Father Knows Best

Francis Michael Safeton was the son of Michael Wallace's mistress. Michael officially adopted him but did not impart upon him the family name. He grew up in the barony's village and while the powerful man who claimed guardianship over him did encourage him to follow his dreams, he was mostly satisfied with being an average kid with money. His mother had ambitions for him, but he realized that he didn't need them to any degree. All the other kids around were impressed by his 'station.' Surely, that would always be enough.

When he was born, Nicole was already being groomed to run Wallace Ltd. He would be given the chance to show eagerness or aptitude to work at the company, but he lacked the drive and divine grace at numbers that defined the Wallace family. Michael was content to let him find his own way or simply be a working cog in the company when the time came.

Michael sent him, like previous children of the family, to the local public school. When the choice came to either continue in school or switch to tutoring, Karen decided her son should go to boarding school. Frank actually liked the special club atmosphere of private school and went to Yale Prep. He didn't do well enough to earn admittance to Yale itself on his own merits, but was capable enough to manage a 2.8 GPA. Frank was convinced he should be allowed to attend the university. Michael had the money and prestige to force the matter but patently refused. “If your own merits don't earn your way, then find somewhere that deems you meritorious.”

“But, Krystie got in!”

“Yes, and she did so by impressing them. Nicole didn't have grandfathering when she decided on Princeton.”

“You could have bought her way in.”

“But I didn't. And I wouldn't. Through knowledge comes wisdom. From wisdom come power.”

“You stole that from that shield behind you.”

“I did not steal it. That's the seal of the Barons Wallace. It belongs to me by birthright.”

“Does that mean Chuck gets it?”

Michael patiently said, “Yes, Charles will inherit it. But it doesn't mean it can't be applied to everyone.”

“We have power, so why not just use it.”

“No, I have power. And just using it? That's abusing power. No one should have power he hasn't earned. It means he won't handle it with any sense of responsibility.”

Michael got up and walked over to a cabinet. He unlocked it and took out a handgun and a clip. “Wielding power is like holding a gun or driving a car. It seems like a neat or fun idea when you're a kid and some play with a child's verson of it, but it's not the same as having the real thing.”

He slid the clip into the gun and made sure the safety was in place. “Now if I hand you this, what would you want to do?”

“Shoot it, of course!”

“Why?”

“It's a gun.”

“If you shoot it in here, you could break something. Or someone. You could conceivably kill someone with it. Why would you play with something so dangerous?”

Michael chambered a bullet, then ejected the clip. He put the clip in his pocket and placed the gun on the table in front of Frank. “Go ahead. Pick it up.”

As Frank eagerly reached for it, Michael asked, “How much do you actually know about guns?”

Frank shrugged. “What everyone knows, I guess.”

“That doesn't exactly fill me with confidence.”

“Well, it's a gun. How much is there to know?”

He picked it up by the trigger, like a toy gun. Michael quietly incanted his skin to a stony toughness and watched carefully to jump in its path if it did fire. “I spent several weeks with a certified instructor teaching me to handle that correctly.”

The teenager flipped it about incautiously. “It can't be that hard to figure out.”

“Remind me never to loan you my Ferrari. Just because it can do 200 mph, doesn't mean you should. Cars kill more efficiently than guns.”

Frank put the gun down. Michael picked it up and released the bullet and let it fall out. Frank's eyes widened as it bounced off the tabletop. “Power is the same way. Get careless with it and you can hurt a lot of people you had no intention of hurting. No child of mine is getting any privilege without earning it first.”