Flowers for Algernon Part 4

It's O.K., Charlie. I understand.

No. No, you don't. We just don't happen to belong on the same level, Burt. I passed your floor on the way up and now I'm passing it on the way down, and I don't think I'll be taking this elevator again.

Don't you want to talk to Dr. Strauss? Let me get her . . .

No. Say good-bye for me, will you, Burt? Don't tell her I'm here. I just want to sit here a minute.

I've got to tell everyone, all those teachers at the school. Oh, wait till you see their faces when I tell them. And the neighbors. And Uncle Herman. I've got to tell him, he'll be so pleased. And wait till your father comes home. And your sister. She'll be so happy to see you. You have no idea.

Ma! Wait . . . there's something I . . . I want you to have before I go.

When I was about ten.

Napolean?

Yes. wasn't it generous of him to help? But it must be dull taking up the project after my husband did all the ground work. Wouldn't it be more fun to start something new of your own?

No one really starts anything new, Mrs. Nemur. Everyone builds on other men's failures. What each man contributes to the sum of knowledge is what counts.

Professor Nemur wanted . . .

No! No more mazes! I'm through running the maze. I'm in a blind alley and that's all there is to it.

We?

Yes. The other Charlie is here. Still here.

I work. I come home. I take care of her.

You never go out?

You want to feel sorry for yourself, go ahead, but don't expect me to feel sorry for you. The experiment was calculated to raise your intelligence and it did! We had no control over your development from a likable retarded man into an arrogant, self-centered ingrate!

You wanted someone who could be made intelligent and kept in a cage to be displayed when you wanted to take some bows.

Neither do I.

You'll go away when I tell you to? It may not be very long . . . but maybe, we'll have more than others have in a lifetime. September seventh. Alice is gone. We had a argu -- argu ---- fight. Le's see, if I can remember . . . "The Algernon-Gordon Effect, by Charles Gordon. The simple hy ---- The simple hy ---- "The Algernon-Gordon Effect, by Charles Gordon. The simple hy ----

It would be so marvelous for the Foundation's image if we could show there is some tangible good coming out of all this.

You're so right! We're hoping to be able to make enough of the five million retardates in this country intelligent enough to go out and sit on the eggs of the last fifteen whooping cranes and increase their population maybe thirty or forty per cent. Do you think that would help the image?

Wild life preserves. Do you know how many of our native American birdies are dying out?

No. I guess there are blanks in my education.

I thought that was my dream. I remember the lampshades, the mattress. I hated you because they fussed over you all the time. They never spanked you for not bringing home the best marks. In school, the children scribbled things in my books. "Moron's sister." "Dummy Gordon family." Then one day, I wasn't invited to some child's birthday party. I knew it was because of you. And when we were playing with the lampshades, I had to get even. I lied. Oh, Charlie, what a brat I was. I'm so ashamed.

No. I was safe here in the kitchen. You had to face the rest of the world.

Do you want something?

Ma . . .

Charlie!

Ma . . . it's me . . .

You're lazy. I'll beat it into you till you learn it. Try it again!

"Run Jack run!" Please . . . God . . . don't take it all away.

Try it again.

"The simple hyp ----

Well, you certainly don't look good. Maybe it's one o' them flus the Chinese Reds are always sendin' over. I'll get the tray later.

Alice was here . . . when? . . . I didn' let her in. I didn' want here to laugh at me. I tol' her . . . I don' love you anymore. That's not true, but . . . Septemer twenty-first. I did a dumb thing today. I fergot I wasn' in Miss Kinnian's class anymore. So I went and sat in my old seat . . . an' she looked at me funny . . . an' I said, "Hello, Miss Kinnian . . . she start in to cry -- isn' that funny? -- an' ran out. Then I remember I was operationed an' I got smart . . . an' I said, Holy smoke, I pulled a real Charlie Gordon. That's why I'm goin' away fer good. To the Warren Home School. I don' wan' people to cry an' feel sorry. I don' know why I'm dumb again or what I did wrong. Maybe I din't try hard enough or someone put the evil eye on me. But I got a new rabbit's foot an' I got some books . . . 'n' even if I can't read I'll try an' maybe I'll get a li'l smarter than before the operation. Good-bye. Miss Kinnian . . . and Doctor Strauss and ev'ybody. Your frien' Charlie Gordon.

