THE SEX REBEL OF JESUSLAND, mini-chapter 79

79. THE PROBLEM

“Who?”

“It doesn’t matter who. It just matters that I am, doesn’t it?”

“I think it matters who. Aren’t you going to tell Adam?”

“Not at all. It’s got nothing to do with him.”

“It’s got everything to do with him.”

Rachel was talking about her own experience. She had wanted her male to be involved when it had happened to her, but he didn’t want to be involved. He had left it all up to her. In fact, he had left her. Which was why she was reclassified as a Scarlet.

“I don’t think so,” said Eve. “This is my own problem, and I will solve it with my own focus.”

“Why? Are you thinking of doing something illegal?” Rachel looked at her hands.

“Yes.” Eve said it softly, but she said it.

“Don’t.”

“Why not? Millions of women used to do it.”

“You know it’s illegal. You know there’s a new law going through Congress, to make it a capital offense.”

“They’ll never do that. That’s just going too far, isn’t it?”

“It’s what they’ve been trying to do all along.”

“But they’ve never done it regarding this, have they?”

“There’s nobody to stop them. They don’t even have females in Congress anymore.”

It was true. There were no female members of Congress anymore. The Esther Todds were thin on the ground, the ones who had always been there, the women of special talent and ambition who managed to get ahead no matter what. One of the females she wanted to be.

“Eve, I don’t have to tell you what’s the right thing to do. You should marry Adam and have the child. Then you’ll have a husband and child. You’ll be living an Approved Life. Then you can advance to a higher echelon in the Bureau.”

“I don’t want this man’s children.”

“It’s only one child.”

“I don’t want any children from this man.”

“What’s wrong with him?”

“To be precise, he’s not the kind of man who can help me get to the top.”

“Why do you want to be on top?”

“I like to manage the behavior of people. The more the better. Being at the top is the greatest chance to focus on managing the behavior of the greatest number of people.”

“And he will stand in your way?”

“I need the right man. There are other men. Men in higher echelons.” Men like Ezra, who was a strong possibility. “Closer to the top. Then I can have a child.”

“You don’t need a man to get to the top.”

“I certainly won’t get to the top if have a child out of wedlock, will I?”

“You don’t need a man to raise a child. I don’t need to manage the behavior of people when I have the greatest people management challenge of all, which is to raise a child.”

“A child is not enough. My focus is to raise a nation.”

“You talk in abstractions. You don’t know anything about managing people until you start raising a child.”

“You believe raising a child gives you the focus to manage a nation?”

“Better than you. You’re all theory and no practice.”

“I help change people’s sexuality. I turn homosexuals into normal sexually functioning human beings, don’t I?”

“That’s not raising a child. They’re already raised.”

“They’re raised wrong. I change them around regarding this. That’s deeper and more challenging than raising a child.”

“Are you scared of trying to raise a child?”

“I’m not scared of anything. I’m always willing to explore fresh avenues.”

“If you get rid of it, you’ll have to be scared of what could happen to you.”

“Who would know? Who would find out?”

“I’m just saying,” said Rachel.

“You’re the only one I’ll tell regarding this.”

“Keep it that way.”

“How is Mary?” asked Eve. It was time to change the subject.

“She’s got something the matter. A cough.”

“Babies always have these little things that go wrong. Never anything major.”

“How would you know? You want to get rid of yours. It’s against God’s will.”

“There are only a few cells in an unrecognizable bundle.”

“Life starts at conception.” Rachel’s voice rose. “It’s murder, Eve. Murder!”

“It doesn’t feel like murder to me. It’s not as if there is something that gets murdered when you’ve only got a mix of cells.”

“That’s not what Behavior Management or anybody Christian says.”

“Well, I don’t feel like a murderer, do I? I just feel I’m cleansing myself, purifying myself of something unwanted from someone I don’t want as my mate. I’m getting rid of his intrusion, that’s all.”

“That’s so callous.”

“I’m cleaning his sperm out of my system.”

“Why did you let it in? You’re responsible.”

“It was an accident. To be precise, the condom came off. We did it too long and too hard. I was lost. I had never had such sex before.”

“It’s not right for you to enjoy it so much that you forget yourself.”

“I don’t agree. The whole focus of sex is to forget yourself.”

“That’s totally Non-Sanctioned. You can do that when you’re married.”

“We were not deliberately negligent. Stuff happens regarding whatever. Like Mary’s cough. It happens, you deal with it. You get rid of the germs. I’m just helping my body get rid of a germ.”

“It’s not a germ, it’s life.”

“I think of it as a male infection. I’m getting rid of this man’s infection.”