Tested: Sex, Love, and Friendship in the Shadow of HIV

The year is 1993, and those in the gay community are dying of AIDS, caring for people with AIDS, infected with HIV or terrified of catching the virus. Edwin, Julio, Anastasia, and Jennifer are four 20-something friends who decide to spend a sunny Saturday doing the right thing: getting an HIV test at one of Chicago’s public health clinics.

After, of course, they shop, have lunch, have coffee, gossip about what that person is wearing, talk about sex, lie about their sexual past, and waste as much time as they can in hopes they won’t make it to the clinic before it closes for the day. They know they should get tested but don’t want to.

Edwin insists that he always has safe sex with men, if he’s had any sex at all, but the truth is far more complicated. Julio hardly eats, but he’s so proud of his numerous sexual conquests that he gives his boyfriends both names and numbers. Anastasia’s lesbian sexual history involves blood. Jennifer has boyfriends who don’t always take no for an answer.

Together they learn that fear can tear people apart as much as it brings them closer, and that their blood, along with their hearts and spirits, will be tested in ways they can’t even imagine.

Includes the bonus short story, The Last AIDS Patient, by Kendall Morgan.