonard again. Two months after he returned to Little Rock, Leonard got caught up with a desperate crew of addicts. He tagged along for a burglary that went bad when the homeowner showed up, and somebody started shooting. Leonard was sentenced to life without the possibility of parole for his role in the burglary-turned-homicide.



≈≈≈≈≈≈≈



Donovan took Kyra to a discount furniture store where he purchased a twin-size bed for Katavia. He wanted to get a couple of dressers to help fill out Kat’s new room, but they finally reached his spending limit.

“That’s good,” Kyra told him.

“Good that I can’t afford to furnish her room?” Donovan was confused.

“Yes. I mean no,” Kyra said. “It’s good because I want to buy stuff for her room when I get paid next month. I really want to help.”

Donovan knew how much that meant to her, so he didn’t argue this time.

Kat’s bed required assembly. They loaded it in the back of Donovan’s truck and headed home. When they got there, Donovan was surprised by how eager Kyra was to get to work. She helped him clear out the extra bedroom, and she helped tote Kat’s mattress, box spring and other materials into the house. It was hard work, but Kyra was cheerful. This was her first project at Donovan’s house. It made her feel like she belonged there, which was a feeling she’d been searching for her whole life.

The room looked rather bare when they got done. There was nothing in it but a bed, a file cabinet and a few boxes of papers Donovan didn’t know what to do with. Donovan thought they had a lot of work left to do before it would look like a girl’s room. But this would be the first room Kat ever had to herself, so Kyra thought it looked great. Plus she and Donovan worked well together. They laughed and flirted and kissed whenever they got within kissing distance.

They took showers (separately, to Kyra’s dismay), and met in the kitchen afterwards for lunch. Donovan started to make a DiGiorno pizza. But Kyra wanted to make tuna fish sandwiches, so she’d have a snack for the kids when they got home. Donovan sat at the kitchen table and watched as Kyra prepared the meal. Occasionally she’d ask where something was, but for the most part she already knew her way around the kitchen.

Donovan stood abruptly and left the room. When he returned to his seat, Kyra noticed his mood was different. Something in his eyes gave her goose bumps.

“What’s wrong?” Kyra was at the sink cooling her hardboiled eggs. She looked back at Donovan and saw him place something on the table. “What’s that?”

“Why don’t you come over here and see what it is?” he suggested.

Curious, Kyra dried her hands and walked to the table. Her eyes widened when she saw that Donovan had placed a condom on top of it. The hairs stood on the back of her neck.

Donovan stood and approached her slowly. “I warned you.”

“About, about what?” Kyra’s eyes darted from the condom to her man. Donovan wore a tee shirt with long, basketball shorts. The bulge of his erection was a lot more visible than it would’ve been in jeans.

“About you and the kitchen and that refrigerator,” Donovan said. “And you had the nerve to wear that dress. I think you’re taunting me.”

Kyra didn’t think her dress was sexy. It was loose fitting with floral prints. “What’s wrong with my dress?”

“Easy access,” Donovan said. He pulled his tee-shirt over his head as he closed the distance between them.

Kyra gasped. Donovan got a light workout while putting Kat’s bed together. His muscles were primed. His skin was smooth and chocolaty. The swelling in his shorts looked huge.

“Are you serious?”

Rather than respond, Donovan placed both hands on her waist and walked her backwards. Kyra’s blood was already racing. She shuddered when her back came in contact with the refrigerator. Donovan pressed his body against hers. He kissed and sucked her bottom lip. Kyra felt his erection on her stomach. Donovan’s hands slid down to her hips. He gripped her flesh and grinded between her thighs.

“Oh.” Kyra felt a tightening and a sudden slickness between her legs.

Donovan’s tongue invaded her mouth. His hands slid up and down her frame. He reached under her dress.

“Uh.”

His hand between her legs sent a jolt all the way up Kyra’s spine and down to her toes. Donovan looked her in the eyes as he rubbed her labia through her panties. His breaths were slow and heavy. He kissed her again as his fingers slipped past her underwear, and the longest one disappeared inside Kyra.

