RelationshipsSilentOwl

8 Sept 4 min read

THE CALL FROM MY GIRLFRIEND’S EX

One night around 11 p.m., while I was lying on my bed scrolling through my phone, an unfamiliar number called me. I answered, and a man asked, “Are you the one dating the woman who used to be my girlfriend?” I said yes. He paused for a few seconds before asking, “Are you aware of the situation involving her health?” Immediately, I became uncomfortable. I asked him who he was and whether there was a problem. He simply replied, “Nothing is the problem. Bye-bye,” and ended the call. I called the number back almost immediately, but he refused to answer. I even sent a WhatsApp message asking who he was and what he wanted, but there was no response. I told myself maybe it was one of those people looking for trouble, so I tried to forget about it. About a week later, the same number called again. This time, the man sounded more serious. “Your girlfriend owes me money,” he said. “If you people don't want trouble, decide when you're going to pay me.” Before I could ask how much she owed him or what the money was for, he ended the call. I immediately called my girlfriend. I asked her if she had borrowed money from anyone, especially a man she used to know. She became angry and swore that she didn't owe anybody money. She told me she had no idea why someone would call me with such a story. I believed her because, honestly, I didn't see any reason not to. But something about the man's confidence kept disturbing me. He wasn't sounding like someone making a random prank call. He sounded like someone who knew exactly who I was and who my girlfriend was. A few days later, the number called again. This time, I was sitting beside my girlfriend. I looked at her and showed her the screen. The moment she saw the number, her expression changed. She stared at it for a few seconds before saying, “Give me the phone.” She answered and put the call on loudspeaker. The man didn't even greet her. He said, “So you finally told him everything?” She immediately replied, “Told him what?” There was silence on the other end. Then he laughed and said, “Has she told you that she's HIV positive?” I honestly thought I had misheard him. I looked at my girlfriend, and she suddenly went completely quiet. The phone nearly slipped from her hand. I asked the man what nonsense he was talking about, but he continued, “You think you're the first person she's dating without knowing?” Then he said something that broke me. He told me he wasn't calling because of the money anymore. According to him, my girlfriend had been his partner before me, and they had been together for years. He claimed she knew about her status and had never told me. I turned to my girlfriend and asked her directly, “Is this true?” She started crying. She kept saying, “Please let me explain.” But at that moment, I couldn't hear anything else. All I could think about was every time we had been together and every time I had trusted her completely. The next morning, I went for an HIV test. I couldn't sleep while waiting for the result. I was angry with the man for revealing it the way he did, angry with my girlfriend for keeping such a serious secret, and most of all, terrified of what the result might say. The result eventually came back negative. But the relationship was never the same again. My girlfriend later admitted that she was HIV positive but insisted that she had been taking her medication and that her doctors had told her that she could live a normal life. She said she was afraid that if she told me, I would leave her. I understand that fear, but I still struggle with the fact that she took away my ability to make an informed decision about my own health. Even today, I sometimes wonder whether her former partner called me because he genuinely wanted to protect me, or because he wanted to destroy her life. And the biggest question I still have is: if he had never called me, how long would she have kept the truth from me?