*Author's Note: Any and all persons engaging in any sexual activity are at least eighteen years of age.
Disclaimers: This story has been edited by myself, utilizing Microsoft Spell-check. You have been forewarned; expect to find mistakes.
*.*
Stephen Hebert looked out the window at the courtyard of the Academy. From his third story window, he had an unobstructed view of the entire campus of Daigrepont Military Academy. To his left were the barracks, the students' dormitories. The four barracks each housed twenty nine bunks; twenty five students and four student monitors. At present, only one barrack was being used. It was early June, the 'Summer School' session.
Directly across from his window was the cafeteria, the mess hall. During the summer session, the students, under the watchful eyes and tutelage of the student monitors would rotate KP duties. Four of the seventeen students would actually rouse at four thirty and prepare the meals. After all seventeen students and four monitors had eaten, four would begin cleaning the pots and trays. Four would clean the mess hall, and the remaining four would return to the barracks to clean their sleeping quarters. At six o'clock, all seventeen students would be outside for morning calisthenics, capped with a two mile run.
Run. Not walk. Not jog. Run. The four monitors would give the seventeen boys a fifteen second head start. Then woe be to the boy or boys that the monitors were able to pass. The unfortunate boy or boys would have to run another two miles. Run. Not walk, not job, but run.
The extra boy, Victor Roberts was a new recruit. He had been sent to Daigrepont because his grades had not been good enough for him to graduate from Paulton High School in Paulton, Louisiana. And, he'd been caught up in a high school prank with a group of his peers that had resulted in a teacher's home being damaged. There had been other boys involved, but all had turned a finger, pointing to the eighteen year old Victor Roberts as the main culprit.
"Should have the whole lot of them in here," Stephen thought as he watched the seventeen students milling in the courtyard.
Stephen had no doubt that the other boys had been the one to instigate the incident. And when it had gone wrong, rather than man up, take the blame, they simply ratted out the weakest link in their ragtag chain.
Victor Roberts was a chubby young man; his penchant for sweets quite evident. The severe buzz cut the academy had given to the young man, over Victor's tears and objections actually looked quite good on the young man, showed off his cherubic good looks, his cupid bow mouth.
Stephen smiled tightly. He could see Victor in front of the other youths. Even though he could not hear them, he could see Victor performing some sort of silly posturing. Stephen could see the other youths laughing at Victor's antics.
"Son, one day, you'll learn. There's a difference between people laughing AT you or people laughing WITH you," Stephen said out loud.
Victor put his left hand over the top of his head. Then he pantomimed smoking a cigarette, pantomimed furtively looking around. Stephen could tell that Victor was most likely imitating Turner Wydell, one of the Student Monitors. Smoking was prohibited, but Turner still tried to sneak in a smoke every now and then.
Victor's hand over the top of his head was most likely meant to mock Turner's very pronounced receding hairline.
Stephen watched one of the young men encouraging Victor's antics. Stephen turned and rapidly typed out a command to have Michael Brookes sent to his office, ASAP. Three minutes later, a smart knocks sounded at his door.
"Come," Stephen barked.
"Sir, yes sir?" Michael Brookes asked, standing at attention.
"So, what was with the dancing I saw you and the new recruit engaging in?" Stephen asked, face millimeters away from the eighteen year old boy's face.
Michael Brookes was a weasel, through and through. Even though Stephen had seen, quite clearly, Michael encouraging Victor's antics, Michael pinned the entire episode on Victor.
Michael's father was a politician; obviously his son had a future in politics as well. No shit ever stuck to Michael Brookes, even though he was constantly in shit up to his neck.
Robert Brookes had asked Stephen Hebert to write a letter of recommendation to West Point on behalf of his son. Stephen had said he would be glad to, and wrote to the commanding officer that if West Point valued cadets that would sell their mother to the enemy, cadets that had no sense of duty, honor, or responsibility, then Michael Robert Brookes was the cadet for them. If they wanted young men that would throw their entire platoon under the bus to save his own worthless hide, then they could find no finer recruit than Michael Robert Brookes.
At current, Michael was trying to pass his Mathematics requirements, as well as make up his Sociology and Civics assignments. Neither he, nor his father could understand why they'd not heard back from West Point though.
Very good," Stephen said, tiring rapidly of Michael Brooke's lies.
Stephen dismissed the smirking young man. Stephen then typed a message to have Victor sent to his office.
Four minutes after sending out the request, a timid knock sounded at Stephen Hebert's door.
"Come," Stephen called out.
"Sir? Yes sir?" a tremulous sounding Victor Roberts whined, coming into the office.
"Stand at attention, boy," Stephen barked.
"Sir, yes sir," Victor quaked.
Stephen stood, marched around his desk, and put his nose against the frightened young man's nose. He glared into Victor's terrified eyes.
"So. You think it's funny make fun of a superior?" Stephen snarled.
"Sir? I, no sir," Victor stammered.
"Your Student Monitor is your superior officer, boy," Stephen snarled.
"Sir, yes sir," Victor agreed.
"Yet, I saw you, mocking your superior officer, did I not?" Stephen demanded.
"I, yes sir," Victor admitted.
His admission earned Victor a small measure of approval from Stephen. Stephen straightened up and nodded curtly. Then he stepped back.
"At ease, boy," Stephen ordered.
Victor assumed the position. Stephen sat behind his desk again.
"So, boy, what do you think we should do about this?" Stephen asked.
"I, sir, I don't know sir," Victor said.
"Well, we've got to do something. We can't just let you run around mocking your superiors, now can we?" Stephen snapped.
I no sir," Victor agreed.
"And, uh, Turner, Michael and Harold have brought a disturbing incident to my attention," Stephen said.
"Sir?" Victor asked.