The Separation Read online

  THE SEPARATION

  BY THOMAS DUFFY

  Copyright 2018 Thomas Duffy

  ISBN-13: 978-1983520877

  ISBN-10: 198352087X

  Library of Congress Control Number: 2018900375

  CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, North Charleston, SC

  Cover Design

  Erica Velasco

  The Separation by Thomas Duffy

  Chapter One

  In the year 2075, student enrollment in undergraduate colleges across the United States was at an all-time low forcing the shutdown of many private institutions of higher learning. Students in high schools throughout the States participated in an alarming number of criminal activity while teenage pregnancies were at an all-time high. As post graduate college attendance dropped precipitously, law makers grew increasingly alarmed. By the time 2090 arrived, professions such as doctors and lawyers made up just 10% of the workforce leading to an overall drain on the economy. After another five years passed, the future outlook for the USA seemed so bleak that politicians took matters into their own hands.

  Changes started in New York City. The President of the United States, Samuel A. Cobb, alongside New York Mayor Stanley Patterson, initiated that the lowest performers in high school be separated by sex. Males and females would be segregated. Females were sent to another part of the country to enter rehabilitation programs while the teenage male under-performers were to remain in New York. They would be sent to a facility upstate. These divisions proved frustrating to the students who rebelled while their parents protested claiming the methods of separation were unfair.

  Returning home to their families, the females were ordered to be supported by their parents until the age of 25 so they could learn some time-consuming vocational skills in programs paid for by taxpayers. Meanwhile, the males were given hands on training in practical skills needed for employment until the age of 25 was reached as well.

  Failing these young people seemed inevitable while their behavior seemed uncontrollable. Many were sent to prison or looked likely to be destined to live on public assistance. Television, music and movies were deemed a major problem by the government which started to censor programs on T.V. Violence in movies became a thing of the past as movie theater attendance started to dwindle as a result. Rappers became obsolete unless their lyrics contained words approved by a slate of voters who were elected to decide what would or would not meet the criteria set for the public at large.

  In the year 2163, human beings lived an average lifespan of 110 years due to medical developments and advancements over the decades. It was decided by the general population of voters to elect a leader whose ideals and ideas were incomparable. Males and females would be separated by gender for the first 22-years of their lives. Some parents were devastated by the fact that their children would be taken from them. Then, the shocking news came: Parents of the opposite sex of the child they had would be unable to see their child until the said child would turn 22-years old and had sufficient job training to enter the workforce. Disabled children who were found to have challenges were also going to be trained in careers based on their vocational strengths. No young person would be able to escape the inevitable challenge of going to work at age 22.

  Fathers, for example, would be separated from their wives for that 22-years as male childcare workers would watch the kids while their fathers worked. It was declared that a typical young male would return from their first 22-years only learning about male leaders and introduced to the opposite sex upon their entrance back into the “regular society.” When that scenario was deemed to cause loneliness amongst fathers who missed their wives, the idea was “rethought” and the exact process was officially implemented.

  A baby, when it was born, would be sent to one of the States where only that child's same sex inhabitants were presently populated. Boys and girls would be divided. All sent to a public school and given the same education and opportunities, their learning procedures were somewhat manipulated to meet the needs of the country. Taxpayer dollars and a monthly fee paid by the parents helped finance these segregated methods of raising children. Religion was something only vaguely touched upon until age 22 when they would return to the “regular” world. While parents would miss seeing their children in person, they would be given videos on the highly advanced internet which they would see in order to learn of their child's academic progress. New parents were limited to having two children during the course of their lifetime. In this time, they could decide whether they wanted a boy or a girl and the sex of a baby could be easily manipulated thanks to scientific advances.

  In the “male” states, older men workers were enlisted to raise the young boys for a large salary while the “female” states had older women offering childcare to newborn female infants and children for a similarly high pay rate. Most of the people employed to raise the children had no kids of their own and felt a desire to be there for the young inhabitants of the country. Knowledge of other countries was taught based primarily on the geographic locations of said countries. In history, Kings would be taught to the boys while Queens would be taught to the girls. Some history was avoided until a student came to the end of his or her college curriculum. In the rare event a male child absolutely needed to learn about a female leader, a letter was used to represent the woman's name at hand for the time being. Boys would learn practically nothing about women in history such as Susan B. Anthony until after college was finished. Those females who had a significant impact in history would be taught in an optional six-month long, education-concluding course for those who wished to seek more about the female leaders who had made an impact on society. An “Intro to Our Other Sex” course which was taught, respectively, to both males and females who wanted more closure as to the society they were brought up to live in. Again that option was not mandatory as a seminar on the opposite sex would be given at the conclusion of a student's college years followed by a three-week analysis of the world in “real terms.”

