Ixora at Sunrise

I hate my never-quiet mind, but for once, my thoughts come to a halt. My mind is silent. Dangerously silent. 

I hope the doctor didn’t say what I think I heard. I hope he didn’t just toss my life and dreams into the bin with such lies. I do not have HIV. This cannot be my story. 

Everyone thinks I’m promiscuous, but I’m not. My wild persona was only a mask, a desperate attempt to bury the darkness of my past. A past darker than I ever want to admit. Now I have no choice but to face it.

My name is Kasiemobi Iwueze, and this is my journey—one of shame, one of rage, and a fragile hope that I might still find peace in a world that has been anything but kind.