The Realest Ever (16 page)

“Okay, bye.”

He
disconnected and drove the rest of the way home with his radio off.  Donovan was a spiritual man, and he knew he didn’t have to be in church to have a powwow with his maker.

“
If I’m wrong, God, please tell me.”  He spoke aloud in the quiet confines of his truck.  “I don’t think I’m wrong, but she makes me feel like I am.  You know I don’t want to hurt her.  I don’t wanna hurt nobody…”

≈≈≈≈≈≈≈

When he got home, Donovan took his dogs Wyatt and Doc for a two mile jog.  He didn’t normally run at night, but working out had always been his best stress reliever.  The night air was warm, but there was a decent breeze blowing in from the north that cooled the sweat on his face and chest. 

When he
returned to the house, Donovan felt a lot better about his argument with Brianna.  He had a sense of peace, knowing that whatever happened with them was meant to be.  He took another shower and crawled into bed at eleven o’clock wearing only his boxers. 

He
had already dozed off when his phone rang at eleven-thirty.  He reached for his cellular and frowned at the bright display.  He forgot to call Brianna before he went to bed, and she was no doubt upset about it.  But the incoming call was from Kyra, not his girlfriend.  Donovan’s aggravation quickly dissipated.  

“Hey.”

“Hey,” she said.  “You sleep?”

“I was laying down
.”

“I’m sorry.  I be forgetting you have to wake up early.  I can let you go.”

“No, it’s cool.  What’s up?”

“Nothing,” she said.  “Just sitting here watching TV.  I can’t sleep.”

Kyra’s voice was calming.  Donovan didn’t think they’d ever had a real argument.  He rolled to his side and closed his eyes.  “The kids up, too?”

“No, they’re in there sleep.  I had to come in the living room so I wouldn’t wake them up.”

“What’s up with your aunt?  Did y’all have it out when I left?”

“No.  I did like you said,” Kyra replied.  “I didn’t even ask about
the food stamp card I gave her.  I did tell her not to disrespect me in front of my company, though.”

Donovan grinned.  “What’d she say?”

“Nothing.  What could she say?  She know she wrong.”

“Cool.  I’m glad that worked out.”

“What about your girlfriend?” Kyra asked.  “Is she mad at you?”

“No.  Why you say that?”

“That wasn’t her who called while we were at McDonalds?”

Donovan
chuckled.  “How’d you know?”

“I saw the look on your face,” Kyra said.  “I figured it was either her or your mom. 
Did you tell her where you were?”

“Yeah.  I don’t lie to her, well I try not to.”

“You told her about the groceries?”

“No
.”

“Was she okay
, though, about you coming by here?”

“Don’t worry about it,” Donovan said.  “That’s
her
problem.  It doesn’t have anything to do with you.”

“Alright
.”  Kyra had so much to say about Donovan’s woman.  And she wanted to know exactly what the long-haired beauty had been saying about her since she returned to Overbrook Meadows.  She knew she could get Donovan to tell her.  But Kyra also knew that any advice she gave him about his girlfriend was biased at best and out of line at worst.  She decided to stay out of it completely.

“Do you remember when Bo robbed that ice cream truck?” she asked instead.

Donovan laughed.  That incident occurred when they were in middle school.  Bo was a knucklehead, had been since he was in diapers.  He was only thirteen when he told Donovan and Kyra that he planned to rob an ice cream truck with a pellet gun that was so realistic it looked like a 9mm.  Donovan thought he was pulling their leg until they heard an ice cream truck round the corner a few minutes later.  Bo took off in its direction with the fake pistol in his pocket. 

“You know he’s in prison now,” Donovan told
Kyra.

“No, but I’m not surprised,”
she said.  “What’d he go for?”

“Robbery,” Donovan said.  “It was another ice cream truck.”

“Nuh-uhn!”

“For real
.”  But Donovan couldn’t keep a straight face.  “Nah, I’m just kidding.”

“I knew you was lying!”  Kyra cracked up.  “Do you remember his sister?  You know she used to like you.”

“Ewww, stinky Stacy?”  Donovan hadn’t thought about her in years.

“Yeah!”
Kyra laughed.  “She always used to come around when y’all were playing street football.  She used to sell candy that she stole from the grocery store.  I wonder what happened to her.”

“S
tacy got married to a dope boy,” Donovan informed.  “She had four kids by him, and she had the nerve to look surprised when the police kicked in their door and hauled her man off to jail.  Funny thing is, I taught Stacy’s oldest boy when he was a freshman.  I had to go to her house a couple of times because of his attendance.”

“Did she remember you?”

“She did,” Donovan said.  “While I was there, she started flirting with me.  It was sad, to see her down and out like that.”

“I’ve been there,” Kyra sai
d.  “Hell, I’m there right now.”

“At least you still have hope,” Donovan countered.  “
And you want your kids to do well.  That’s one thing that separates you from women like Stacy…”

≈≈≈≈≈≈≈

The best friends were still on the phone an hour later.  Talking to Kyra was the highlight of Donovan’s day.  He missed having a friend he could say anything to.  Kyra was eager to hear about everything she missed when she went to Arkansas.  She listened to Donovan’s stories in wide-eyed amazement. 

Donovan
didn’t realize how late it was until he received another call.  He glanced at the caller ID and got a sinking feeling in his gut.

“Damn.”

“What’s wrong?” Kyra asked.

“
Brianna’s calling me.  I was supposed to call her before I went to sleep, but I forgot.”

“Ooh.  You in trouble.”

“I know.  Thanks.”

“I’m sorry.  Don’t tell her you were on the phone with me.  Good night.”

