Unknown - The Genius

What in the world has gotten into him.

I don’t know.

Dear Lord look at him.

The doctor points a light in Victor’s eyes. Does he do this a great deal?

No.

Hmm. Hmm. Off goes the light. Well, it’s very strange.

They go into the next room. Victor can still hear them.

Does he have fits?

No.

Anything else?

He speaks to himself. He has imaginary friends.

That’s perfectly natural for children.

A boy his age? He speaks more to them than to me. Something is out of joint.

Hardly surprising.

He isn’t like his mother.

No. But feeblemindedness takes many forms.

It’s not natural to keep him here.

It isn’t our decision.

It can’t go on like this. How long?

I don’t know.

I won’t stay here forever.

Victor wriggles his hands against the hose.

Mercy says Mrs. Greene. Mercy.

I’ll talk to Mr. Muller.

Please do.

I’ll tell him that something needs to be done.

Where has he been? I’ve heard nothing in months.

He’s abroad. He went to London. They’re building a wharf.

Dear Lord. Is there nobody in the world besides you and I?

At the moment, no.

It isn’t right.

No. Oh.

Mrs. Greene. Oh. Oh.

I am at your disposal. Oh.

The hose starts to loosen. Victor pulls his arms free. Then he unties his feet. He creeps to the door and sees Mrs. Greene and the doctor standing close together. The doctor’s hands are inside her blouse. She stands away and together they go into another room. They are gone a long time. When Mrs. Greene comes back for Victor she does not seem surprised to find him at his desk, drawing. She gives him a mug of hot chocolate and kisses him on the head. She smells like bathwater.

Soon after that he sees Mrs. Greene’s body. He crouches at the keyhole while she takes a bath. The steam makes it hard to see but when she steps from the bathtub her bosoms shake, they are large and white. He makes a noise and she hears him and she puts on her towel. She opens the door as he is running away. You’re a dirty boy. He runs to his room and hides under the bed. She comes in wearing a dress that she put on inside out. Her hair drips, it sprays as she pulls him from under the bed. He scrapes at the floor but she is stronger. Dirty dirty boy. She does not paddle him, though. She sets him on the edge of the bed and scolds him in a loud voice. You must never. That is not what a good boy does. You must be a good boy not a bad boy.

He wants to be a good boy.

Time passes. The man with the moustache comes to visit. He looks unhappy.

It’s simply intolerable sir says Mrs. Greene.

The man paces the room, pulling on his ears. I understand.

Victor is amazed. He likes to pull on his ears, too. Mrs. Greene does not like him to do that, she slaps his hands and tells him to stop being such an odd duck. Yet here is the man with the moustache, so tall and majestic in his big hat, pulling on his ears just like Victor does. It makes Victor feel proud.

He needs to be in school sir.

I’m aware of that. I’ve asked Dr. Fetchett to find a more suitable place for him. It’s not as simple as sending him to Priestly. The man with the moustache stops to look at one of Victor’s drawings, which Mrs. Greene has stuck on the wall. This is quite good.

I can’t take credit for that sir.

You mean—really.

Yes sir.

All of them? My goodness. I had no idea. I always assumed they were yours.

No sir.

He’s quite talented. He should have paints.

Yes sir.

Let’s get him some, then.

Yes sir.

I’ll be back soon. I’ll talk to Fetchett, we’ll figure out a way.

Yes sir.

And the lessons? Any progress?

No sir. He still will not do his work. He tears it up.

The man sighs. You must discipline him.

Don’t you think I’ve tried.

Mind your tone.

I am sorry sir. I’m at the end of my tether.

I understand. Here is something for you.

Thank you sir.

And buy the boy some paints, please.

Yes sir.

Be a good boy, Victor.

He never sees the man again.

Time passes. He is eleven. Mrs. Greene makes a birthday cake for him and when she brings it to the table she starts to cry. I cannot. I simply cannot.

Victor wants to help her. He offers her some of his cake.

Thank you dear. That’s very kind of you.

A new car comes. Victor stands at the window and watches as it rolls up. It is gray. A man in a blue jacket jumps out and runs to the back door and opens it for a woman with a big swirl of hair and a hat high and brown like a toadstool. Mrs. Greene runs to answer the door and the woman in the hat walks past her. She stands in the middle of the room and looks down her nose at everything. Then she looks at Victor.

He is filthy.

He has been playing in the yard mam.

Don’t answer me back. The boy’s filthy and that is all there is to say. Well do you have anything to say for yourself ?

The woman is talking to him. He says nothing.

He isn’t the talkative sort mam.

You shut up. The woman in the hat moves around the room, picking up plates and tossing them down roughly. And this place is a pigsty, too.

I’m sorry mam. Usually I do the washing in the afternoon, after—

I don’t care. Clean him up. He’s leaving.

Mam?

You are not to be faulted for my husband’s poor decisions, but you must recognize that he is gone and the decisions are now mine and mine alone. Do you understand me?

Yes mam.

Now clean him up, I can’t bear to look at him.

Mrs. Greene draws him a bath. He does not want to take a bath; he already took a bath the day before. He struggles and she begs him. Please Victor. She sounds like she might cry and he allows her to take off his clothes and put him in the tub.

The woman in the hat says The car will be here in an hour.

Where are you sending him mam.

That’s no concern of yours.

With all due respect … I’m sorry mam.

You may stay here as long as you’d like.

I wouldn’t like to at all mam.

I don’t blame you. My husband was a damned fool. Well don’t you think that this is an idiotic plan?

I couldn’t say mam.

Yes you can, you have an opinion, don’t you.

No mam.

You’re very well trained. How much did he pay you.

Mam.

I’ll see to it you’re taken care of. You call this number. Do we have an understanding?

Yes mam.

Idiot. How long did he intend to keep this up?

I couldn’t say mam. He talked about finding the boy a school.

The woman in the hat looks at Victor and shudders. Well it’s done now.

They put him in a car and drive him through the snow. He has never been so far from home. Mrs. Greene sits with him, holding his hand. He does not know where he is going and many times he feels frightened. He screams and Mrs. Greene says to him Please Victor. Look at the trees. What do they look like? Here, take the paper. The bumping car makes drawing difficult. He tries to steady his hand but then when he starts to get something on paper he feels sick and has to close his eyes. He wants to go home. When will they turn back? He wants his bed and his cocoa, he wants his spinning top. He cries and Mrs. Greene says Look at the trees, Victor.

The trees are pointy and tall and white. They look like sugar rock.

At dusk they come to a house. It is bigger than any house he has ever seen, much bigger than his house. The house has a sooty face with yellow eyes. The car stops and Mrs. Greene gets out. Victor sits in the car.

Come on dear.

Victor gets out of the car. Mrs. Greene holds a small suitcase in her hand. She is standing very stiffly. Then she kneels down in the snow in her stockinged knees. Her eyes are small and red. You must be a good boy. Do you understand me?