I then ask Dr. Jones what are the statistic in Washington DC?  He says that 1 out of 20 District of Columbia residents are infected with HIV. That's 5% of the population. He goes on to say that 1 out of 50 District of Columbia residents are already living with AIDS. If DC were a country it would rank in between DR Congo and Uganda in terms of HIV prevalence rate! More than 80% of the HIV cases diagnosed in the District of Columbia between 2001 and 2006 were among black men, women and adolescents. Nine in 10 women who tested positive for HIV are African Americans. In addition, about 37% of HIV cases were transmitted through heterosexual contact, compared with 25% that were transmitted among men who have sex with men. This blows the stereotype out of the water that HIV is a gay disease; he added that HIV is "everybody's disease". HIV/AIDS in the District of Columbia has become a modern day epidemic that continues to threaten the lives and well-being of far too many residents. I want to thank you for coming in today and helping to make a difference through education and testing.  He says so who going first?  We all look at each other and then I say, I’ll go first and he says, please follow me and when I am finished I will come back and get the next person.

I go with Dr. Jones to his office and he starts asking me questions, first what have you done that may have put you at risk for an STD or HIV? I try to be honest and tell him that I have been having sex with Malek and that sometimes we do the group thing. Tell me why you feel you may be at risk for an STD or HIV. I explain that I do not trust Malek and I tell him about the time I came home and he was screwing Ms. Lora Michel’s. What have you done that may have put you at risk for STDs or HIV? I have oral sex with strangers.  Do you practice safer sex? Yes, but last night I almost had unprotected sex but Malek would not do it. Have you been tested for HIV before? Yes, about a year ago. Dr. Jones goes on and says, there are better treatments now for HIV, but there is no cure for it.  Once people have it, they have it for the rest of their lives. He then asks me to tell him a little about my partner, I explain that Malek is my partner and he is here to be tested today. I tell him that I love Malek but he is bi-sexual and he is currently having sex with me and women. He asks me how did you meet Malek, I tell him about the night I was riding down the street pass the city jail. I saw Malek standing on the street and I slowed up and he asked if I could give him a ride and the rest is history. 

So, how long was he in jail, I respond for four and a half years.  Do you know what he was in jail for, yes, he was caught selling drugs. How did you decide to have sex? We just did it the first night we met. Did you talk about STD and HIV risk or whether either of you had been tested? No, we did not. Did you ask about his sexual behavior while he was incarcerated? No, I did not. How many different sex partners have you had in the last six months? I put my head down and say about ten or so. How often did you practice safer sex? All the time for sure. Are there particular people you find it difficult to negotiate with and to ask for safer sex? Yes Malek, the first time we had sex he wanted to do it without a condom and I said no way and then last night I felt like I need to prove my love for him and I asked him to do it without a condom and he said no.  I know this was stupid but for some reason when I I am with Malek it like he has a spell on me.  Tell me what may be going on in your life that could be increasing your risk behavior. I love Malek and I want to keep him to myself and I thought last night I for a second that I would let him know that by having unprotected sex.  Malek has a hold on me and I can’t seem to break it.

Dr. Jones says, from what you’ve told me, there have been few time of risk situations that may have exposed you to an STD and/or HIV.  It's really important that we work together to address this.  You have taken the first step today to protect yourself, talking about and trying to figure out your risk situation. There seem to have been several things going on in your life lately that affect your risk. In terms of relationships, there seem to be a few important issues. You seem particularly vulnerable to engaging in risky behavior when you fall in love. Let me walk you over to the clinician to do your test and then I will meet you back in the waiting area. He then calls, Taye, Lil Z and Malek in and ask them the same questions.  After our test we are all sitting in the waiting room for our results, we are chatting about nothing.  Then we start talking about the questions and everyone seems a little uptight, I say so how did you answer them and Malek said I thought it was confidential. I started thinking, confidential your azz is sleeping in my bed and we are supposed to be lover and you don’t want to talk about the questions.

Dr. Jones comes out and gets me, we walk to his office and he says welcome back.  Come on in and have a seat. Now, let’s look at your test result, and then we’ll talk about how best to understand it. The test result is negative, which means you have not been infected with HIV. This means that as of less than 3 months ago, you were not infected with HIV. How does it feel to hear that it’s very likely that you are not infected with HIV? Great and today has been an eye opener, thanks for helping change my life today. He walks me back to the waiting room and I show everyone my test result negative.  He then calls Lil Z into this office and he comes back with a negative test result. It is now Malek’s turn and he comes back with Dr. Jones and I ask well he says I am fine, but when I look at Dr. Jones he has a strange look on his face. So, I say did you get the paper and Malek says yeah why, I am thinking yeah why, what in the f*ck is his problem.  Finally, Dr. Jones calls Taye into this office and he comes back crying inconsolable and Lil Z getup and gives him a hug, I am just sitting there numb with all kind of thoughts running through my mind.

To Be Continued…

Malek Ariel, aka MA

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