The Realest Ever - By Keith Thomas Walker Page 0,55
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