Moral Degeneration

I barely made it back to the house without stopping. Practically walking by the time I got to the door, I was sweating profusely. Through labored breath I did notice Ava and Luna’s small cars were out front. 

 

“Honey, I’m home!” I yelled as I stepped in. I noticed the 4 girls staring at me from the sofa in the living room. I recognized the blonde Luna and dark haired Ava. The other 2 not so much. One was a nerdy girl with her hair tied in a bun and glasses. The other was a huskier woman with a little extra weight on her. I flashed the girls my best smile. 

 

“Who's your honey?” Ava asked. 

 

“You are,” I said. Walking over I moved to give her a kiss. 

 

“Ew, you’re sweaty,” she said while dodging away from me. 

 

“Fine, more for Luna,” I said. Moving to her I kissed the top of her head. She blushed. “Anyone else want one?” The nerdy and husky girl blushed but didn’t take up the offer. 

 

“What are you fine looking ladies doing?” I asked loudly. I was in a great mood and my blood was pumping. 

 

“What’s gotten into you?” Ava asked. 

 

“What can I say? I’m feeling good,” I said. I felt better about my position in the house after talking with Audrey. And I had fun playing and making out with Ryleigh. 

 

“Ava had a favor to ask you,” Luna said. Back in her glasses she hadn’t worn them much during out interactions. I thought she was extra cute in them. 

 

“She does, does she?” I asked. Ava eyed me but slowly nodded. “Sorry, I only accept full sentences for favors.”

 

The 2 strangers hadn’t taken their eyes off me. They finally looked away to give Ava a pleading look. 

 

“We want to interview you for our Gender Studies class,” Ava said reluctantly. I had thought college had different classes each semester. I found it odd they already had an assignment for a class they hadn’t taken. Then again maybe college lasted longer or classes did. This timeline was much the same as mine, but also very different. 

 

“You know, I’m probably not the best person to ask about genders. I’ve been living in a secluded cabin all my life,” I said. That was my story and I was sticking to it. 

 

“No, you’re perfect,” glasses girl said. “We want an unbiased opinion.”

 

“And you are?” I asked. 

 

“Sorry, I’m Brittany,” glasses girl said. She was mousy, but had a very predatory stare. 

 

“I’m Dylan,” husky girl said. She had a deep voice. I introduced myself with a smile. They blushed. 

 

“What they say true, Ava? You need my help?”

 

“We don’t need it,” Ava said. 

 

“Ava, you know it would go a lot better if we had a real man being interviewed.”

 

I didn’t correct her that I was more of a boy. I looked to Ava. She rolled her eyes. “Fine, we would really appreciate it if you'd help.”

 

“Then how can I say no?” I asked. “What do you need to know?”

 

“We have a list of questions,” Brittany said. Bringing out a clipboard there were a lot of pages. 

 

“What’s this project called?”

 

“Gender Inequality and how it affects the post-Pox home,” Brittney said. 

 

“Alrighty. I’m starving though. Can we talk while I make something to eat? Anyone else hungry?” It was almost noon. I had spent longer at Ryleigh’s than I meant to. 

 

We were soon in the kitchen. I made a protein shake. “Anyone want one?” I asked. 

 

“I’d love one,” Luna said. She and I were much closer and I had made her a few over the last few days. 

 

I was soon making one for all of them. I had talked Audrey into buying a blender so it was easy to mix a bunch of chocolate, coffee grounds, and ice to make a frozen coffee drink. With plenty of protein mixed in it wasn’t a huge problem to have a good tasting one now and then. 

 

“This is good,” Ava nodded reluctantly. 

 

“Thanks,” I said. “Shall we start?” I asked. Sitting on the kitchen counter they sat at the island and stared at me. 

 

I answered simple stuff. Like age, name, height, where I grew up. Things like that. I offered dick length, but they blushed and stammered. Luna winked at me, she knew. Then the questionnaire delved into the inequality part. 

 

“What are your thoughts on the gender wage gap?”

 

“What’s that?” 

 

“Men receive twice as much pay as women for the same job,” Brittney asked. 

 

“It’s wrong?” I asked. 

 

“Would you go into more detail?” Brittney asked. I rolled my eyes and tried my best. A lot went over my head. But it mainly painted men as having it easy and women had to pick up the slack. I agreed with their opinions of course. Men sounded like dainty flowers that had to have everything handed to them. If it got too hard at a job, they jumped ship and worked somewhere else. 

 

I saw both sides of the issue. It wasn’t fair to women who did the real work. Men weren’t expected to provide. Thus they didn’t thrive as men. They moved up the ladder at job after job. They really only worked to stay busy. As long as they provided sperm and slept with women they could do what they wanted. 

 

The questions only got harder from there. By the end of it Ava and I were having heated arguments. 

 

“Listen,” I said. “You know goldfish, right? They are known to grow as big as their container will allow. That’s why goldfish stay tiny in a fishbowl and live a short while. Throw them in a pond and they’ll become gigantic and live for years.”

 

“What-“ Ava tried to cut in. 

 

“Let me finish. People are the same way. If you give them a small place with nowhere to grow. They’ll become stagnant. Die early. Never push themselves. That’s why men are the way they are. If you give them a job that says sit there and look pretty. That’s what they’ll do!”

 

“That’s bullshit!” Ava yelled back. “So you’re telling me you’ll be the same way someday? You’ll be content sitting behind a desk and not pushing yourself?”

