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“I could always use more.” He blinked his eyes flirtatiously. “Notice the dollar signs in my eyes.”
“There’s nothing wrong with liking money,” I said, because I knew he did. “It’s just not worth killing yourself for.”
“I’m young. Being busy isn’t going to kill me.”
“Or sacrificing your youth.”
He called out, “Come and get it.” In a moment, John and Junior were in the kitchen.
“This looks fabulous,” Junior said. “Dinner is on me next time.”
He always said that and somehow next time never rolled around. It was okay though. He had AIDS—or had had AIDS. He was on some kind of ‘cocktail’ of drugs which was supposed to make things better. And it did seem like that was the case, though with Junior it was hard to tell if he was really getting better. He was around my age, though he looked and acted ten years older. I never thought I’d get to a time where I wondered if someone had AIDS or was just getting old. There were so many things about my life I hadn’t expected.
I didn’t know John’s status and didn’t want to ask. Maybe he was HIV positive, too. He was in his mid-thirties, thin, blond and eternally in light blue scrubs. He was an ER nurse, probably worked sixty hours a week, and always seemed to be just returning from the hospital or about to leave.
“John, talk to me about rape kits,” I said, the idea suddenly occurring to me.
“My God,” Junior said. “Over dinner?”
“I don’t mind,” Ronnie said. “I’ve heard the term, but I don’t really know what it means. It sounds interesting.”
“Well, I do have—” John started.
“Can we at least get settled,” Junior said. Heading into the dining room. “And I’m going to need a glass of wine.”
Ronnie grabbed a bottle of the pinot grigio from Trader Joe’s that we liked out of the fridge, then followed Junior into the dining room. John rolled his eyes at me.
When we were all settled, wine poured, napkins passed around, soy sauce packets ripped open, I looked at John hoping he’d—
“I heard the most appalling thing about Hillary Clinton,” Junior began.
“No, you’re not going to change the subject,” I said. “John, you had some kind of rape training, right?”
“I was trained in Sexual Assault Examination. I don’t do it often, most victims, most female victims prefer a woman. I mean, I let them know I’m gay right off the bat, but the state they’re usually in, it doesn’t matter much. I’m still the person called if the victim is male.”
“Oh, well,thatdoesn’t happen,” Junior said. “You can’t rape the willing.”
That didn’t sit well with John. He frowned, and said, “One in ten rape victims are male. And that’s only what’s reported. Everyone thinks the number is higher.”
“Ha! April Fool,” Junior nearly yelled.
John visibly winced. “Rape is violence, not sex.”
Junior shook his head, unwilling to give up his point. “You need an erection, so it’s sex.”
“You don’t need an erection at all.”
“You don’t need—” Junior did his best to look appalled. Then, discomfort filled his face as he realized what that meant. “Oh. Well, yes, I suppose there are always foreign objects.”
Finally, he was sufficiently cowed.
“So when a victim comes into the ER, what happens first?” I asked, trying to get back on track.
“I try to reassure them that they’re safe. And then I tell them what’s going to happen. When I’ve done that, I’ll ask them to stand on a large piece of paper that comes in the kit. While they’re standing there, they take their clothes off. I’ll bag their clothing, for evidence. Meanwhile, the paper collects anything that falls off them. Hair, sand, dirt, whatever.”
“And they’re standing naked in front of you? After they’ve been raped?”
“I know. It’s hard. I work as quickly as I can. I have to label the bags that hold their clothing. Then I take a comb from the kit that’s similar to the kind used for lice. Using a different piece of paper I comb the victim’s pubic hairs, then their head. Some loose hairs might land on the paper on the floor, but that’s fine. That’s what it’s there for. If there are bruises or abrasions, I take pictures with an old Polaroid One-Step. Those go into the kit. At this point I give them a paper smock to wear during the rest of the exam.”
