Page 4 of In a Perfect World

Now, while my father was the Administrator for Sterling Acres, Phillp Williams presided over Ivory Meadows, Alfred Voltaire presided over Rich Gardens, Kodah Muna presided over Spirit Lands, Benicio Cortez presided over Rancher Hills, Akio Tanaka presided over Flower Realms, Zach Richman presided over Morning Peaks, and Caleb Majors presided over Blooming Heights.Each person had been voted in at the beginning of the new movement, and by all accounts, everyone was doing a well enough job that no one’s seat had been upended yet.

All-in-all, I was happy with the way that things were and with my life.Though segregation had been frowned upon at one time, things were different this time around.We’d been segregated by choice, and that made all the difference.Plus, those that hadn’t wanted to be segregated had been given the opportunity to live with others of the same mindset, and that had also been another glaring difference.If you’d wanted to be among the many different cultures that had once made up the United States of America, then you’d still been given that option by choosing to live in Blooming Heights.

As for me, I liked being able to walk the city streets without worrying that someone might randomly throw a racial slur my way because they were racist, hateful, or just having a bad day; take your pick.I liked the freeing feeling of being Black without any hate involved.Yeah, Sterling Acres might still have its fair share of poverty, crime, and struggles, but racism had been pretty much eradicated in our region, even if it still existed elsewhere.

Now, granted, the internet still existed, so we could still be subjected to the hate that was still out there in the world, but we also had the option to log off the computer if we didn’t want to deal with that kind of stuff.Social media was a choice, not a necessity, and if you needed to feel popular more than you needed to protect your inner peace...well, then that was your choice to make, and I respected it either way.I just didn’t care to enable a person’s hurt feelings when they did it to themselves.

Walking out of the labs, I removed my coat and gear, then opened my locker, storing my facemask and respirator, leaving my lab coat for the hamper.Since the work that we did here included a lot of research for our governing body, Truman Technologies had strict policies, and except for the lobby and breakrooms, everything else had clean-room status.

When I finally pulled my phone out of my pocket, I was heading towards the cafeteria area when I saw a text message from Winston, and I immediately grinned.

Win:Fishing this weekend n u can’t say no

Because walking and texting was a huge pet peeve of mine, I step to the side of the hallway, making sure to stay out of the way, then texted him back.

Me:Why can’t I say no?

He must have been waiting for my reply, because dots started dancing on my screen.

Win:I already convinced Dal n Ley to go n u know that Ley never has any time off

He wasn’t wrong about that.I wasn’t sure what possessed someone to put themselves through the hell of medical school, but I could only hope that the end of Leyden’s journey was worth it.

Me:Well, I guess I can’t say no

Win:(fish emoji, fish emoji, fish emoji)

While most everyone had a hobby of some sort, Winston’s was fishing.He’d rather be out fishing than doing anything else, and while a relaxing pastime, I wasn’t as enthusiastic about it as Winston was, or even Dallas and Leyden.I went to enjoy the camaraderie with the people that mattered most to me, and that was the only reason that I went.Hell, we didn’t even keep the damn fish to eat; we always threw them back.

Sliding the phone back in my pocket, I continued towards the cafeteria, and as my back ached from sitting for so long, a day of fishing started to sound like a good idea.Yeah, I was going to head back home smelling like a corpse, but since I didn’t have a girlfriend to offend, it wasn’t that big of a deal.

That thought had me thinking back to the last conversation that I’d had with my mother, and I hoped to God that my father had done as he’d promised and had spoken with her.Even though I worked a lot of hours like Dallas and Leyden, my job still wasn’t as demanding as what was required of my brothers, so my mother had taken to pestering me about getting married and beginning a family, and that was the last thing that I wanted right now.

Now, while I had nothing against marriage or kids, that kind of pressure was unlike anything else in the world.Jobs came and went, and if you ever had to start from the bottom again, you could do that.The RNA allowed that for everyone that was willing to work hard enough.

However, a family?

When you got married, you committed yourself to putting another person’s happiness before yours, and that was some serious shit.Then, when you had children, you committed yourself to raising these complex human beings into becoming decent, hard-working, kind people...and seriously, holy shit.

I shook my head, trying to forget the last conversation that had taken place between me and my mother.While I understood her desire for grandchildren, I wasn’t ready for all that.Hell, I didn’t even have a girlfriend at the present time, much less have one to get pregnant.Not to mention that I’d never been in love and wasn’t even sure if I’d recognize it if it happened.

I mean, what the hell did that feel like anyway?