  Chapter Two

  Enter Carolina Parker and her husband, Kevin. When they met in New York City, she was 31 years of age while he was 36. Both were in esteemed professions within the medical profession. She was a supervisor and a nurse in a local hospital in Brooklyn. He was a self-employed urologist who had his own practice in the same borough. They were married and, shortly thereafter, decided they wanted to grow old with a child who would return to them in 22 years’ time after the baby was born. They wanted a boy. When their young boy was born, they decided to name him Finn.

  Finn was sent away to one of the country's “boy” states upon his birth. When he was born, the world seemed crooked through his eyes. Finn, three days old, perceived the world in such a way that he saw things slanted and tilted. When he was put on the plane full of other male babies being sent to one of the male states, Texas, all he saw before himself were infants who seemed divided into three distinctly cut pieces. Everything was on a slant to Finn's newly formed eyes. That was until his vision started to become normal and clear upon his final arrival to Dallas, Texas where he would meet three male caretakers aged in their late 50's who would shape him into the person he was destined to become.

  Bobby Lester was in charge of the nursery where three newly hired caretakers younger than Bobby were assigned six babies to nurture that year. Finn was one of them. Lawrence, Moses and Carlos learned their children to take care of would be Finn, Stephen, Thomas, Ronald, Mark and Stanley. The hardest little one to deal with was the seemingly rebellious Finn. He would cry hours and hours on end. A bottle being stuck in his mouth did little to shut him up. From day one, Finn was the most challenging baby.

  “He's very emotional,” Moses stated after trying to get Finn to sleep one night.
/>   “He doesn't sleep. One of us is always up taking care of him it seems,” Carlos replied.

  “He needs to calm himself down. We need to provide him with the idea that he is going to be OK. An idea that there's no danger. Give him this rattle,” Moses said as he handed Carlos a rattle with a dinosaur at the end of it.

  “Perfect, Moses. Look at the teeth on that dinosaur. Would that monster help you sleep?”

  “He likes it, Carlos. Look.”

  Finn was playing with the rattle in his crib and took an instant liking to the dinosaur he saw at the end of the rattle which he would shake constantly. He enjoyed moving the rattle back and forth and found himself less scared as he would tire himself out by moving the rattle around for a while until he felt at peace and was able to sleep.

  As Finn became older, he would constantly ask the caregivers where he came from. He wanted to know this answer before any other kid in his company dared to wonder about such information. An answer to that question would always be “the stork.” Like the Santa Claus lie, “the stork” was the response any caregiver would give when a child asked about how he arrived on this Earth.

  Children were given different foods so it could be discovered what meals were favorites of each of the kids. Sometimes up to three choices were given for daily meals to them. Most children preferred chicken or pizza while others would eat vegetables as a main course. Each child was different and handled uniquely to accommodate the particular kid's tastes in food.

  Chapter Three

  When Finn was ten years old, he and the other boys learned about puberty. Carlos was the sole educator on that topic. During a lesson, Carlos explained “the facts.”

  “When a boy reaches an age, which will be different in each and every one of you, there is a white substance that can be released when a boy feels the need. It is not recommended to touch yourself and release this said substance. If one feels the need to release this substance, it should always be kept as private as you keep going to the bathroom, whether it be urinating or doing the other thing that you do when you go to the bathroom. Do you all understand?”

  Ronald asked, “Why do we release this substance?”

  “It is a result of an immoral need to feel pleasure and should be frowned upon.”

  Finn responded, “How will we know when this substance will be able to be released?”

  “Could be sooner or it could be later. Each one of you is different. Now to turn the topic of something else, let's focus on foreign language. We are starting to teach foreign language to you students. It is a requisite of a fifth grade education to begin learning conversational Spanish.”

  “Why do we need to learn a language?” asked Mark.

  “One day, you will meet people who speak differently than you have been taught to, and it is an important skill to be able to communicate with such people. Lawrence will teach you this foreign language starting tomorrow.”

  When Finn slept that night, he started to think about what he was learning and felt the world presented before him and his classmates seemed strange. Why would a stork bring little people to learn new things and grow into bigger people? There had to be me more behind the meaning and purpose of life. Educators didn't seem to spend much time talking about the true meaning of life. Instead, they told their students that they would be expected to take care of themselves one day and earn money necessary to survive. It all seemed quite unusual to him,

  When the next class day arrived, the morning started with Moses revealing that Santa Claus was not a real person.

  Mark yelled out, “I had a feeling Santa was a fake. What else isn't real that you're teaching us?”

  “Santa Claus is a character we teach those in the Catholic and Christian sector to kids so they enjoy their childhood. We believe kids should have a good youth and believe in him because it is soothing and simple,” Moses stated.

  “I don't understand the Catholic and Christian sector. You say we need to learn about God, but it's so boring,” Stephen, a child who had become the heaviest in terms of weight in the group, stated.

