December
First
Winston looked himself over,
adjusting the straps of his pack until they hung just right.
Satisfied that his uniform was perfect, he allowed his mind to drift.
"Guys, I need to talk to
you." The rest of the
Ghostbusters looked up. Ray turned
off the Late Late Show, which had been showing the Bela Lugosi version of
Dracula. Peter and Egon sat up, disentangling themselves from the
blanket they'd been under. All of
them waited expectantly.
Winston hesitated, cleared
his throat and then sat down. "I
want to tell you about my Uncle
Leroy, my Uncle Mike, and why I asked for tomorrow
off." He leaned forward
slightly and clasped his hands together, taking a deep breath before he began.
"Uncle Leroy was my
favorite relative when I was young. I
had had problems learning and he was the one who sat with me, night after night,
reading to me everything from Langston Hughes to Shakespeare to Captain Steel,
helping me sound out the words until I could read them on my own.
Later he taught me to play chess and he'd take me to see murder mysteries
and time how long it took for me to figure them out.
We had great times, even when Uncle Mike would tease him about making an
egghead out of me. Uncle Mike was
the one who used to take me to see the Jaguars play and was always up for a game
of catch.
"It didn't occur to me
until later in life that not everyone had two uncles like I did, who were always
ready to babysit a little kid, and who loved each other very much.
My uncles were together for a little over 20 years, which is a lot more
than most couples can claim. I
think Uncle Leroy could still tell you the exact amount of time they had
together, to the day. I don't ask,
because it still hurts him to talk about how Mike died.
I know I had nightmares about it for a long time.
"You see, Uncle Mike and
Leroy had gone through a rough patch and Uncle Mike cheated on him.
They got back together and their relationship was solid again. There were some long range consequences.
Uncle Mike found out he was HIV positive and hanged himself.
Uncle Leroy and I found him when we came home from watching a movie
together. He'd left a note explaining everything and saying he was
sorry, but Uncle Leroy was torn apart for a long time."
Winston paused for a moment
to catch his breath and blink away the tears that had formed.
Peter and Egon had their hands clasped and had drawn together, drawing
strength from the contact with each other.
Ray wiped his eyes and then walked over to offer Winston a tissue.
Peter cleared his throat
before speaking. "That's why
you never thought it was a big deal when Egon and I got together, isn't it? Why didn't you talk to us about it before, man?"
Winston nodded and sat up in
his chair. "I just didn't
really want to talk about it. Grief
hurts, and it doesn't exactly make for cheery conversation.
I brought it up now because I want to ask.…
No, I want to invite you to share something very important with
me..."
Winston turned away from the
mirror with a smile and walked towards the other guys, pressed and perfect in
their full uniforms. Peter shouted,
"Let's do it!" and they all linked arms and took their place in the
parade formation, marching behind a banner that announced this to be the first
annual World AIDS Day Awareness Parade.