The Sons of the Waves

After class, we were sent below with the cautionary that the weather was 'going to snot up' and we would likely be called later. Jonathan did not run the ship in a strictly Royal Navy fashion where midshipmen were concerned. At sea, everyone else stood watch-and-watch - that is, four hours on and four off. The younkers, however, were often sent to bed at 10 p.m., even if they had the duty. If they were needed back on deck, they were summoned id temporis. This aberration could have been avoided by going to a three-watch system - which Mr. Brackenby advocated periodically - but Jonathan said he would rather 'bugger tradition' a little than a lot, so the midshipmen were cosseted in regard to their sleep while everyone else upheld tradition. Mind you, though, if a midshipman on watch went below at ten, he was to be in his hammock. The only other choice was the deck.

When I slipped out of my shirt, Leith asked me, 'What made the scars on your back?'

'We've lived together for a month. We take baths on deck under the pumps. What makes you ask me that now?'

Leith shrugged. 'Ford said I could. I wanted to ask you before, but he said I should wait.'

'Wait for what?' I wanted to know.

Leith had no idea. Ford had just said to wait.

'My dad's belt buckle made them,' I said, after a moment's hesitation.

'Did he smack you around a lot, mate?'

'If you're being hit, even once would be a lot.'

At this, all the middies stopped what they were doing in anticipation of hearing more.

It took me a minute to compose myself for this. It had all happened seven years ago but, like Leith's finding his father dead, it still had the power to call me back.

'My dad came home drunk,' I began. 'I told him that I hated it when he came home drunk. This set him off swearing and breaking things, so I told him to calm down, which made him madder and he started yelling that he didn't like being told what to do and that he would teach me better manners. He pulled off his belt and swung it at my head.' I pointed to a scar above my left eyebrow near my temple. 'My forehead began to bleed pretty bad and I was scared, so I ran to my room and locked the door. He followed me and broke it down. Then he started thrashing me with the buckle. I doubled up on the floor screaming. My mom came home, rushed into the room, and yelled for him to stop. They scuffled for a minute and he hit her and knocked her down, then started on me again. So, she picked up my stone lion and bashed him over the head with it.'

'Just like that?' one of the middies from the other watch asked.

'Just like that.'

'The big stone lion on the desk in your room?' Ford asked.

'The big stone lion. Anyway, my dad died and I spent two weeks in the hospital.'

'He died?' they all volleyed.

'And you kept the lion,' Ford said contemplatively.

'I kept my mother, too. They saved my life.'

'Did your mother go to jail?' one of the other boys asked.

'No. The medical examiner said that it was justifiable homicide, since my father probably would have killed me if she hadn't interrupted the beating. She really didn't mean to kill him, just stop him. So the prosecutor didn't file charges.'

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