Owned by the Ocean Read Free Page B

Headmaster Mansfield attempted to
make conversation a couple times but Brant would only reply with
one or two words and continue to smoke sullenly.
    “ You know, Brant I’ve heard a lot of things about you from the
teachers. Not very much of it good. What is troubling
you?”
    “ I just have no interest in what you have to
teach.”
    “ And what do you have interest in?”
    Brant was a little taken aback. No one had ever shown
interest in what he wanted. No one since his mother. “It doesn’t matter; my life
is already planned. I know you are trying to look after the
well-being of your students, but don’t waste your time on me. I’ll
be fine in life no matter what happens. I could smoke, drink, and
gamble my youth away and I’d still have a fortune waiting for me.
You don’t have a bunch of well-behaved boys here, Headmaster. Just
a lot of hypocrites.”
    Brant stood up
and walked out, leaving Headmaster Mansfield alone with his
thoughts. The man was soft… too soft. He didn’t realize what was
going on around him and he chose to turn a blind eye to much of the
rule breaking. It was no wonder no one here had any respect for
him.
    Lying in bed
Brant lit another cigarette… One of these days he would really have
to kick the habit but right now it was just too good to let go. As
the last of the ashes fell from the cigarette and onto the floor
Brant stepped on the already cooling butt and then undressed. Sleep
came quickly once he chose to close his eyes in the early hours of
the morning. Tomorrow was another day, another day of broken dreams
and disappointments.
     
    * * *
     
    Christmas came
all too quickly, yet all too slow. Brant hated the idea going home
and spending an entire month with his father, but the thought of
leaving this place, if only temporarily, was undeniably
attractive.
    Sir Calvin
Foxton’s carriage pulled up at precisely twelve noon, just as he
had told Brant it would. Brant sat on the steps with his bags and
sullen attitude—he had been waiting in the cold for ten minutes. If
there was anything that Calvin couldn't stand for it was tardiness.
Especially when he was, out of the goodness of his heart, making
the trip into London to pick up his son.
    Brant had said
goodbye to Leo that morning at breakfast. Their disagreement hadn't
lasted longer than the one night, but Brant still worried about his
friend. He seemed to be drinking more often, more than what Brant
would consider recreational. He went to most of his classes
slightly buzzed but the teachers gave no indication that they had
noticed. How they missed it, Brant couldn’t figure out. Leo reeked
of booze and smoke. Drinking of any kind by the students was
forbidden, but it seemed that the teachers preferred to turn a
blind eye rather than deal with the issue.
    Getting up
from the step, Brant tossed his two small bags into the carriage
and then stepped up, sitting on the bench opposite his father.
    “ Hello, son.”
    “ Father.”
    “ How are your studies going?”
    “ Fine. You get reports from Headmaster Mansfield, I’m sure, so
you know.”
    “ Yes, but I thought perhaps you would like to tell me how
you’re enjoying it.”
    “ I’m not.”
    “ I worked hard to be able to get you this kind of
education.”
    “ Officer training is a good education too.”
    “ That is not a good life, Brant. It's beneath you. Try to
remember who you are.”
    “ I am a Foxton, son of Sir Calvin Foxton, former Commodore in
the Royal Navy. You should be proud of me wanting to follow in your
footsteps.”
    “ It is a hard life and below you, no matter the recognition
that comes with it. I came to bring you home for the holiday,
Brant. I pay for you to have the best education. I will take no
argument from you about what is best for your life. You're just a
boy. That's all.”
    "So you'll
just brush me off as if I'm no one? I'm not one of your
sailors.”
    “ Enough, Brant. I don't want to hear another word of this
again. I have made my