So this is our Mr. Gordon!

Am I?

But she puts nearly every penny she can spare into it. She hardly ever contributes to my project.

And what is that?

Should I take him home?

Before I was operationed, I had lotsa frien's in the bakery . . . Mrs. Donner . . . now I ain't got nobody . . .

Oh, yes . . . but . . . it's difficult.

Did you ever get your dog?

She's being a wife. Reminding her husband's boss how much work he's doing. Why are you so tense?

Don't ask me why I'm tense. If I knew why I was tense, I wouldn't be tense.

Charlie, you don't know what a nightmare it's been through all these years with her. Coming home every night, wondering whether she's harmed herself. I'm so glad you're here. I've needed someone.

Don't cry. I have a little saved and with what the Foundation pays me, I'll be able to send you some money . . . for a while anyways.

No!

Don't run away from me.

We did everything we could for you.

Except treat me like a human being! I'm a person now and so was Charlie before he ever walked into that lab. But you doctors and Ph. D.'s believe a person with an I.Q. of less than 100 is expen-- expen---- That we don't matter. But we do!

It's being typed. I get my Ph. D. in February.

Good boy. Keep plugging. Nothing like an education.

Sometimes he sees himself as he used to be . . . as a separate individual . . . as though the old charlie were struggling for possession of the body.

He's not struggling! He's just waiting!

And the question is, how much can he hang on to?

I am afraid. Not of life or death or nothingness . . . but of wasting it as if I had never been.

I went to the apartment. You weren't there. I thought you might be here.

I am.

Please don't make jokes.

I can't help it. I'm in the middle of the biggest joke of all and I can't afford to spend my time with anyone. There's only enough left for myself.

And what are you doin' for food, I ask you? I brought you some good Irish Stew and a pot o' tea, though the Lord knows why I bother. Sittin' around the way you do. If you're sick, it's one thing, but I don't like loafers. You're beginning to remind me of my son, the loafer, before I threw him outa the house. That doctor feller paid your rent, that's one thing, but I don't like all this lyin' about. A feller like you should be workin'.

I can't work. Mrs. Donner, she fired me for bein' too smart.

I'm glad. She doesn't remember much these days. Dr. Portman wants me to put her into a nursing home . . . but I can't stand to think of her in one of those institutions. I can't do that to my own mother. I'd never have recognized you.

I didn't think you'd want to see me again.

I decided it was time for me to put in an appearance. I thought maybe I could clean up a little . . . or cook. I didn't think you'd mind.

I do mind. I don't want anybody coming around feeling sorry for me.

I can't believe you want to be completely alone.

I do.

But when will you come back?

I don't know yet. But I want you to have this.

Charlie! It's Dr. Strauss. Please let me in. I've brought your check.

I don't wan' no charity.

I feel like I saw this all happen once before.

I have to go now.

What are you doing here?

I just wanted to see you . . . talk to you . . .

Go? You can't go away now.

I must.

Typed? Why didn't you use the tape machine?

I prefer to type. It's difficult, but I can't think at all with that machine going. Does it matter to you?

Well, then you got to find somethin' else. Can't lie about unless you're sick.

I think I'm sick, Mrs. Mooney.

No. But I can imagine. We all feel pretty sick about it.

Keep your sympathy. Leave me alone. I'm sorry. It's not you, it's . . . How's everything going, Burt? Finish your thesis yet?

Oh, there you are, Charlie. I've been looking for you. Someone I want you to meet . . . Excuse me, Mrs. Nemur . . . I thought you were about to lose your temper.

