A Gangster's Girl by Chunichi

died slowly as she struggled for her life.”
    As Tionna listened to the gruesome details of her sister’s death, she felt like someone had just stabbed her in her heart. Her little sister was dead. She couldn’t help but think that if she hadn’t told Tonya’s boyfriend what had happened that night, Tonya might still be alive.
    The reason for the social worker’s presence was that she wanted to speak to Tionna about taking custody of the baby.
    â€œWe were able to save the baby, but there are a few problems,” Mrs. White said. “The father has disappeared and the baby may be infected with HIV.” This was when Tionna knew for sure that the baby was Shawn’s. They must have continued sleeping together even after she’d caught them and kicked Tonya out.
    â€œThere are currently no traces of the virus in the baby,” Mrs. White continued, “but Tonya was diagnosed with the virus during her pregnancy. We would like to know if you would be willing to care for the child since you are the next of kin.”
    With all the things that were going on, Tionna asked for time to think things over. This was entirely too much to digest at one time. Honoring her wishes, they agreed to leave her alone and give her time to think through her decision.
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    Tionna drifted into another deep depression. She was not eating, sleeping, bathing or talking. She just lay in bed and wept. It was as if her whole world caved in on her. After three days of showing no improvement, we decided it was time to have Tionna admitted to the hospital. She had lost five pounds during those few days. Her eyes had huge, dark rings around them, and her body was fragile. Her hair fell out strand by strand as we combed it. This was the worst we had ever seen Tionna.
    When we arrived at the hospital emergency room, they asked her a series of questions regarding her health. She answered yes or no as they asked if she ever had a number of diseases. When they reached the question concerning HIV or AIDS, Tionna began to go crazy. She started yelling weird things, throwing things, and became very combative. Right when the doctors rushed in to control her, she began to have a seizure. They rushed her off through the double doors labeled TRAUMA and left us standing there in total disbelief.
    We later found out Tionna had a nervous breakdown. The events in her life had finally taken a toll on her body. It was a struggle for her from the beginning. Her parents were absent during her entire life, and she had to take on adult responsibilities at a very young age. Then, the two people that she had invested so much love and time in betrayed her. A combination of those events, plus her fear of the possibility that she may have contracted HIV, her sister’s death, and the guilt she felt for telling Tonya’s boyfriend of her infidelity, was just too much for her body to handle. So, as a defense for the body, a nervous breakdown was triggered.
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    After a few weeks in the hospital, it was time for her to come home. We went to her home and cleaned it from top to bottom. We brought in fresh flowers, opened the windows, and made it bright and refreshing. We even purchased her a new bathroom and bedroom set. We turned her room and connecting bathroom into a tropical paradise. There were palm tree prints, plenty of plants, a relaxation fountain, and aromatherapy candles everywhere. It was beautiful. We felt that was just the atmosphere Tionna needed.
    As we gathered her mail, we noticed a letter from the health department. We weren’t sure if she needed to see it right away, especially since she was just recovering from her breakdown. We didn’t open it because we were afraid that if the results were bad it would be hard to keep the secret from Tionna, who was so fragile right now. Therefore, we decided it would be best to hide the letter and give it to her when we felt she was capable of handling what could