The Gift

She stared at the phone for the umpteenth time. It had not buzzed for over 7 hours. With a huge sigh, she sank her head into the smelly pillow. It reeked of the smell of stale blood. I must wash this tomorrow, she thought.

As she lay down with her brand new headphones plugged into her ears, she wondered how long it would be before she stopped feeling sad. She wondered if she loved him. After all that he had done, if he deserved what she gave him. After a few hours, she awoke with a start. Her bedroom was pitch dark and no one was breathing down her neck. She glanced at the clock. 9 pm. She tiptoed outside, turned on the light in the hallway,and glanced at the door. It was shut. He was not here, thank God!

She thought about yesterday when he had come home as usual with the fresh smell of alcohol on his stale breath. It took her a tad longer than usual to open the door and he had thrown the keys at her face. Sigh! The gash on her forehead looked like Harry Potter's, she chuckled. But she didn't care. He had told her that he loved her just the same as he raped her at night. It was the usual. She dare never protested as he tied her hands to the headboard, ripped her clothes off her body, and penetrated her without any mercy. She had learned that holding her breath, and thinking about the riverside that she visited with her father as a young child, helped ease the pain. And so while he groaned and moaned, she lay there in silence, like an ice-cold corpse, perspiring with anticipation to closure.

Yesterday had been his birthday. And he wanted a special gift from her, he said. He wanted to see her burn his name on her thigh. She quivered with fear. And when a teardrop ran down her cheek, he slapped her hard. He had forbidden any tears. How could she have forgotten? Stark naked, she walked to the kitchen to grab the lighter. She heard a guffaw as she walked out the room and cringed at his exclamation of how he wanted to carve his name on her buttock.
"Bring back a knife too", he yelled.

The shrill alarm in her cellphone brought her back to the present. Did I really dump him last night, she thought. After all these years of abuse, silence, screams, and tears, she finally had the courage to throw him out of the house and dump him. When she had walked inside the bedroom last night with the steak knife in one hand and the lighter in the other, she saw him sprawled over the bed on the bed, disgustingly naked, with his mouth open. Within seconds, she slit his throat and watched him bleed to death.

Then she threw his corpse out of the house and dumped him into the backyard on his birthday.

His First Time

They met while taking a geology class together. She had walked in late, had found the seat next to him to be the only one available, had ended up asking him for notes on what she had missed, and he in turn asked her out for the weekend. That Friday night, they went out to watch "Patch Adams" and sat there nervously, each with their own popcorn and soda, making no conversation. He felt that it had been his worst date ever. She thought that he was nothing but a nerd. And yet, when he bravely mustered a, "What are you doing tomorrow night?", as he dropped her off at her dorm, she heard herself saying, "Nothing. Wanna hang out?", much to her own surprise.

Exactly 2 years later, he woke up one sunny morning with a tight knot in his stomach. He went about his daily chores as if it was a normal day. But he knew it was not. It was the day that would change his life forever. He texted her good morning, got dressed, barely managed to have a sip of his coffee, and wore mismatched socks to work. In the afternoon, he feigned a headache and took the day off. He glared at the TV all afternoon until it was time to pick her up. 2 hours later, she was weeping, out of joy, proudly flaunting a diamond on her ring finger. "Oh I cannot wait for us to be married!!!", she shrieked as she ran towards their car with excitement. In the next week, it was finalized. Their wedding date was set to be August 17th, exactly 8 months away.

"Sweetheart", she said. "I am so thankful that you are ok with waiting until the wedding. I want our first time to be special."
"Me too", he said kissing her mouth gently.

8 months flew by as they ran around everyday trying to coordinate their dream wedding. Her life revolved around appointments with photographers, videographers, pastors, bridesmaids, caterers, salons, boutiques, and him. His life revolved around their new house, gift registries, travel bookings, tuxedos, and her.

As they both lay on their own beds a night before the wedding, they each wondered how it would be to feel their naked bodies against each other, for the first time ever. Their friends had teased them about not having gone all the way. But they had not minded. They had wanted to wait. It was going to be their own special moment. The one that they had waited for. And it was to happen exactly 23 hours from now, he thought. He slept peacefully that night knowing that he would wake up to the happiest day of his life.

The wedding was perfect. She looked as pretty as a princess, he thought, as she walked down the aisle while she blushed with nervousness. And as they kissed as man and wife, he felt a surge of happiness run through him. "Mrs. Carol Taylor", he whispered to her, as they hopped into their car to drive to their honeymoon suite at the Holiday Inn. She cried and laughed at the same time unable to contain her joy.

Their bed had rose petals on it, courtesy the hotel. They could care less. Before long, he had taken her wedding dress off and was admiring her beautiful nakedness. Within minutes, they were in each other's arms kissing fervently and passionately like they never had. "Go slow", she managed to mutter but he did not hear her. He continued to stroke her, touch her, and kiss her while she let out soft moans. "Are you ready?", he asked running his fingers down to feel her wetness. She nodded her head. As both of them came together a few minutes later, they each felt like they would explode, their entire world rocking, as they perspired and held on tight to each other.

Gasping for breath, he said, "That was beautiful."

She smiled and wrapped her arms around him dreaming of a beautiful life with him.

She did not know that she had the HIV. He did not know that now he too had the HIV.