The Realest Ever - By Keith Thomas Walker Page 0,61
Well, one child, to be exact. Kat was a lot less nervous about spending time with Mr. Mitchell than either he or Kyra imagined. For the first five minutes after Kyra dropped off her kids, Kat sat on the couch and watched Donovan who sat on his recliner.
Quinell was already in the den checking out Donovan’s gaming systems. Donovan feared Kat was going to sit and stare at him the whole evening, but the toddler abruptly climbed off the sofa and walked to Donovan’s recliner. She looked up at him. He smiled and raised an eyebrow, wondering what she would say. Kat looked around, and then she turned towards the coffee table and fingered one of the magazines that was stacked there. She flipped through a few pages and then looked around the room again for something more interesting.
She found it in a collection of whatnots Donovan had on his entertainment center. Donovan rushed to stop her when Kat wrapped her stubby fingers around a tiny, bronze elephant.
“Whoa, what are you doing?”
Kat looked up at him indignantly and said, “Mine.”
Donovan took the elephant from her and said, “No, that is not yours. This is mine.”
Kat stuck out her hand, palm up. “Lemme see it.”
Donovan’s smile was big and toothy. Kat never spoke to him at all, but now they were having a legitimate conversation.
“Do you want to see it or have it?” he asked.
“See it!” Katavia said. She was irresistible.
“Okay. Here you go.” He placed the elephant in her hand.
Kat’s eyes lit up, and she giggled. “Mine!” she declared and took off running, laughing the whole time. Donovan’s jaw dropped. He couldn’t believe he’d been duped.
“Oh, no you don’t!” He took off after her, surprised by how nimble she was on those chubby, little legs.
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An hour and a half later Donovan’s Saturday night was filled with much of the same. Kat continued to explore and claim the many treasures she found as her very own. Donovan stopped chasing her after the second one. He even told her, “Yes, you can have that,” to a few of the items she wanted. But Kat never played with anything for more than twenty minutes before she lost interest and continued her expedition.
Quinell was fully enthralled in Donovan’s video games. Donovan played with him for nearly an hour, but he had to stop when a visitor rang his doorbell. Ten minutes later, Donovan had to answer his door for a second visitor. This one was unexpected.
Rodney had been Donovan’s best male friend since high school. Rodney never left Overbrook Meadows, but he graduated from a local university and secured great position at the Channel 9 newsroom in Dallas.
Jonathan was a former student of Donovan’s. He graduated two years ago and was currently a sophomore at Texas Lutheran. Donovan spent a good deal of time mentoring Jonathan at Western Hills. Because of turbulent conditions at home, Jonathan lived with Donovan for a couple of months after graduation. Donovan loved him like a son.
Rodney was one of few people in Donovan’s life who knew Kyra when they were in high school. He had never seen Donovan babysit anyone’s kids before, and he thought it was hilarious. When Donovan revealed that he actually had feelings for Kyra, Rodney’s jaw dropped.
“Wha, what’d you just say?”
“I said I like her, man. I think I might, you know, I probably do…” Donovan shrugged. He rubbed his large hands together in his lap. He was sure he looked as pitiful as he felt. Donovan didn’t have a problem discussing this with either of his friends, but the look on Rodney’s face let him know he was in for more heckling.
“You like Kyra?”
“Yeah,” Donovan said. He looked around uneasily. “Keep you voice down. I told you her son’s in the den.”
Kat was in the living room with the men, playing with oversized Legos her mother left with her. She was paying them no mind.
“He can’t hear us,” Rodney said. “I’m not even talking loud.” Rodney was dark-skinned and slightly overweight. He was married with one child.
“Keep it down anyway,” Donovan told him. “You never know.”
“Alright, alright,” Rodney said. He leaned forward with his forearms on his knees. His expression was comical. “You’re talking about the woman who’s out on a date with another man? You like this woman?”
Donovan sighed and rolled his eyes. Jonathan sat on the couch with Rodney, on the opposite end. He shook his head slowly as he stared at his former coach.