Read Online The Realest Ever by Keith Thomas Walker - Free Book Online Page A

to keep from cracking up.  “You know which Kyra.”
    Beverly’s eyes widened.  She removed her glasses and fixed a serious look on him.  “Kyra who ?”
    “Reynolds, Mama.  Kyra Reynolds.”
    Beverly’s mouth fell open.  “Aw hell.”
    Donovan laughed.  “We just left church, Mama.”
    Beverly didn’t give a damn.  “Don’t tell me that girl is back in this city.”
    “She is,” Donovan said.  “And she’s not a girl anymore, Mama.  Kyra’s a grown woman.”
    Beverly stared at her son like his nose just fell off.  “Donovan, don’t play with me.”
    “I’m not,” he said.  He couldn’t wipe the smirk off his face.  “She moved back last week.  And she found me on Facebook.  I talked to her yesterday.”
    Beverly stared in silence for a moment, and then she brought a hand to her face and rubbed her forehead.   “Jesus,” she muttered.
    “It’s been fifteen years,” Donovan said.  “I know you’re not still mad at her.”
    “Are you trying to give me a heart attack?” Beverly asked.  “Do you want to send me to an early grave?”
    “No, Mama .  Of course not.”
    “What the hell is Kyra doing back in this city?”
    “She can live wherever she wants to, Mama.”
    “Did she come back for you?”
    Donovan frowned.  “No.”
    “Then why she look you up?”
    “She was my best friend,” Donovan reminded.  “Why wouldn’t she look me up?  I’ve been looking for her, too.”
    “Looking for her when ?”
    “All the time,” Donovan said.    “ Tell me you’re not still mad at her.”
    “I’m not mad.  I just can’t stand her,” Beverly said matter-of-factly.
    “Mama, that’s cold.”
    “Donovan, don’t sit there and act like this is brand new.  You know I can’t stand that girl.  Never could.  She ain’t never brought nothing but trouble.”
    “She never caused me any trouble, Mama.  You’re exaggerating.”
    “I remember when she used to follow you home,” Beverly said.  She was staring at the traffic, but what she saw was a memory tucked deep inside a recess of her mind.  “When y’all were kids, I remember thinking, Aw, look at my baby trying to help that poor, homeless girl .  But I made the mistake of feeding her ass, and she wouldn’t go away.  She was like a bad fungus infection, just, just always there!  Always knocking on my damned door:  Is, is Donovan here ?”  Beverly scrunched up her face and mocked Kyra with a childish voice.  “I wanted to tell her Hell no!  Not for you!  Not never! ”
    “Wow.”  Donovan watched his mother in amazement.  It was hard to believe they had totally different recollections of the same person.  “Kyra never did anything to harm you,” he said.  “Why you acting like that?”
    “It’s not what she did to me.  It’s what she almost did to you!  Had you in all type s of trouble over there.”
    “No, Mama.  Kyra never got me in trouble.”
    “What about when you called the police over to her mama’s house?  Got yourself in all that mess !  You were in the 8 th grade then.”
    “You just said it,” Donovan noted.  “ I called the police over there.  Kyra didn’t tell me to do that.  And I didn’t get in trouble for calling the police.”
    “And what about when you got in a fight with that man over there?”
    “Again that was something I chose to do, Mama.  You can’t blame Kyra for that.”
    “How come I can’t?  Your name wouldn’t have been in no police reports if it wasn’t for her.  Her whole family was all messed up, and you was right in the middle of it.  Wasn’t nothing I could tell you to get you to leave that girl alone.”
    “I always wondered why you weren’t proud of me for trying to help somebody.”
    “How can a little boy help somebody?” Beverly wanted to know.  “That’s what I was trying to tell you, way back then.  The only thing that can happen is you get pulled down right along with her.”
    “But I didn’t get pulled down,