I wasn't losing it. I was going to throw it away.

No, Charlie, not charity. I want the progress reports.

I'll mail them . . . Go away.

An' there is himself, starin' outa the window again. I have to go out in the yard and look up to be sure you're alive.

I'm O.K., thank you, Mis' Mooney.

Oh, thank God! My prayers . . . all these years I thought He didn't hear me, but he was listening all the time, just waiting, just waiting His own good time to do His will.

I'm glad I came, Ma.

Charlie, Charlie . . . always so clumsy . . . never looking. When are you going to learn to look where you're going? Oh, my God!

I'm not a little boy anymore. I'm different, Ma. Ma, look at me.

All right, Charlie. We'll stop for today.

I'm not coming back. Whatever you need of what's left in my brain, you can get from the progress reports.

Go away! Leave me alone!

I'm not going to do anything. I just want to talk to you. You've got to understand, I'm not the same as I was. Ma. I've changed. I'm normal now. Do you understand? I'm not retarded anymore. I'm not a moron. I'm just like anyone else. I'm normal. Just like you and Matt and Norma. Ma . . .

No. Once you're there, I'll do my best to forget you. But, until you go, why must we be alone?

I'm not myself. I'm falling apart. I don't want you to watch. Alice! I don't regret the experiment.

But you're not going away? You've got to stay with us, now.

I've got to do some traveling. Make a few speeches, but I'll try to come back to visit you. I'll help you . . . for as long as I can.

Why did they send you away, Charlie? I always wondered. Every time I asked her, she said it was for your own good.

In a way, she was right.

Do you think you were better off before the Foundation became interested in you?

In some ways, yes! Nobody here cares about me. Me, Charlie Gordon! Whether he's a moron or a genius! Except insofar as it affects your work. Well, I've served your purposes and now I'm trying to correct your mistakes, but don't ask me for gratitude!

All this scientific stuff is frightfully expensive.

Is it?

The house is such a mess. I wan't expecting company. Look at those windows . . . and that woodwork . . . And these floors, I've got to wax them again. Have you come about the electric bill? I intend to send a check out the first of the month but my husband is out of town on business. I told them all they don't have to worry about the money, because my daughter gets paid this week, and we'll be able to take care of all our bills. So there's no need bothering me for money.

Is she your only child? Don't you have any other children?

What is it?

It's a scientific report I wrote. Look. It's called the Algernon-Gordon Effect. Something I discovered, and it's named partly after me. I want you to have this copy so you can show people that your son turned out to be more than a dummy after all.

You don't have to. You're here voluntarily. If you don't want to . . .

It's all right. Go ahead. Deal out the cards, but don't tell me what you find out. It's not valid. I know what you're looking for. I know the kind of responses I'm supposed to have. All I've got to do is . . . All I've got to do is . . . That's a woman on her knees washing the floor . . . I mean . . . I mean . . . no . . . it's a man holding a knife . . . two figures tugging at something. No! It's the same face staring at each other in a mirror! No! No more! I don't wanna take anymore tests!

We had a little time together before. We had things to talk about and things to do together. It didn't last long but it was something. Look, we've known this might happen. It was no secret. I didn't go away, Charlie. I've just been waiting.

It's crazy. There's nothing for you to look forward to. I don't dare let myself think ahead. In a few months, weeks . . . days, maybe . . . who knows? I'll go back to Warren. You can't follow me there.

Charlie, why did it happen to us?

It's past. I'm glad I met you again.

I don't remember. Was I so mean to you?

One memory I'm curious about. I'm not sure if it's a memory or a dream or if I made it up. You were seven or eight. We had lampshades on our heads pretending to be Chinese coolies. We were jumping up and down on an old mattress. You hit your head on the wall . . . just a bump, but you screamed. You said I tried to kill you. She beat me with a strap till I was nearly unconscious. Do you remember? Did it happen?

What's this?

Progress reports through August twenty-fifth. Would you give them to Professor Nemur?

