Free Nobody Girl by Leslie Dubois

sat on the edge of the chair. She tried to stroke her hair but Donna Lee jumped out of the seat.
     
    “I’m fine. What are you doing in here?” she snapped, wiping her face with her hands then tightening the straps on her red silk bathrobe.
     
    “I let myself in. I came to apologize for Friday night.”
     
    Donna Lee crossed her arms and stared out of the window as if she hadn’t even heard Delia’s comment.
     
    “If this is about what I said at the club, I’m sorry. I don’t think you’re a slut, Donna Lee. I would never think that about you.” Delia approached her sister and rubbed her back.
     
    With a shrug, Donna Lee said, “Maybe you’re right. Maybe I am a slut.”
     
    Her dry matter-of-fact tone worried Delia. She sounded truly depressed.
     
    “Okay, that’s it. We’re gonna sit down and you’re going to tell me what’s going on.” Delia led her sister to the bed and sat her down.
     
    After a few silent moments, Donna Lee said, “Do you remember Brad? The guy I dated about two years ago?” Her voice was a whisper. Delia was so gripped with worry she found it difficult to try to focus enough to remember one of her sister’s many exes.
     
    “Um, was he the weightlifter from Poughkeepsie?”
     
    “No, that was Brandon. Brad was the hockey player with the ponytail.”
     
    “Oh, okay. Why are you upset over him? You were only together for like a month, right?”
     
    “He called me last week.”
     
    “And? Does he want to get back together or something?”
     
    Donna Lee shook her head and closed her eyes tightly, fighting tears. Delia knew her sister hated to appear vulnerable. She’d barely shed a tear in the seventh grade when she fractured her hand playing softball.
     
    She took slow deep breaths with her eyes closed but she still didn’t respond to Delia’s question.
     
    “You can tell me anything. You know that, right?” She stroked her sister’s long dark hair trying to comfort her.
     
    “He has HIV.”
     
    “Oh God, Lee-Lee,” Delia said, wrapping her arms around her sister and using the pet name she hadn’t used since they were eleven.
     
    “He says he doesn’t know when he got it so he doesn’t know if he was infected when we were together.”
     
    “Oh, Lee-Lee,” was all Delia could think to say.
     
    “What am I gonna do, Dee? What if I have AIDS and die? Would anyone even care? I’m not married, I have no children, no legacy. No one to carry on a piece of me.”
     
    “Donna Lee, I love you more than anything in the world. We can get through this, okay?”
     
    “I’m so scared.”
     
    “I know you are, but I’m here for you. And no matter what happens, I’ll always be there for you.”
     
    The two sisters cried in each other’s arms until the sun set and left them in complete darkness. Finally, Delia started to compose herself and reached for some tissues on Donna Lee’s cluttered nightstand.
     
    Drying her eyes she said, “First off, we need to get you to a doctor. All these tears could be for nothing, you know. You could be perfectly fine.”
     
    Taking a tissue from her sister’s hands Donna Lee replied, “No, first off, you need to never call me Lee-Lee again. You make me sound like a Chinese panda.”
     
    They both laughed.
     
    ***
     
    Delia tried not to think about her sister’s upcoming possibly life-changing test. Instead, she focused on trying to find a way to make it through the school year without revealing how uncomfortable she was with Chase/C.J. in the room. Every time he came to class, she ended up getting flustered and giving the students a pop quiz in order to give herself time to collect her thoughts and settle her nerves. She decided she needed something to make amends with the students and give everyone a chance to relax.  She found a cartoon in the newspaper that showed an imaginary number telling PI to be rational. In response, the Pi says ‘get real.’ Delia thought it was absolutely hysterical. She hoped