Chapter
6
An
hour later, Howie, Brian, Nick, and Kevin were seated around AJ’s living
room. After calling his mother and
hearing her sob over the phone, he had decided he didn’t want to make four more
phone calls like that. Instead, he had
called all the guys and asked them to come over to his house so he could tell
them in person. He hadn’t said what was
so important, but they all had a feeling that something was wrong, just by the
way his voice sounded.
Now
that they were all here, AJ knew he had to tell them. He took a deep breath and removed his
sunglasses, which he had put on before they had arrived to conceal eyes, which
were red and puffy from crying.
“Guys,”
he began, “I have some bad news.” His
four best friends just stared at him, preparing themselves to hear the terrible
news. “You remember Tara? The girl I…” AJ didn’t want to continue. The others nodded solemnly. “Well, she called me the other day and told
me two things. One was that she’s
pregnant.” They all gasped. “The other,” AJ continued, trying desperately
not to lose his composure, “was that she found out she is HIV positive.” They all gasped again and stared, wide-eyed
with concern, at AJ.
“Do…do
you-“ Nick started to ask, but couldn’t finish.
“I
went to get tested a few days ago, and I got the results this morning,” AJ said
gravely. “I’m positive.”
The
four guys sat in shock for a moment.
Then Howie began to cry. Nick put
his arm around Brian, who looked like he was desperately trying to hold back
his tears. Kevin just sat, staring into
space. His green eyes were full of
grief, and they looked bright with unshed tears.
Finally,
wiping away his tears, Howie stood and hurried across the room to AJ, who sat
alone in a chair. He threw his arms
around him and hugged him tightly. AJ
could no longer hold back. The
floodgates opened, and he began to sob.
He held tightly onto his best friend, and they both cried onto each other’s
shoulders.
***
The
next week was a hard one. The guys
talked to their management, who decided that they should hold a press
conference right away, so their fans would know as soon as possible. As much as AJ didn’t want to, he knew how
much the fans loved him, and he knew they wouldn’t want him to keep it a secret
from them.
The
press conference was very hard for AJ to sit through, but he managed, trying
hard not to break down into tears when Howie told the media the horrible
news. AJ answered a few questions after
that, but soon got too upset and left the room. Kevin ended the conference shortly after
that.
The
day after the press conference, floods of cards, flowers, and gifts began
arriving for AJ. AJ was touched at how
sweet and loving his fans were, but every get well card, every flower, just
reminded him that he had contracted a deadly disease.
But
still, AJ felt fine, and he knew that people with HIV could live normal
lives. Dr. Thompson had told him that
sometimes, symptoms don’t appear until years after a person is infected. So, the guys continued to work on their new
album and tried to forget about the horrible ailment that had struck one of their
members.
***
