the wall in her room captured the moment. Catching a glimpse of herself, Sheila passed the gun from one hand to the other, took off the black and white houndstooth light wool jacket that complemented her sleeveless black shift, and picked up the gun again.
“When the police come to cart me off to jail, my hands will be up in total surrender!” Sheila shouted to no one, continuing to point the gun at the ceiling. “I’m getting ready to commit a crime that will have all of Durham talking for days. I’m going to riddle his body with so many bullets, he’ll wish he’d never put his nasty infected penis in my body. But what will he care? He’ll be dead meat.”
Poised to shoot, Sheila abruptly dropped her hands at the sound of the knock on the door. “Oh, Victor, if that’s you, you’d better get your running shoes on. I’m going to shoot your ass dead on the front porch. You’ll never infect another person again.”
With a tear-stained face, Sheila marched the few feet to the door, her arm out ready to shoot. She didn’t ask who it was because the surprise was going to be on the visitor standing on the other side of the door. Sheila took her time unlocking the door, all dramatic like she was rehearsing for a gut-wrenching scene in a play. She put on her evil face, slowly turned the knob, and snatched the door open, her finger steady on the trigger. Shock, then anger, registered on her face as she began to swing the gun.
“Fool, what’s wrong with you?” Phyllis shouted, snatching the gun from Sheila’s hand and pushing her into the interior of the house. “Are you some kind of crazy? You could have killed me.”
“But I didn’t.”
“Who were you trying to kill?” Phyllis asked, dropping the gun on the coffee table.
“You don’t want to know!” Sheila hollered.
“Look at you,” Phyllis went on, dropping her purse on Sheila’s couch. “You look like a snot-nosed kid that’s been smoking crack. All right, I’m here. What’s going on with you?”
“Get out, Phyllis. I’m not in the mood to talk to you or anyone else.” Sheila plopped down in one of her green chairs.
“Well, something has got you like this. You were all bells and whistles when you left work today. Did Jamal threaten to cancel the wedding?”
“Shut up, shut up! You don’t know nothing.”
“Calm down, sweetie. I was messing with you. This is serious. Do you want to talk about it?”
Tears began to fall again as Sheila searched for the piece of paper with the bad news. Then she remembered; the piece of paper was now in tiny pieces. Not able to accept the verdict the paper rendered, she had torn it up as if the disease would go away.
Sheila sniffed and Phyllis walked over and sat next to her on the arm of the chair. “What is it, sweetie? What’s got you wanting to kill somebody?”
Sheila’s face looked like black marble fudge. Every time she wiped at her face, the water from her tears and the mascara would mix and form a new pattern. Sheila tried to hold her head up and look at Phyllis, but she couldn’t. She began to cry profusely, until her body began to shake.
Phyllis got on her knees in front of Sheila and grabbed both of her arms. “Tell me what it is, Sheila, so I can help you.”
“I…I…I’m HIV positive.”
Phyllis dropped Sheila’s hands and jerked back as if she had been bitten by the disease. “Did you say HIV positive?” she asked, getting to her feet.
“Yes, Phyllis. I’m HIV positive.”
“Jamal did this to you?”
“No, it wasn’t Jamal.”
“How do you know it wasn’t Jamal?
“Because we’ve always used protection.”
“Surely the great Victor Christianson didn’t give it to you.”
“Why do you believe Victor didn’t give it to me? Just because he lives in a fine home on the other side of town, drives the latest model car, and has a little money in his pocket? He is in no way somebody’s millionaire, but I’ll tell you what he is. He’s a ho; a bona fide ho…and don’t say it; I’ll save you the trouble. I deserved what I got for sleeping with him.”
Phyllis looked at Sheila with downcast eyes. “What are you going to do?”
“I don’t know, Phyllis. How can I get married to Jamal with this death sentence hanging around my neck? This weekend I’m supposed to experience the happiest day of my life. Now, I have nothing