The Realest Ever - By Keith Thomas Walker Page 0,81

feather under the disco lights. Leonard took her to Waffle House after the club closed, and he was respectful when Kyra told him she didn’t mess around on the first date.

That was one thing Kyra found endearing about Leonard. He was as rough as they came, and he handled his business in the streets. But when it came to Kyra, he was always sweet and loving. He showered her with gifts, making sure she was always the best looking woman at every place he took her.

Kyra was a year into their relationship when she discovered Leonard used heroin. He snorted it from little capsules that he bought for five to ten dollars.

Kyra wasn’t completely shocked when she caught him in the bathroom one day, because a lot guys in the neighborhood snorted boy, as it was called. Plus Leonard already drank heavily and smoked marijuana regularly. In fact, Leonard was high more times than not. Kyra was more upset because he kept his new drug of choice a secret.

“How long you been doing that?” she asked.

“About five months.”

“Why?”

“Just something to do,” Leonard said. He sat on the toilet with an empty capsule on the sink next to him. He wiped his nose. He was already starting to nod.

“Is that why you been looking so sleepy all the time?”

Leonard nodded lazily.

“You got to be careful with that stuff,” Kyra warned. “I heard it’ll take you fast.”

“I know what I’m doing,” Leonard said.

“Don’t be leaving none of that mess where Quinell can find it,” Kyra said, and that was the full extent of her drug intervention. By then Kyra loved Leonard more than she loved herself, so she never considered leaving him.

Leonard continued to snort his dope for the next year, and there were no problems. He continued to thrive in the drug game, and he always put Kyra first. Leonard was one of few dealers in the city who never cheated on his woman.

Not only did Kyra turn a blind eye to his drug abuse, but she found it beneficial in bed. Whenever Leonard snorted heroin, he developed what he called dope dick. The drug kept him hard and horny and unable to have an orgasm for hours at a time. Leonard was a sex machine, and Kyra was the only woman he had eyes for. She was so blinded by love, Kyra actually squealed with delight when she learned she was pregnant with Kat.

Unfortunately there’s no such thing as a functional heroin addict. Leonard’s drug use became more blatant because the only person he cared about pleasing had no problem with it. He began to lose money as his heroin habit jumped from $10 a day to $100. As he spiraled out of control, Leonard had no desire to leave the house to generate some type of income. By the time Kyra tried to intervene, Leonard was too far gone. He had taken to shooting his dope with a needle. Kyra watched him lose everything he had, his looks and health being the first to go.

She stayed because she loved him, and Kyra even put her family in jeopardy because of Leonard. But even today, she could not blame him fully. She understood that she made a man her whole world and allowed him to drag her all the way down with him, to the point where Kyra lost just as much as he did.

The worst part about it was Leonard wasn’t even a good man. He was a drug dealer with no plans for the future past selling more crack rocks than he sold the day before. Kyra threw her life away for a complete loser.

She was mad at Leonard, but Kyra would always be more disgusted with herself.

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

FAMILY MATTERS

The following week Donovan’s Mad Stallions pulled off the shocker of the season with a win over the highly favored Seahawks from Langston Hughes High. The game was on Halloween, which added a surreal element to the bizarre night. Donovan’s iffy punt returner even scored a touchdown with just twelve seconds remaining in the game, bringing the final score to 42-13.

The next day Donovan picked up his girlfriend and her two children for a Saturday outing that included the new Disney movie and an all-you-can-eat dinner at Don Pablo’s. The date was November 1. The brutal heat wave of summer had finally given way to the moderate temperatures of fall. It wasn’t cool enough for a jacket, but it was nice to wake up in the morning and feel