 

“If that’s what they’re paying me to do, sure. What was the job title you said the highest paid non-CEO man had? Intercompany Relations? Sounds like the guy is a prostitute. He probably uses about 3 brain cells. 2 to get his dick hard. And the other one is a spare in case one of the other 2 burns out.” That one got a few laughs from the other girls. Ava’s nostrils flared as she stared at me angrily. 

 

“We strayed from the question,” Brittney said. 

 

“What was it again?” I asked. 

 

“Where do you see yourself in 5 years?”

 

“Oh. I’ll be 19, so maybe college? But I doubt it. That sounds boring. I’d rather start like a karate dojo or skydiving school.”

 

“So you’re content being an idiot?” Ava asked. 

 

“Who says school makes you smart?” I asked. “School is for people with opportunity and money. Like you said, it would probably be free for me anyway. If I don’t go, that leaves money for someone else to go.”

 

“It doesn’t work that way!” Ava yelled. She had a sexy angry face. I was enjoying making her yell. “They’re not just gonna say ‘oh Russ isn’t going to school. Let’s give the underprivileged female youth a free ride.’”

 

“I know. I’m fucking with you,” I said smiling. She became much angrier by the smile. “Listen, college is nice if you know what you want to do. If you don’t, you shouldn’t go. You’re just wasting your money. If I stick with high school. I’ll probably take time to myself. Enjoy life. Skydive. Go deep sea fishing. See the world. Not read about it in a book. That’s not living. That’s staying in a fishbowl. I’d rather be the goldfish in the pond. We have the whole world around us. Why limit yourself?”

 

The girls became quiet. All 4 were thinking about my words. Even Ava calmed down. She frowned. 

 

“I’m sorry for yelling again,” she said. 

 

“Don’t be,” I said. “How do you understand one another without getting fired up? Like me, now I understand you’re a really loud yeller.” She blushed. I looked at the clock. It was getting close to 5 pm. The time had flown while they asked questions. I would have been annoyed but I learned a lot about the way of the world because of it. 

 

“When is Audrey home?” I asked. 

 

“About 530,” Luna said. 

 

“Time to start dinner,” I said. “You girls staying?” Nerd and husky shared a look but nodded. “Alright, Buffalo chicken tonight. Any more questions?” I dug into the fridge and pulled out a few pounds of chicken breast. I began cutting it into chunks. Coating it in flour I started heating up some oil. 

 

“Just one,” Brittney said. “What are your thoughts on the Pregnancy Program?” 

 

“Which part?” I asked. 

 

“All of it,” Ava said. “Will you be donating sperm? Or impregnating women directly?”

 

“Directly,” I said without hesitation. 

 

“And you don’t feel bad for that?” Ava asked. 

 

“Why should I feel bad?” Turning around I locked eyes with her. Then I was in front of the oven frying the chicken chunks. A few at a time I began making broccoli, carrots, and corn. 

 

“Not only is there inequality in the program itself. But also corruption. Women can bribe their way up. Whether the government directs it or the man directs it. There is no fairness in the program.”

 

“Life isn’t fair,” I said. “Do you think it's fair that I don’t really get a choice? I get a say in how I do it. But it will have to be done. It’s the survival of our species. It sounds like my responsibility.”

 

“And you think it’s right to have no responsibility after the deed is done? Did you know that 89% of all women have never met their father? 4% of what’s left only met them because their fathers Lineage Bracelet went off before they had sex.”

 

I was dumbstruck for a second. My eyes wide, I stared at her for a solid minute. “Are you serious? 4% of women almost bang their dads?” I asked. I let out a deep belly laugh. It wasn’t long until my eyes were watering. “Can you imagine? Getting hot and heavy with a guy. Then you find out it’s your dad?” I had trouble breathing. My laugh was deep and long as I pictured it. 

 

By the time I had myself better again the chicken was burning. I sobered up quickly but turned back to the girls. All but Ava had a smile on their lips. I guessed my laugh caused them to join in. I had been too focused on my own laughing to notice. 

 

“I’m sorry. That’s just too funny,” I said. “Not the statistic of course. That's awful. But the scenario. I’d pay to see something like that.” I wiped a tear from my eye. “You know I never met my dad,” I said. 

 

“This isn’t about men,” Ava whined. 

 

“I thought this was a gender equality class. Give men half. Anyway, I never met my dad. When I was younger I hated that fact. That’s when I swore that if I ever had kids, I’d be in their lives.”

 

“Big talk,” Ava said. 

 

“Luna and I talked about it just yesterday, didn’t we?” 

 

Luna blushed but nodded. My cell phone went off. “Hey, perfect timing,” I said. “How’s it going Millie?”

 

“Good Russ. Gail and I were talking and we’d love to have you in our kids' lives if we are pregnant,” Millie said. I had moved the phone so the other girls could hear. 

 

“That’s great to hear Millie. You’re going to have to keep me in the loop. If you aren’t pregnant we will have to do another rendezvous. And if you are. Well we should still do that rendezvous.”

 

“Sounds like a date,” Millie said. The smile in her voice was obvious. We said our goodbyes. I stared at Ava. 

 

“Now I can’t say that I will affect any statistic like the 89%. But I will do what I can to not make it a bigger number. Like Ghandi said, Be the change you wish to see in the world.” I looked between the faces of the girls. There was a mix of wonder and anger. “Mic drop,” I said. And made the motion like I had just dropped a microphone.