Chapter Twenty- Seven
Share’s doctor came into her room, and she knew something was wrong by the look on his face. He told her that the internal bleeding had stopped. That was the good news. The bad news was that her HIV test came back positive.
”Noooo!! Oh, God, please...no! Doctor, please tell me there’s been a mistake. Please, doctor. Oh, God, retest me, please,” Share pleaded, unable to accept what the doctor had just told her. He said that if she wanted to be re-tested, he’d arrange to have her blood work done again.
Share lay in her hospital bed and cried until her head hurt. There were so many things going on in her mind. Did I get infected when Petie raped me? Did Will infect me? How am I going to tell Will? Should I even tell him? Are people gonna look at me and know I’m HIV positive? How am I gonna live with a death sentence? Should I tell Venus? How is she gonna react when I tell her?
Share’s pillow was soaking wet from her tears. She felt sorry for herself. Her face was battered, her ass was sewn up...and the doctor said she was HIV positive. How could all this be happening to her? She was a businesswoman, damnit, and these kinds of things didn’t happen to women like her—but they did.
Share thought about a way to get to Petie. The answer came in an instant. She could talk to Renee. She knew Renee, but Renee didn’t know her. Well, after she got finished talking to her, she’d know everything about her.
Share called Venus and told her the news about her health. They both cried, and Share told Venus that she was planning to call Renee. Venus said she would make the call for her and bring Renee to the hospital. She knew it was the only way Share could get some answers. She just hoped it wouldn’t make matters worse. Share gave Venus the number as they prepared to hang up.
Renee picked Darnell up from the hospital and took him to her sister Rhonda’s house. She had a lot of running around to do. She called Ladelle and he asked if he could meet her over at her building. He wanted to give her something for Petie.
Ladelle was sitting outside when she got to the front of her building. He opened the window and gave her a thousand dollars. He told her to take care and he pulled off. That was it; he had nothing else to say to her. Renee was disgusted. Fuck you, she thought. Dick was corny anyway. He had a nice tongue game, but that was about it. Besides, he made more noise than I did. Fuck him!
Renee went upstairs to her apartment and got some clothes together for her fugitive husband. She gathered clothes for the boys, too. She didn’t want them back in the house until those two thugs were caught.
Renee checked her answering machine. She knew everyone who called except for one person. She played it again and heard Venus’ voice, asking her to please call her. It concerned her husband’s health, and maybe hers, too. What the fuck is that about? she thought.
Renee immediately called Venus back. She listened in horror as Venus told her some of what she knew. Renee wanted to meet Share. She wanted to see her face-to-face.
Petie was laying up with Roz in Queens. He hadn’t fucked with her in a while, and she took it in the ass, too. Nasty bitch, he thought. He also thought about how he had rammed Share in the ass and she shit on him. That’s what saved her. If she hadn’t done that foul shit, he would have still been up in her.
Petie called Renee at her sister Rhonda’s house and was told that she had to make a run. He left word for her to call as soon as she got in. She never did.
Renee got to the hospital and waited for Venus. Venus had told her what she looked like and what she’d be wearing. Renee thought it was some kind of setup at first, but her heart told her it wasn’t.
Venus arrived late and apologized. She and Renee introduced themselves to each other and registered for Share’s room. Renee did not know that Share’s boyfriend was one of the guys who had come to her apartment that day, and she didn’t know about Share’s involvement with her husband. Renee also didn’t know that Petie had infected Share; Venus only told her that he had raped and beat her so badly that she had to be hospitalized. Venus told Renee that there was something else she needed to know, but she had to hear it from Share.
Venus and Renee walked into Share’s room. Venus immediately walked over to Share, who was lying on her side, and hugged her. Share introduced herself to Renee and started off by saying, ”First off all, I’m sorry that I had to meet you under these circumstances. Unfortunately, certain events have occurred that left me no choice but to speak with you.” Renee looked at her and thought about how professional she seemed. Share told her about her and Petie’s relationship—how it started, the times they spent together and how often. She also informed Renee how he flipped when she told him not to call her anymore, and how she had shot Giselle in self defense. She told her about everything that went down, except how Will and the fellas had jumped Petie and put him in the hospital.
Renee was numb when Share was done. There was nothing she could say. Then finally, Share told her about her HIV test, and Renee broke down in tears. Seeing her cry made Share cry. They talked some more and Renee told Share she would turn Petie over to the police herself. She wasn’t only hurt, but she felt embarrassed, knowing that Petie had brutalized a woman like that. She knew he was violent, and she told Share she believed everything she had said.
Renee bent down and hugged Share. Now she wanted answers from Petie, and after she got them she was going to tell the police of his whereabouts.
Renee was devastated. When she left the hospital she did-n’t go back to Rhonda’s house; she went to the Department of Health and took an HIV test. She wanted the results right then and there. God forbid she was positive, because if she was she was going to beat Petie with a golf club. But first she’d make Jell-O out of his balls. Yeah, Petie was a dead man if she was positive. He wouldn’t have to worry about the police, because she’d kill him.
She thought about all the times she and Ladelle were together and didn’t use protection. What if we both have it? Would that mean Lydia and the baby have it too? Lots of people’s lives were at stake now because of her no good, low-down, cheating-ass husband.... If Petie did give the virus to Share, then where did he get it from? Renee knew he wasn’t gay, but she wondered about his activities during the times he was locked up. There was too much going on. She needed to sit back and just breathe.
