By the early 1980s, the couple had settled in for the long haul. Stan—who now preferred Stanley because it had a more authorly ring—sold his first novel to a small press and started earning royalties. Blake’s salary as a counselor at the community college kept them financially afloat. There were infidelities on both sides, but nothing more meaningful than a quick trip to the adult bookstore, an anonymous blowjob in the park, or an awkward coupling in a car or behind a bush with a willing stranger.
Then in the mid-80s, the AIDS crisis reared its unwelcome and very ugly head in their small, waterfront community. Close friends and acquaintances became ill and disappeared with great rapidity. A week or month without a memorial service was a rare occurrence.
One night, Blake sat grading paper
