Diagnosed in 1989, Leslie had been getting sick since 1983. She got AIDS from shooting heroin.

   "Sometimes there'd be 15 of us in the shootin'gallery, After I gave birth to Omar in 1980, I didn't do too much with the sex issue. I was too busy getting loaded. If they had some money, that was a different thing but I was always careful with sex. I shoulda been careful with them needles but at that time, nobody was thinkin' about it. No one ever heard of a virus that caused death. "

   "I was always athletic but AIDS cut my stamina in half. It was a disappointment not to have an appetite. I was losing a lot of weight. My get-up-and-go had gotten up and went--the other way. I was in the hospital at least 6 times with pneumonia."