He had noticed the police car well behind him, winding its way on the country highway
almost ten minutes ago. It had been slowly and lazily gaining on him, driving just a bit
faster than he was. But he didn’t want to go over the speed limit even one mile an hour
to stay well ahead of it. Hell, you didn’t even do that in the old days and he certainly
wasn’t going to do it now. Particularly today, the first day his wife, Kelly, had let him
drive with the new license. And, besides…he hadn’t done anything wrong….
As the cruiser pulled nearer, he made out the form of the blond female officer behind
dark sunglasses, looking straight forward – serious, but relaxed. His hands began to grip
the wheel just a little more tightly, and his eyes darted back and forth from the mirror to
the road to the speedometer. He laughed uncertainly at his own behavior. He hadn’t
done anything wrong and he just wouldn’t and the car would pass and everything would
be all right and he was worrying too much. A male orderly who had taken pity on him
when he was recovering from the male form of the Treatment, had told him there was a
slight paranoia gene implanted to keep him cautious while his strength degenerated and
he became accustomed to being dramatically weaker. That was probably why he was
feeling so apprehensive.
The cruiser pulled slowly alongside him in the left lane, all shiny black and white paint,
and high tech lights, “California Highway Patrol” on the door -- the cop ignoring him,
looking forward. He looked forward too. At the road. He had just started to relax as she
passed him, when he noticed the officer glance over at him, casually, then hold her gaze a
second too long. She was even more perfect than most women had become -- high
chiseled cheekbones, full lips, clear skin, a deep tan and, even from this vantage point,
athletic muscles. Obviously, one of the new Nordics he saw on the news now being
recruited for law enforcement in the U.S. (his wife had let him watch the news one night
last week). You DID NOT cross a Nordic, his wife had told him. They didn’t simply
consider men a lower class – they truly thought of them as insects. He shuddered
involuntarily.
He thought he noticed the slightest hint of a smirk on the cop’s face as she looked back
forward, continuing to pass him. Maybe she just hadn’t seen a man driving again
yet…Well, it was legal again now, and he had checked the restrictions and memorized
each one before his wife had given him the keys when he left her new house – or, his old
one, he reminded himself.
He had begun to relax even more as the cruiser had almost completely passed him, now,
when he noticed it had matched his speed. Then, ever so slowly, it began to fall back
alongside him! He swallowed hard and focused his gaze on the road, as his heart began
to thump hard in his chest! As the police car was again beside him, it held its position,
then began to lazily drift closer to his own car, toward his lane. He had a vice grip on the
wheel now, trying desperately to stay on the road, as the cop drifted casually into his
lane, so close to his door, he was certain she would bump it! To keep her from hitting
him, he moved out of his lane now, driving off the pavement a little, his right tires into
the berm, swirling dust to avoid getting bumped by the police car. Almost immediately,
the cruiser moved confidently back into its lane and dropped behind his car. Then its
lights lit up.
He began sweating all over! His hands were wet on the wheel and his heart was beating
so hard in his chest he almost hyperventilated! He knew he hadn’t done anything wrong!
He had tried so hard to not rock the boat since the Awakening – accepting his new role as
a consequence of things he could not control!
He slowed and pulled to the side of the road, his hands shaking a little, as he turned off
the engine. The policewoman stopped behind him, sitting in her car, in no hurry, it
seemed. He stared at the mirror, trying to calm down, when she opened her door and
stepped out.
He prayed he didn’t get a ticket. After all, how would he explain it to his wife, Kelly.
With the political tide turning against men – even dangerously – for a while, then the
Treatment and recovery, this was the first time he’d been out into the world in months.
He thanked God, he had such a wonderful wife. She truly loved him as he did her. She
was so young – 24 -- and energetic, her long hair always catching the sun as she looked at
him with those great brown eyes. She had always been attractive, a pretty brunette with
thick brown tussled hair. When the Treatment for Women had been discovered over two
years ago, before it was free to all women, he had worked extra hours at a second job to
make sure Kelly was one of the first to get the gene-splice. How could you not want your
wife to suddenly be healthier, stronger, more intelligent and free from all disease?! He
hadn’t anticipated how much more aggressive she would become, but Kelly loved him so
much, she rarely showed that side of her. When she grew three inches in the next four
months, he happily bought her a new wardrobe. He had never imagined how beautiful or
how intelligent she would become…or how strong. But, Kelly had taken it mostly in
stride. She still loved to sing as he played the piano, he, admittedly missing more notes
than he used to, now that his muscles were slower. She was learning to play it herself,
now, in a tenth the time it had taken him.
When she remembered things instantly or figured out how to do something or organize
something with seemingly no thought at all now, she deliberately didn’t make him feel
stupid. She would patiently listen to his ideas as you’d listen to a child’s – before
pointing out gently why he was wrong. She would even playfully pick him up with one
arm and ask him what he was gonna do now to make light of being three times as strong
as she used to be. When she was so hard on him during sex that he finally cried out and
she saw all the bruises, she had gone easier on him from then on.
But, she was also learning not to take ‘no’ for an answer. If she wanted something done,
it was becoming accepted in their house – her house – that he would do it. He had taken
over many of the household chores and she had taken to leaving without saying where
she was going and spending a lot of time at the gym, golf course or tennis club. But, that
was a small price to pay to have such a wonderful woman who loved him in this
changing world. In fact, it was Kelly that had fought to keep the changing world from
affecting him, too.
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