“Oh!”

She was about to cum. This was ludicrous. He barely touched her! Kyra’s head was spinning. Her breath came in hitches.

“Baby what, what are you doing to me?”

Those words came from Donovan, which shocked the hell out of Kyra because she thought he was reading her mind.

He let go of her for a second so he could take his shorts off. He was completely naked now. In the kitchen! Kyra leaned against the refrigerator and tried to control her breathing as Donovan retrieved his condom and slowly put it on. He watched her eyes as he rolled it towards the base of his penis. Kyra couldn’t get enough of that. Watching Donovan put condoms on was so damned sexy.

He stepped to her again with a serious expression. Kyra was nearly panting. Donovan reached under her dress and pulled her panties down her legs. Kyra lifted each foot so he could get them past her ankles. Donovan pulled her dress up to her waist and kissed her again. Kyra’s legs were trembling. Her throat caught when she felt herself being lifted into the air. Donovan didn’t grimace at all. Kyra felt weightless in his arms.

She wrapped her legs around his waist, and Donovan leaned her spine against the cool refrigerator. He held her aloft with just one hand on her ass while he positioned himself for insertion. He then moved his hand to her other butt cheek. His grip was tight. Kyra felt his fat head pushing at her wet entrance. Donovan asked if she was ready, and he slowly lowered her onto his erection when she nodded.

“Ahh. Donovan.”

He pushed all the way in on the first stroke. Kyra threw both of her arms around his neck, but she didn’t have to support herself at all. Donovan pressed his body closer to hers until Kyra’s back was nearly flat against the refrigerator. And then he went to work.

“Oh, Donovan!”

He pumped his hips slowly. Each plunge was deeper than the one before. Kyra closed her eyes as the pleasure radiated through her whole body. She felt like she was floating on his penis. Donovan kissed her passionately. He stroked hard and slow. Kyra felt him all the way in her belly.

He seemed to be digging deeper than ever before, probably because the refrigerator didn’t have any give like a springy mattress. There was no escape. There was just Donovan and his dick and Kyra’s relatively small body that was completely under his control at that moment.

Unexpectedly Kyra found herself airborne again.

“Uh!”

She tightened her grip around Donovan’s neck. He took a step back so that Kyra had to depend fully on him for support. She still had her legs wrapped around his waist. Donovan used his powerful arms to move her up and down on his dick until Kyra picked up the groove and began to grind on her own. The position was so exotic, she felt her climax building within seconds.

“Oh, Donovan! Uh. Baby! Oh, Donovan!”

Up and down she went. Each time Donovan pushed all the way in, until their pubic hairs meshed.

“Baby! Oh, baby! Oh! Ah! Ah!”

Kyra’s slick walls gripped his penis like a fist when she came. Donovan grunted and pushed her against the refrigerator again. Kyra’s legs trembled as she coated his penis with her orgasm, and she lost her scissor grip around his waist. Donovan grabbed one of her thighs and spread it open wider. He pumped his hips faster and harder.

SCURR!

Kyra didn’t know what that sound was. The kitchen was spinning. Her first orgasm rolled into a second one without a pause. Donovan was beating it up. Kyra heard their thighs clapping, she heard her own satisfied moans, and then she heard the strange sound again.

SCURR!

This time she felt the refrigerator move, and she realized Donovan plowing so hard he was literally sliding the heavy appliance on the kitchen floor.

Whap! Whap! Whap!

His hips were moving as fast as a locomotive. His expression could’ve passed for angry. Donovan buried his face in the crook of Kyra’s neck and started moaning and talking to her at the same time.

“Baby, it feels so good. Oh, Kyra! Oh, Kyra! Oh, shit, Kyra!”

He slammed in one last time when he came. Kyra screamed with pleasure. She felt his manhood jumping inside her. Her walls squeezed and milked the cum out of him. Donovan’s release lasted forever. Every little move he made titillated Kyra and made her cry out again.

