A Convict Story
 

One morning Gangsta woke up feeling ill, and decided to go to the prison medical facility. It was not like they were going to do anything, and if they did all they were going to do was tell him to take two Tylenols and lay down. Once he got to the medical facility, the nurses checked his blood pressure, weighed him, took some blood, and then sent Gangsta back to his unit. Three days later, the medical facility summoned Gangsta. Once Gangsta got to medical, a nurse immediately took him into a tall, slim, white doctor’s office, who sat looking at a computer. Gangsta took a seat.

“Inmate Clark, I hate to be the one to inform you, but you have contracted a very serious virus. We would like to run some more test and draw some more blood from you,” the doctor said, looking down at some paperwork.

“What serious virus are you talking about?” Gangsta asked, squinting his eyes at the doctor as the nurse immediately exited the office to get security.

“Please calm down, sir. We need to also ask you a few questions.”

“Questions like what?” Gangsta asked as the nurse and three prison guards entered the office.

“Sir, have you had any sexual contact with homosexuals since your incarceration?” Doctor Epps asked, looking Gangsta straight in the eyes.

“Hell no!”

“Well sir, you have contracted a sexual transmitted virus from someone and we need to know who so that we can contact and help them too,” the doctor replied, looking up at the nurse who immediately left the office again.

Gangsta’s thoughts began running and immediately Lieutenant Clinkscale came to mind. He already knew that due to the code he lived by he would not snitch her or anybody out.

“I know this bitch,” he said referring to Lieutenant Clinkscale, “ain’t given me no yeast infection,” Gangsta said to himself.

Gangsta’s thoughts were then interrupted by the nurse.

“Excuse me Inmate Clark. The doctor is still talking to you.”

She noticed that Gangsta’s mind had drifted off somewhere.

“Oh, okay,” he replied.

“Inmate Clark, I don’t think that there is any other way to tell you this so I am going to spit it right out. Know this isn’t the end of the world. There are medications to help you with your illness,” the doctor babbled on.

“Doc, would you spit it out,” Gangsta said, looking him in the eyes.

“Alright, you have contracted the HIV AIDS virus.”

Sweet Agony

I ran to catch up with Tyge. I grabbed his arm. He snatched it away like I was covered with feces, almost knocking me to the ground.

“Tyge, what did I do wrong? You’re mad at me for living my life, but you know what I’ve been through.” I searched for any ounce of sympathy in his eyes. All I could see was his own grave disappointment.

He doesn’t give a damn about what I’ve been through.

“Bullshit Mia! I've been hurt too. I know how it feels. I invested my heart and energy into this. I showed you my truth! What did you think happened at the beach? What does your bracelet say?”

I looked around my wrist at my sterling bangle Tyge bought for me and had specially engraved. “Beautiful: Truth Love and Happiness.”

I spoke those words out loud to him. As I was saying them tears spilled out of my eyes, because I realized how very deeply I had hurt him. He valued those words. He was captivated by the fight I had in me to find truth, love, and happiness. Not the weakness to let circumstances direct my behavior and make me act without any shame.

“Those are the qualities that made you beautiful. Those are the qualities I valued most in you. Without those things you’re no one to me. I don’t respect liars and I don’t sleep with ho’s. I’m done here.”

I had concealed the truth. I had shackled my love, and refused happiness. I lied to a man who said what he meant, and meant what he said. Tyge possessed a certainty that all of my explanations from now until eternity could not defeat.

His words cut through me like razor blades. I was losing emotional blood by the gallon. I was no longer beautiful to him. I was not his truth, love and happiness. To him I was an orchid that all of a sudden turned into a stinkweed...