His friend died of AIDS, but he still believes AIDS isn’t real
His friend died of AIDS, but he still believes AIDS isn’t real
Why contraception talks should happen more than sex
Writer’s note: This post was originally published on Medium’s “We Need to Talk” and has been moved to the new Substack blog in July 2023.
When I received news that he came into town to visit a friend, my childhood memories resurfaced. I’d had a crush on this guy since preschool, and it was the kind of thirsty love that Lucy van Pelt has for Schroeder. (Peanuts fans, you know how strong that is.)
He’d found me on Facebook initially, but in an odd bit of confusion thought I’d died. (I was participating in Alicia Keys’ “Keep a Child Alive” campaign at the time, which required users to be “digitally dead” until they reached the $1 million mark.)
Recommended Read: “Getting tested for HIV/AIDS ~ BEHIV: Free Chicago clinic” (page 1, page 2)
I hadn’t seen him in more than two decades, although his younger brother popped up to visit my childhood home one Thanksgiving after I graduated from college. I wondered if his older brother, who lived in my childhood Chicago apartment building, was still finer than a mothersucka. We would sit on the porch and eat popsicles. I would chase him through our backyard and tell him, “You’re my boyfriend.” And I even wrestled him down one time to kiss him. (In retrospect, somebody really should’ve yanked me up by my collar and told me to calm my frantic little butt down. My older brother and our landlord’s grandson thought my child harassment of this kid was hilarious.)
With news this week of the first new HIV strain in nearly two decades, I can think of no better timing than now to get tested.
I carried on like this when we went to pre-school. By first grade, I’d moved into a South Side Chicago home across the street from our old building. His family then moved to Indiana. When he and his mom came back to visit us during our teenage years, I immediately went into my closet to find a baseball shirt that matched his and put it on. I didn’t even like baseball, just thought the shirt was cute. Keep in mind I did not act like this with any other boy in my entire elementary or high school, but shame went out the window with this kid.
Recommended Read: “Even if allergic to latex, there are other condom options ~ Avoid the excuses, stock up for safe sex”
So the idea of seeing him as an adult when I still wait on any man who likes me to make the first move was exciting. But all I kept thinking was, “Gawd, Shamontiel, don’t be Lucy van Pelt. You are better than this.”