Hostage: A Short Story

LeRon, a young black man, is fed up with dealing with HIV/AIDS and being called sissy.After a bad doctor's visit, he holds his two older brothers hostage in their childhood bedroom and puts them on trial (at gunpoint) for their homophobia, AIDS-phobia, and for liking rap music.First published in the 1991 anthology Certain Voices, "e;Hostage"e; was Randy Boyd's first published short story. The story was reviewed by The Washington Blade in September 1991 and praised for its gripping opening and its exploration of AIDS, family, and denial in the Black community."e;Randy Boyd… definitely knows how to write well. From the opening, the reader is hooked… 'Hostage' is exciting and offers relevant criticism of the mainstream Black community's wish to ignore its gay members."e; — The Washington Blade, September 1991