Equality has finally come to the UQ. Now Peter may get to meet his father.

The next few months we a frenzy of hard work for the new parliament. The first task was to make sure the mistake of the past could never happen again. A law was passed that was enshrined in the new constitution that made it impossible to disenfranchise anyone, no matter gender, race or religion from voting.

It was the lack of the male vote and the strict control of political power that kept the feminists in power so long. So the law allowed any party that wanted to run for election could put forward candidates.

So many women interviewed after the election said that they disliked the feminist government, but had no other non-feminist party to vote for. The feminist governments had done a good job ensuring they kept in power.

A push for men to be recruited into the military forces was made. One of the plus sides of having fitness standards that were aimed at recruiting women, meant the average man was accepted. The fire service was bolstered by the addition of men. No women ever complained that a man couldn't lift her out of a burning building and carry her down a ladder. This was something most of the women in the fire service were not capable of doing, especially for larger women.

Many men did lose their jobs as some the feminist owners sacked their men in solidarity with the feminist parties. They soon ran into trouble when they tried to recruit women to fill the jobs. Strangely enough, women did not want to do jobs that involved getting covered in dirt and grease, or even standing up to their knees in mud on a freezing cold night. The business owners tried to offer men their jobs back, but many were working for the new companies started with government grants.

One of Peter’s pet projects was the Male Business Scheme. They offered grants in the form of interest free loans and business advice. As most of the man were not capable of running the accounts of a business, training courses were offered alongside of a list of “male friendly” business services. It didn’t surprise Peter that a huge number of businesses were “male friendly”. These women knew that men would be a good source of income in the new economy.

Peter arrived home at 10.30 P.M. to find his mother in a good mood.

“Why the happy face mum? A good day at work?”

“Yes I sacked someone.”

“What! Some poor guy loses his job and you’re happy? What did he do?”

“Who said guy? Do you remember Judy? She was the checkout supervisor. She’s been giving all the men and boys a hard time since she started. I couldn’t sack her for talking down to a man before. Now with those new laws you passed, the men are on equal standing with the women.”

“Oh the misandry laws. Yes, we have had a lot of positive feedback on those. Surprisingly most of it from women. It seems many disliked the way men could be treat badly just for being born male. What happened?"

” She screamed at one of the operators for giving a woman the wrong change. She called him a cheating, thieving piece of male scum. It turned out the woman had said she had given him a £50 note. I checked the till, there were no 50’s. The young man had been right. The customer apologized to him.“

“Did Judy not apologise then?”

“No she refused, so I had her in my office. The bitch smirked at me and winked. I told her she was done. She couldn’t believe I would sack her over a man. It felt so fucking good Peter. Her face when she saw I was serious. She said she was going to report me to the party. That would have worried me a year ago. I just laughed in her face.”

“They are voting against every new law we pass mum. Hopefully we would have made enough progress by the next election that they won’t get any seats. In twenty years they will be a bad memory.”

“I saw a few couples in the shop today. It was really good to see men and women out together. They were mainly teenagers. I think you and Vicki inspired a lot of that. There were also an elderly couple. They were telling me they met a few years ago and had been texting each other a few times a week. Now he felt safe enough to move in. She told me they wanted to get married, but were waiting for the laws to change so she didn’t own him.”

“That should be sorted out next week mum. It wasn’t that urgent as no one was rushing to marry. After Charlie escaped with his wife they made it nearly impossible.”

“I’ll let them know if I see them. It so nice to see. He wouldn’t let her carry the bags, she looked at him with so much love in her eyes. A few years ago you would only ever rarely see that with two women.”

“The country is changing mum. There are still a small amount of women that hate it though. There have been a few cases of assault and rape reported.”

“Well, that’s not good. Were they real?”

“Remember Shadow? They have developed an app that discreetly records and timestamps. It’s a dating security app. The data is sent to a secure server. It can record audio and video if required. The man accused of rape had the app running. He was on a date when woman invited him back to her flat. She asked him if he wanted a drink then threw the whisky over him. She told him she was going to rip her clothes and say he was drunk and tried to rape her. He ran away and the next day he was arrested. He told the police about the app. They listened to it and have now arrested the women for wasting police time.”

“Lucky for him he had that. If that had happened a few years ago he would have been a castrated prisoner by now. Shadow are still useful then.”

“Yes, I invited them to come and see Em, but they said until they are sure everything is stable they will stay in the background. They have access to almost every surveillance camera in the country. They helped the police with the assault cases. Two of those were real. The men in question were both getting revenge on women who had, had them punished. One of the men had been castrated and recently released.”

“Have you had any luck tracing your father?”

“Yes mum. I called him today. He is living in the Peckham rookery. He was overjoyed to talk to me. He had seen me on TV. He never realized he had a famous son. He wants to come and visit us both on Saturday. I said I’d ask you first. Are you ok with it? I’ll understand if you’re not.”

“Oh Peter, I’d love to see him again. He was so handsome. A friendly, intelligent man with a great sense of humor. What time? I’ll book the day off.”

That Saturday a van pulled up outside and a man in his early forties carrying a small bunch of flowers knocked on the door. His name was Paul Clover. Peter watched as his mother opened the door. She was dressed in a short black dress, with black tights and high heels. She looked stunning. He would even say sexy, but you aren’t meant to think your mother is sexy.

Paul looked her up and down and said.

“Wow, Mel you look better than ever! It’s so good to see you.”

They fell into each other’s arms and kissed for way too long and too deeply for people who hadn’t seen each other for twenty years. Paul hugged his son and Peter felt paternal love. A totally new sensation for him. A father figure showing him affection. The only other person he had got that from was Charlie.

Paul had just started his own business as an electrician. He had used a grant and had brought tools and a van. He had started working for an electrical company after the fencing company went bust. They chatted about their past. There was a real connection between them all. Mel asked when they could meet again. She also asked him to if you could call at the supermarket and give her an estimate for rewiring the supermarket for new freezers.

After saying a very long goodbye to Mel. Paul hugged Peter and said.

“It’s been so good to see you son, In so proud of the man you’ve become.”

This choked Peter up. Proud, and man had not gone together in a sentence in the UQ for years.

“It's been great dad. Please come back soon.”

“That’s up to your mum son. I’ll keep in touch with you whatever happens.”

“I’d be happy to see you anytime you want Paul. You’re Peter’s father. I’ll see you at the supermarket on Wednesday, we can have a chat.”

After he left Mel asked Peter if he would mind if Paul, perhaps moved in with them in the future. She said she would have to take it slow and get to know him all over again, but this was what she wanted twenty years before.

Peter was thinking about this on the train to parliament the next day. As he walked out of the station his phone rang. It was Chloe, Charlie’s wife.

“Thanks for allowing me access to the genetic database Peter. It has taken a few days, but I think I've found Charlie’s father. His name is, or was, David Rodgers. He was in a work camp outside Cambridge. The last entry on his record showed he was diagnosed with a heart condition. That was over a year ago. I know the records for the camps have not been updated since the feminist lost power, but the report wasn’t good. The medical care for men was poor. Pets got better care than men most of the time. They were only treated better if their employers were making good money off of their work. Labor camps just treated basic things. I can’t trace him. Can you help?”

“ I can try Chloe. If I find him do you want me to approach him about Charlie?”

“Yes please. I won’t let him know if he’s dead or doesn’t want to talk to Charlie. He may seem like a confident genius to you, but underneath he is an extremely sensitive man.”

“I’d do anything for him Chloe. The men of this country owe him a huge debt. I think I know where to start.”

All Characters © Beverly Taff