  Mark asked, “Who brought us the presents every Christmas, then?”

  “They were purchased by your educators and caregivers through a device for adults called the web. Adults are the only ones who can use it and buy such items as toys. We bought them to make you boys happy in your youth.”

  Thomas, the only child in the group who wore prescription glasses, asked, “So, what do we get now on holidays like Christmas?”

  “The idea of love should be embraced around the holidays. An education will always be your most important goal to achieve,” Moses replied.

  Finn asked, “What other things are we to aspire to?”

  “Reading books and watching films. There are age appropriate readings and movies that can help you understand more about life as you are to live it.”

  “Books and films are boring,” Thomas stated.

  “You will be given new clothes twice a year. This will be in lieu of Christmas and “Personal Arrival Day” presents,” said Moses.

  Books with all male protagonists and villains were used in lessons discussed among the male children. Classic books with included female characters would not be introduced until after the young boys would graduate college if they were to elect studying and teaching literature as a potential profession. “Personal Arrival Day” was the same for all the students educated in the same location and was celebrated once a year by all the kids so the children had something to embrace and look forward to.

  Chapter Four

  A lot of buddy movies with grown, all male casts were shown to the young males. Actors who were big in the “new” Hollywood made such films for a lowered salary to help the youth discover their potential to be successful in particular careers such as law enforcement, medicine or education. If a child wanted to act, an instructor would warn the kid about the financial insecurities of such a profession and urge one against pursuing such an avenue. Finn's class occasionally found the movies somewhat inspirational as they were taught concepts from the films such as good vs. evil and the meaning of friendship along the way. If anything was hoped for these young boys, it was that they would learn the idea of teamwork and find a profession which would suit each child's particular abilities. The only time a child would see another child on a television or movie screen would be in animated form as almost all children or young adults under the age of twenty-two were forbidden to act in the country.

  Finn Parker started to become more restrained in his teenage years and although he found flaws in the system he was growing up in, he gradually started to accept the society he was born into. Mathematics was his best subject in school. Finn loved all aspects of school and appreciated using his mind to solve difficult equations and reveled in chemistry class. Some other students in his company found their niche in sports such as football although Mark was particularly fond of poetry. Mark discovered a great hobby which challenged him. Writing his poems in Spanish helped him earn a class prize in “mastery of a foreign language.”

  When Moses began teaching the teenagers economic principals, the boys found them fascinating. Thomas believed that he would one day be wealthy if he were able to manage his money in life as well as he could manage it on paper. Finn liked math so economics kept him motivated and disciplined in his studies although he occasionally got into fist fights with some of his classmates over trivial matters such as who got a higher score on an exam. When Ronald scored a point higher than Finn on an economics test, Finn was so jealous that he punched Ronald in the face before Carlos intervened to break up the fight.

  All of the students in Finn's class mastered computer and technology courses as these now required a 100 percent score on a proficiency exam for pupils to be promoted to the next grade. One day, Finn was climbing a rope in gym class when Mark threw a basketball directly at him.

  “What the hell are you doing, Mark?”

  “You're a jerk, Finn.”

  �
�What are you talking about?”

  “You just piss me off. All the teachers talk about is Finn this and Finn that.”

  “You need to calm down, Mark! What did I do?”

  “It's the fact that you are acing every class. On the top of the leader board in every class we take is your damn name and quite frankly, other kids deserve a chance too.”

  “Your poems are going to make it very easy for you to succeed in a job when we're out of here.”

  “You still rank #1 in both English and Spanish classes and I feel like no matter what I do, it's never good enough.”

  “Just relax, my friend. You're number two in English and Spanish which means if you ace the final, you could still sneak ahead of me on the leader board.”

  “I guess you're right but when you watch you climb that damn rope which is something I can't do because of my asthma. I realize you are the perfect student I'll never be.”

  “It takes discipline to succeed just like Moses always says.”

  “I guess you're right.”

  Finn and Mark shook hands and Finn started to climb the rope again. Lawrence asked Finn to come over to the school office after gym class. When Finn arrived, Lawrence asked him to sit down after the door to the office was closed.

  “Finn, I called you here today to let you know that your mastery of mathematics is absolutely astounding. We all believe that you have what it takes to be separated from your peers and will not be going to the same college they will be attending.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “You were our most difficult student in the beginning but, now, your mastery of all subjects we teach you has far surpassed our expectations. We are all very impressed. There are a group of universities out there who will be happy to have you and from what we see, we have no doubt that you would excel in such a college.”

  “So what about my friends?”

  “You will make new friends in a university after you finish your high school coursework. You will be able to see your friends again after university studies end if you so choose to. However, we believe you will find a career which will be very profitable and rewarding for you. What do you think you would like to do?”