Mimi slid her hand into Roger's and entwined their fingers. They were on their way to the classroom they were supposed to talk to. The dull roar emitting from the lunch room drifted down from upstairs. Roger opened the door to the classroom. There was a woman with short red hair and glasses sitting at the teacher's desk. She stood up and smiled when she saw Roger and Mimi.
"Hi, I'm Ashley Narod," she said. Roger and Mimi each shook her hand.
"Roger Davis."
"Mimi Marquez."
"Nice to meet you both. Thank you so much for coming down. I was just about to order some lunch from a café down the street; would you guys like something to eat?" Roger and Mimi looked at each other.
"Sure," Mimi replied. Mrs. Narod's kindness was adding a sort of comfort to the situation at hand.
Half an hour later, Roger sat in a chair in front of the blackboard while Mimi sat on the floor leaning against his leg, sipping a soda. A bell rang. Right away, the hallways filled with the sound of laughter and talking. Mimi stood up and leaned against eh wall. She had been unusually quiet since the food had arrived. Roger got up to talk to her. Students began to slowly trickle into the classroom.
"Are you okay, Meems?" Roger asked quietly as he rubbed Mimi's upper arm. Mimi nodded.
"Yeah, just a little nervous," she replied. Out of the blue, Mimi smiled. Roger gave her a confused look. "I just thought of what Maureen would say right now."
"And what's that?"
"The girl who used to strip for a living is nervous about talking to thirty teenagers." Roger kissed Mimi's cheek.
"Don't be." More students had filed into the classroom. Mrs. Narod stood up as the late bell rang. Roger backed away from Mimi.
"Okay you guys, we have two specials guests today," she started. "This is Mimi Marquez and Roger Davis. They're here to talk about live with HIV and drugs. Let's give them our undivided attention." The class all clapped.
"Okay, uh, thanks," Roger said as he and Mimi both sat down. "As you teacher said, Mimi and I are both HIV positive. I got the virus from my old girlfriend, April. I was a rocker trying to work my way up to the top, and April was a fan of mine. Things were going great for us, until we started using heroin. Everything spiraled out of control so fast that I still can't comprehend it. I'll never know how exactly April got infected with HIV; she could have been sleeping around, or it could have been from a tainted needle. All I know is that April gave me HIV. She couldn't handle the stress, and she killed herself in the bathtub." Several students gasped. "Drugs screw you up. I know that you've heard that, but it's a hundred percent true. When you're high, nothing clicks in your head. You could do the stupidest thing in the world, and it won't register. Drugs are nowhere near as hyped up as people say they are." Roger stopped. He was done. The class remained silent.
Mimi chewed on her bottom lip. Now it was her turn. She stopped and collected her thoughts. She finally figured out where she wanted to start out.
"I've been clean for exactly eleven weeks," she said quietly. "This is the biggest quote, 'trip' I've had in nearly sixteen weeks. I've been to a support group, friends' house and back home." Several students snickered. Mrs. Narod shot them stern looks. "Laugh now, but I am very proud of something as small as a trip to a school. Let me tell you about withdrawal. The pain is horrible. What I remember the most is lying in bed, sobbing. Unlike Roger, I started using heroin after I got HIV from a one-night stand. I was only using recreationally, so to speak. Then, my sister died. It turns out she had slept with the guy that gave me HIV. Watching her slowly deteriorate in a hospital room was shattering. That's how you die with AIDS, slowly and painfully. There's no other way to describe it. After my sister died, I started using heroin more and more. Now, I'm clean and trying to get on with my life." Mimi stopped. That had been…soothing.
The class clapped. Mimi put her head in her hands. A sudden, powerful craving for heroin washed over her, nearly overpowering her.
"Any questions?" Roger asked. "Don't be ashamed to ask us anything." A few students raised their hands. "Umm, okay, you first."
"Why did you turn to drugs if you had so much going for you?" Roger took a deep breath. This was an answer he had spent months searching for.
"It was just what
everyone was doing. I know that it sounds dumb, but I got caught up
in the momentum and the fame. Next question?"
"How much
medicine do you take?" Roger looked at Mimi.
"You wanna take this one?" he asked. Mimi looked up.
"Sure. We take our fair share of pills. Every six hours, we also take AZT. We wear beepers that go off to remind us."
"What about at night?"
"You better put your beeper by your head. Roger and my beepers are both set to go off at the same time as a backup of sorts." Mimi's voice was slightly shaky. "Any more question?" Roger and Mimi answered a few more questions before the bell rang.
Roger and Mimi walked down the street, fingers entwined. Mimi had been unusually quiet again. Roger stopped and pulled her close as he leaned against the brick wall of a building. She nestled into his arms and against his chest perfectly.
"What's wrong?" Roger asked.
"I need a hit so badly. I don't know where it came from, but I need it." Roger rubbed Mimi's back.
"It's probably from talking about the drugs so much. Just wait it out, I'm right here with you." Mimi burrowed her face in Roger's chest for several minutes before pulling away. Roger took her face in his hands and pressed their foreheads together. "Better now?" Mimi nodded.
"Yeah, I'm better." Mimi gave Roger a quick kiss. "Thanks for doing this with me."
"You're welcome. I'm actually glad I did this."
"Really?"
"Yeah, I am."
"So you'd do it again?" Mimi asked hopefully. Roger stopped to think.
"Yeah, I would. I'd speak to other students to keep them from fucking up like we did." Mimi took Roger's hand, and they began to walk to the subway. Steve was right; this had been the perfect job for them.
The End