Flowers for Algernon

“That’s all I ask. Your daughter is entitled to a life, too.” Matt comes into Charlie’s room and dresses his son, and though the boy doesn’t understand what is happening, he is afraid. As they go out the door, she looks away. Perhaps she is trying to convince herself that he has already gone out of her life,-that he no longer exists. On the way out, Charlie sees on the kitchen table the long carving knife she cuts roasts with, and he senses vaguely that she wanted to hurt him. She wanted to take something away from him, and give it to Norma.

When he looks back at her, she has picked up a rag to wash the kitchen sink....

When the haircut, shave, sun treatment, and the rest were over, I sat in the chair limply, feeling light, and slick, and clean, and Matt whisked the neckcloth off and offered me a second mirror to see the reflection of the back of my head. Seeing myself in the front mirror looking into the back mirror, as he held it for me, it tilted for an instant into the one angle that produced the illusion of depth; endless corridors of myself… looking at myself … looking at myself… looking at myself… looking Which one? Who was I?

I thought of not telling him. What good was it for him to know? Just go away and not reveal who I was. Then I remembered that I wanted him to know. He had to admit that I was alive, that I was someone. I wanted him to boast about me to the customers tomorrow as he gave haircuts and shaves. That would make it all real. If he knew I was his son, then I would be a person. “Now that you’ve got the hair off my face, maybe you’ll know me,” I said as I stood up, waiting for a sign of recognition. He frowned. “What is this? A gag?”

I assured him it was not a gag, and if he looked and thought hard enough he would know me. He shrugged and turned to put his combs and scissors away. “I got no time for guessing games. Got to close up. That’ll be three-fifty.” What if he didn’t remember me? What if this was only an absurd fantasy? His hand was out for the money, but I made no move toward my wallet. He had to remember me. He had to know me. But no-of course not and as I felt the sour taste in my mouth and the sweat in my palms, I knew that in a minute I would be sick. But I didn’t want that in front of him.

“Hey, you all right?”

“Yes… just… wait..:’ I stumbled into one of the chrome chairs and bent forward gasping for breath, waiting for the blood to come back to my head. My stomach was churning. Oh, God, don’t let me faint now. Don’t let me look ridiculous in front of him.

“Water… some water, please..:’ Not so much for the drink as to make him turn away. I didn’t want him to see me like this after all these years. By the time he returned with a glass, I felt a little better. “Here, drink this. Rest a minute. You’ll be okay.” He stared at me as I sipped the cool water, and I could see him struggling with half-forgotten memories. “Do I really know you from somewhere?”

“No… I’m okay. I’ll leave in a minute.” How could I tell him? What was I supposed to say? 130 Here, look at me, I’m Charlie, the son you wrote off the books? Not that I blame you for it, but here I am, all fixed up better than ever. Test me. Ask me questions. I speak twenty languages, living and dead; I’m a mathematical whiz, and I’m writing a piano concerto that will make them remember me long after I’m gone. How could I tell him?

How absurd I was sitting in his shop, waiting for him to pat me on the head and say, “Good boy.” I wanted his approval, the old glow of satisfaction that came to his face when I learned to tie my own shoelaces and button my sweater. I had come here for that look in his face, but I knew I wouldn’t get it.

“You want me to call a doctor?”

I wasn’t his son. That was another Charlie. Intelligence and knowledge had changed me, and he would resent me-as the others from the bakery resented me-because my growth diminished him. I didn’t want that. “I’m okay,” I said. “Sorry to be a nuisance” I got up and tested my legs. “Something I ate. I’ll let you close up now.”

As I headed towards the door, his voice called after me sharply. “Hey, wait a minutel” His eyes met mine with suspicion. “What are you trying to pull?”

“I don’t understand.”

His hand was out, rubbing his thumb and forefinger together. “You owe me three-fifty.”

I apologized as I paid him, but I could see that he didn’t believe it. I gave him five, told him to keep the change, and hurried out of his barbershop without looking back.