When I was younger my mother told me never to steal. She taught me that taking something that wasn't yours was one of the most horrible crimes you could commit. If she saw me now she'd probably take my life. Tecnically though I wasn't stealing any individuals money... besides if it was anyone like Benny who was losing this money they deserved it anyway.

Ok so Benny did pay for Angel's funeral, At the time I felt so grateful for his generosity…. but now that i know more about him...

He saw that he was losing his girlfriend, not that you could ever really say he had her. Mimi loved Roger but yet Benny couldn't just go back to his wife and live happily ever after. He had to prove to Mimi that he was the better option for her. The best way to do that was to pay for her best friends funeral, when the rest of her friends couldn't afford to.

Oh Angel, I miss you so much. A-N-G-E-L. I can still remember our first kiss as l punch that code into the ATM machine. We'd just left one of Angel's life support meetings (the first one that I ever went too) I hadn't known her for more then a few hours, so we hadn't as yet established our relationship properly. We had flirted like hell though. Normally drag queens are not my type, but there was something differnet about this one. She was extremely pretty, with features feminine enough that they, almost, hid the fact that she was technically a man. Her wig was short, dark and framed a face that was almost as cute as the clothing she wore. I'd never understood the attraction of a straight boy to a skirt. Until now.

My first meeting with Angel was kind of embarrassing, I'd just come back to New York and was about to visit two of my friends (Roger and Mark but I'll tell you about them later). When I hung up the pay phone after calling them to ask for the key to their apartment, I was confronted by a group of… Well I suppose you'd call them thugs. They chased me down a back alley, then, finding I had no money, stole my coat and left me shivering in the street.

Being cold is never a good thing for anyone but when you have full blown AIDS coursing through your body and even the slightest chill could give you the cold which will have you killed… Well you can see it's pretty bad.

luckily Angel found me soon after and, despite my embarrassment at her not finding me in a more heroic situation, I'm really glad she did, not just because it saved my life but because the next ten months I spent with her where some of the best months I'd ever have.

The name Angel suited her well. She walked like an Angel, talked like an Angel and kicked ass like an Angel. I can still remember the time at Maurens protest, when she was insulted by some arsehole. I wanted to hit him for her, but she held up her hand to stop me, then, walking right up to him (which was intimidating enough) said "I'm more of man then you'll ever be, I'm more of a women then you'll ever get'' before kissing his cheek softly and bouncing back over to where Maureen and l were standing, our mouths gapping..

I was glad that she had shown the same interest in me that I had felt for her. We spent the time after Moorhens protest laughing and dancing at the life cafe (where we managed to 'accidently' piss off Benny). Angel had already invited me to stay at her house with her so at about 1am on Christmas morning we made our way through the freshly fallen snow back to her house. That night was the first night we met. It was also the first night we had sex. Surprising as it may be this wash't ussually like me. Not since I'd gotten the disease that world one day tear me apart, (and not through loss of my own life). I don't know why Angel was an exception to that, it wasn't as though it was because she had my disease, I'd had the opportunity with people like me before and had always turned them down. Some part of me just gave myself up to her.

I listed before a few things that made her suit the name Angel. Her kisses were another one of these signs. I swear I had to check my own pulse to make sure that i hadn't died when ever I was close to her. The feel of her lips against mine was like tasting chocolate for the first time- soft, sweet and leaving you begging for more. The only difference was I didn't think I would ever sick from too much of her. The contrast of our skin colours was probably one of the sexiest things I will ever see. It was like adding hot chocolate to a warm glass of milk.

She really was an Angel, and, despite what I knew to the contrary, I truly believed I'd be able to have her forever.