Finally Donovan lifted her off the fridge and carried her to the living room. He gently placed her on the sofa, and Kyra rolled to her side. She closed her eyes, still in the midst of a delicious orgasm. She felt so good, she almost sucked her thumb as she drifted off to sleep.



≈≈≈≈≈≈≈



Donovan awakened her a couple of hours later.

“Do you want me to pick up the kids?”

Kyra sat up and slowly regained her bearings. She squinted at the wall clock. She still had time to get Kat and Quinell, but she’d have to leave the house in twenty minutes.

“No, I’ll get them. I want to stop by Walmart to get a comforter for Kat’s bed.” She yawned. “Man, I was knocked out.”

“I know,” Donovan said. He knelt on the side of the couch and kissed her on the lips. “You were sleep for so long, I had to finish up your tuna.”

“I’m sorry,” Kyra said. Memories of their kitchen romance put a smile on her face.

“I also had time to go get this,” Donovan said.

He held up a black ring box, and the fog in Kyra’s head cleared up in the blink of an eye. She jumped to her feet so quickly, she nearly lost her balance.

“Whoa,” Donovan said. He chuckled. “Listen, this ring has been in my family for generations. This is the engagement ring my grandfather gave my grandmother. It got passed down to my father when my grandmother died, and he passed it down to me. I wanted to get you a new one, but my mom says I should give you this.”

He was still down on one knee. He opened the box as he spoke, revealing the most beautiful diamond ring Kyra had ever seen. The rock wasn’t huge or necessarily flashy, but it was perfect for her. The fact that Donovan’s mother wanted the heirloom to go to Kyra completely blew her mind. Kyra knew that she would cherish the ring for the rest of her life.

She squealed and flushed and burst into tears as Donovan proposed.

“Kyra, you know I love you more than any woman I’ve ever known. You’re my best friend, and you’re the love of my life. I know we were meant to be together forever, and I know that the love we share is real. It’s the realest ever. Will you marry me?”

Kyra couldn’t speak, but she nodded feverishly. She didn’t think her life could ever be better than it was at that moment. Donovan reached for her trembling hand and slid the ring on her finger. He stood, and Kyra threw her arms around him. She hugged him as tightly as she could. Donovan wrapped both arms around her and spun around the room. When he put her down, Kyra peppered his face with kisses.

“Oh, and there’s something I have to tell you,” Donovan said. “My mom always wanted to give me away at my wedding. I know a dad is supposed to do that for his daughter, but Mama’s pretty adamant about it, and I told her it was okay.”

Kyra didn’t care about any of that. They could get married at a three-ring circus for all she cared, so long as she was Donovan’s lawfully wedded wife at the end of the ceremony.

“I love you so much!”

“I love you, too,” Donovan said. “Are you sure you don’t want me to pick up the kids?”

“No,” Kyra said. She checked the clock again as she wiped the tears from her eyes. “I really need to get some stuff from Walmart. And I want to tell them the good news!” She held out her hand and stared at her ring. She couldn’t stop smiling at it.

“Make sure you put on some panties before you leave,” Donovan suggested.

Kyra blushed. Her eyes darted to the kitchen. “I don’t think I can ever go in there again without thinking about what we did,” she confided.

“That’s good,” Donovan said with a grin. “I want you to remember. Because the next time we’re alone in the house, we’re doing it again.”

Kyra swallowed. “In the kitchen?”

Donovan nodded. “Or in the garage. Or the other bathroom. The den...”

Kyra’s inhaled deeply. “Okay.”

Donovan moistened his lips. “Stop looking at me like that, or I’ll take you in there right now.”

Kyra checked the clock again. Damn. “Sorry, I gotta go.” She headed to the bathroom for a quickie shower.

“That’s cool. See you later, scary,” Donovan called down the hallway.

“I’m not scary,” Kyra replied, although she was walking a little bowlegged from the work he put in earlier. She wondered if the refrigerator was still pushed back against the wall. Her smile was ear to ear.

THE END