AIDS went off the radar screens. But it’s still there. Lurking in the background noise. It’s a demographic now. Whatever the fuck they want to say about it, AIDS is hard to miss in Appalachia. For those of us who live here, there’s little reality in the outstretched hand of hope. Mainly, it’s just getting through the day like we always have. People live. People die. If you come out of any Appalachian hospital alive, you’ve just joined a not very big club of survivors. Never look back. Whatever is breathing down your neck like hot spit can be avoided by ignoring it.