Yesterday’s gentle evening, James and George and I sat on metal chairs beside the creek murmuring alongside the Mineral Springs Motel watching the night come over the mountains and I listened to their stories.
James and George are HIV positive. James was diagnosed in 1991, George was diagnosed in 2001. James has a Parkinsons-like tremor in his jaw and hands from the drugs and has blackouts, dropped conversation and a straight-ahead stare that lasts many seconds until he blinks and shakes his head and says, “Sorry, sorry.” George has osteoporosis and arthritis from his treatments, the pain is constant. His doctor’s afraid that one day his legs will collapse from his body weight. He walks with a cane. Through the years, they have both teetered over and over at the edge of death.
They were both born in 1964. James went to West Virginia Tech where he joined a fraternity and had a first boyfriend and dropped out of school. He worked in retail, as a model (he went to modeling school) as a writer and editor. George worked as a florist. His dad died in a coal mine. He and James have been together for 16 years. They live on disability.
George told me that they used to drink a liter of vodka a day. They’ve switched to wine because it’s healthier. They drink all day. George smokes cigarettes and James, who dislikes the habit and the smell, walks across the parking lot for an ashtray and lays it in George’s hand with a gentleness and intimacy that catches the attention.
They’d been living with James’ sister, Loretta. There’s tension; James had a fling with Loretta’s now-deceased husband. It happened some 40 years ago when Loretta was first married but it’s still there. A few days ago, she threw them out on some pretense and they’re staying at the Mineral Springs Motel. She calls the motel owner, Randy, every day to check on their condition. It sounds like they may be going home tomorrow. A relief for James and George; between them they have three older cats and miss them terribly. And they’ve been wearing the same clothes for a week.
