A Lethal Legacy by P. C. Zick Page B

himself.
    "Could you
manage a visit anytime soon, Cuz? Maybe before you embark on your next
bestseller? I could use a few good laughs."
    Now he really had me
concerned. Gary never asked me for anything. He never wanted to appear weak
even in his weakest moments.
    "Sure, Gar, I
could get away next week, OK?" I imagined all the things I needed to
accomplish before then, but they paled in comparison to the plea I heard on the
other end of the line. "You better keep me out of the strip clubs. I need
to come back here clean and sober," I said, keeping my tone light on
purpose.
    "That'd be
great, Ed. Listen, can you keep it to yourself that I asked you to come? Mom
and Dad might think something was wrong."
    We hung up the phone
after making final plans for my trip. I wondered if Kristina had done something
that required Gary to beg me to come for a visit.
    I arrived in New
Orleans on a foggy January evening just as the sun set over the Mississippi
River. Now that I was accustomed to the New Orleans' climate and peculiarities,
I quite enjoyed my arrivals. The weekend Kristina first arrived, the fog seemed
to add a level of mystery and intrigue, which kept me on edge that whole
Thanksgiving weekend. I realized that Kristina probably had more to do with my
nervousness than the weather, but the density of the air that weekend indelibly
marked my view of Kristina forever and left me sexually aroused whenever I
thought of New Orleans or the fog. However, this winter cold and humidity cut
through to the bone like a Michigan winter never had. And even though I learned
to enjoy the weather of this area, I still felt wrapped in a cloud of confusion
whenever I arrived, although I didn't find it unpleasant any longer.
    Rick answered my
knock on the door of the apartment. Several months before, Rick moved in
permanently with Gary. The two formed a comfortable and hopefully lasting
relationship. Gary once remarked that in Rick he had finally found someone who
accepted all of his complications and insecurities and didn't try to make him
into someone else. If only I could be so lucky in love.
    "Ed, I'm glad
you're here." Instead of opening the door wide for me to enter, Rick came
out into the hallway shutting the door behind him.
    "We'll go inside
in a minute. You haven't seen Gary since ...?" he asked.
    "August. Why?"
    "Things are
different now." Rick looked me straight in the eyes.
    "What do you
mean?" My knees begin to shake, and I felt my usual panicky reaction when
confronted with the unpleasant. I wanted to run back down the stairs, get into
my car, and drive back over that long bridge to 1-10. I suddenly knew that
Kristina had nothing to do with Gary's request for me to come to New Orleans.
    "He's sick, Ed.
Real sick," he said. The stern gaze of a moment ago melted and tears
formed in his eyes. He put his hands over his face to compose himself.
"He's ..."
    "What? For
chrissakes, Rick ..." I wanted to reach over and grab the collar of Rick's
shirt to make him tell me.
    "AIDs," he
said so softly that I had to lean toward him to hear.
    "You mean he's
HIV positive?" I had been reading about the disease as I researched an
idea. I knew people sometimes confused the two. Unfortunately, Rick knew the
difference.
    "Not anymore.
He's got full-blown AIDs." He hung his head while I reached out for the
wall to steady myself. We stood like that for a few minutes, neither of us
moving.
    "I want to see
him." I saw Rick hesitate. "Now," I practically shouted.
    He opened the front
door and led me down the familiar hallway to Gary's bedroom. He was asleep with
his back to me when I opened the door. I wasn't sure it was Gary. This form
before me didn't resemble the one I was so accustomed to over the years.
    "Gary," I
said softly, approaching the bed.
    The form moved and
moaned softly as if every effort brought excruciating pain. When he turned
toward me, I used every bit of strength not to cry out in horror. It was Gary,
a thinner Gary, an unshaved Gary, but a