Charlie! Charlie!

Septemer fifteenth. I haven' wrote a pogriss report in a long time. It's hard to write . . . I know I should look up words in the . . . in the word book . . . but I'm tired, so I use easy words instead. Le's see. I read ev'y day so I won' ferget how . . . Westerns from the drug store.

Ma! Ma, I'm home . . . Who are you? Charlie! You should have called. I . . . I don't know what to say. Is she all right? You didn't . . . upset her . . . or anything?

She came out of it for a while. We had a little talk.

I'm shaking.

She doesn't know. She was raving at the old Charlie.

Why don't you go along with Burt, Charlie?

Sick . . . sick . . . not here! So you've finally come face to face with me. Stay where I can see you. I'm tired of you spying on me from dark corners where I can't catch up with you. What do you want, Charlie? You want these back, don't you? I don't blame you. It's your body and your brain and your life. I don't have the right to take it away from you. Nobody does. Who's to say my light is better than your darkness? Go away, Charlie. I'm not your friend. I'm your enemy. I'm not giving up my intelligence without a struggle. I'm not going back down in that cave. There's no place for me to go, now, Charlie, so go away. Stop following me around. Don't reach out to me for help, Charlie. I've got problems of my own. . . . problems of my . . . That's it! I've solved the problem! Oh, my God, I've solved the problem!

Insulting Miss Welberg! You are indebted to her . . . if not to us . . . in more ways than one!

Since when is a guinea pig supposed to be grateful?

Yes. How did you know?

Something I remembered. You got an A in a test and she'd promised you a dog. Matt wouldn't let you have it because you said I couldn't play with it.

Oh, Charlie, I did. She told me you died in Warren. I believed it all these years. When that Professor came, I didn't know what to do. He wouldn't let me see you. He didn't want you upset before the operation. But when I saw you had become a genius! A genius! I knew you'd come back. And you have. You really have. You didn't forget us. Oh, Charlie . . . Can I make you something to eat? I don't know where to begin.

Start with you.

That was why they sent you away, wasn't it?

Take care of yourself.

(Nemur Party)

Thank you for inviting me, Mrs. Nemur.

Because there's still time. And I wanted to spend it with you.

That sounds like a bad pop song.

I had a boy. So brilliant that all the other mothers were jealous of him. And they put the evil eye on him. They called it the I.Q. but it was the evil I.Q. He would have been a great man if not for that. He was very, very bright . . . exceptional, they said. He could have been a genius. Excuse me, now. My daughter has a young man coming for dinner and I've got to get this place clean. How could it be? They told me you could never be changed.

They performed a new operation. I'm famous now. All over the world. I can read and write and . . .

That's a "No No." Mr. Harvey's on the Board.

Well, why was she riding me?

Come on, Charlie, let's go home.

What I say? I say somethin' wrong? My mother allus taught me to be nice to people 'cause she said that way you don't get into trouble an' you have lotsa frien's . . .

Take it easy, Charlie.

What do you mean, take it easy? You don't know what it's like.

Look . . . Nemur would like a Rorschach check.

What does he expect to find?

It's not because I feel sorry for you. It's because I feel sorry for me.

What's that supposed to mean?

Not at all. Sit down, Charlie.

What's this? The maze test?

It doesn't mean. It just is. Like a flower. I wanted to see you.

What's wrong? Was the zoo closed?

May I speak to Harold, Mrs. Nemur? . . . Harold? You'd better get down here. It's Charlie . . . I know, I know you're angry, but he brought in his report. You'd better see it . . . It's quite remarkable. Burt is feeding it to the computers now to check on his conclusions . . . No, I didn't see him. He isn't here . . . He left the report with Burt and said something about it being time to go to Brooklyn. I don't know what he meant . . . Harold, just come down, please.

Why is it so different? . . . Where are all the children? Why is it so . . . shabby?

Oh, come off it, Charlie. I waited long enough for you to come and get me. I decided to come to you.

Why?