“Goodnight,” Donovan said and accepted his other call.  “Hello?”

“What you doing?”

“Brianna?”  She sounded so stuffy, Donovan wasn’t sure it was her.

“I thought you were going to call me before you went to bed.”
  Her voice was rich with sorrow. 

“I’m sorry.  I forgot,” Donovan said.  “What’s wrong?  Have you been crying?”

“What were you doing?” she asked, ignoring his question.  “Were you asleep?”

“No, I was…”  Donovan stared into the darkness. 
Once again the little devil on his shoulder urged him to lie.  But Donovan’s conscious was already eating him up because he didn’t tell Brianna about buying Kyra groceries.  If he continued to hold things back from her, that would mean he and Kyra did have something secret going on. 

“I fell asleep
, but Kyra called and woke me up.  I was talking to her.”  Donovan’s heart raced while he waited for a response.  Brianna didn’t say anything right away, but Donovan noticed her breathing became labored.  “I’m sorry,” he said.  “I know I should’ve called you before I went to sleep.  I don’t want you to think I was talking to her instead of you on purpose.”

Brianna’s breath hitched.  Donovan could hear the moisture in her nose.  He
rubbed his face, his expression pained.  Earlier he asked God for a sign.  Surely this was it.  Brianna’s suffering was God’s way of telling him to end their relationship, because for whatever reason she was unwilling to do it herself. 

“Look, Brianna, I’m sorry, but we–”

“It’s okay,” she said.

“Huh?”

“That you were talking to her.  It’s okay.  I understand.”

Bewilderment
replaced Donovan’s worry.  “Obviously it’s not okay, Brianna, if you’re crying like this.”

“I’ve been thinking about it,” she said.  Her voice was
grief-stricken, but he could tell she was trying to be strong.  “I thought I couldn’t be with you anymore.  I was ready to let you go.  But I took some time to really think about it, and I realize it’s
me
not you.  I’m worried about your friend because I don’t trust you around her.  But you never gave me any reason not to trust you.  I’ve been acting like a fool.  I know Kyra needs to be in your life, and I won’t say anymore negative things about her.  I’m the one who has to change, not you.  I love you, Donovan.  I don’t want to lose you.”

What
?  Donovan sat up in bed, blinking wildly. 
Did she just stop me from breaking up with her twice in four hours?
  He almost told her
Nah, it’s too late for that
, but how coldhearted would that be?

If Brianna
was willing to accept his friendship with Kyra, maybe she could shed her jealous ways entirely.  That’s all he ever wanted.  It was now up to Donovan to make sure his and Kyra’s relationship remained as innocent as he described it.  He had to put an end to the attraction he sometimes felt towards his best friend.  And he had to be completely honest about
all
of their interactions from now on.

“Okay, baby.  That’s great.  That’s a big load off my shoulders.”

“I know it is.  I’m sorry I put you through this.”

“Alright
.  I gotta go to bed now.  Do you wanna have dinner tomorrow?”

“Yes.  That would be nice.”

“I’ll give you a call after work.  I’ll end practice early.”

“Okay.”

“Goodnight, baby.”

“I love you.”
 
And I never want to lose you!

“I love you, too,” Donovan said.  “
Talk to you later.”

CHAPTER NINE

MOTHER KNOWS BEST

A week and a half later the blistering heat of summer was still blazing a path through the Lone Star State.  But there was a change in the air.   The Dallas Cowboys were midway through their preseason games, which was a welcome precursor to Donovan’s favorite time of year:  Football Season. 

Wit
hin a month cool winds from the north would drop the average temperatures in Central Texas a full twenty degrees.  The pecan and oak trees would liven up their wardrobe with dashes of yellow and orange, and every Friday night fans would flock to the high school football stadiums to cheer their team. 

Donovan loved football as a child, he loved it as a player, an
d he was still in love with the sport as a coach, even though his Mad Stallions were off to a 0-3 start this year.  Donovan knew winning wasn’t everything, but it did mean a lot to a lot of people.  Thankfully he took the Stallions to the state championship three years ago, so the Western Hills boosters weren’t coming down too hard on the coach.  They understood that great players will eventually graduate and move on to bigger and better things.  Another great player is not promised with the new batch of incoming freshmen.

One person who did blame
Western Hills’ coach for this season’s pitiful start was the coach’s very own mother, Ms. Beverly Mitchell.  She sat behind a plate of rotisserie chicken, macaroni and cheese and broccoli and gave Donovan suggestions for how he could turn things around.  Donovan listened politely because his mother probably knew more about football than he did.  Beverly was a fan before his birth, and she never missed a game when her son played for Finley High.  When Donovan returned to Overbrook Meadows and took a position at Western Hills, his mother started attending every game he coached.  Neither rain nor icy roads could keep Beverly away.

The date was Sunday, September 20
th
.  Donovan took his mother to church and was pleased to dine with her afterwards at Golden Corral.  Donovan didn’t think he would implement any of the changes she suggested for the team, but he admired his mom’s tenacity.  He grinned at her over his meatloaf.

“Don’t look at me like that,”
Beverly told him.  “I know you’re not listening to me.”

“I am listening.”

“Well, are you going to start that funny-looking boy or not?”

The funny-looking boy was Patrick Miles.  He was the best running back at the school,
hands down.  But Donovan kept him on the bench for most of their last game because Patrick thought it was fun to pick on people.

“Patrick knows what he has to do to get his starting spot back,” Donovan said.

“You said he was passing his classes and coming to practice,” Beverly recalled.  “What does it matter if he picked on a few people?”