SHE WOULD NOT GIVE HER NAME

By Ben Greenman

from forthcoming collection, as yet untitled

A film showing Ian French, a fourteen-month-old infant, engaged in such intellectually advanced tasks as correctly identifying alphabet blocks whose letters were called out by his offscreen father, selecting cards with pictures of animals on them in response to similar verbal prompts, and even pointing to numerals on a board that designated the solutions to simple mathematics problems, was screened here in the city to the delight and amazement of those in attendance. Afterwards, the child’s father, George French, sat onstage with Dr. Margaret Roth, an eminent child psychiatrist, who expressed guarded enthusiasm regarding Ian’s achievements, but remained skeptical as to what exactly they will predict. “There have been prodigies throughout history,” she said, “and while they are fascinating in teaching us about the variation in the rate of development, they rarely change our fundamental observations about the limits of human abilities.” George French explained that his family intended to fully study Ian’s aptitude and to explore his potential, though he noted that family funds were in short supply as a result of his decision to leave his job as a cameraman for a local news station and devote himself full-time to the boy. “I’m a single parent,” he explained, citing his recent divorce. “My partner in this endeavor, Jane Merton, has been a great help, but it’s hard to do this on our own. Jane?” Merton, a young woman of twenty-five or so, approached the microphone to reiterate French’s appeal. “Ian is not my child, but I think of him that way,” she said. “And as George says, any help would be much appreciated. You’d be giving not just to Ian, but to any extraordinary child who will benefit from a better understanding of genius.” As her remarks concluded, a disturbance broke out in the rear of the hall. “They’re lying,” a woman called out. “They should be ashamed. All they do is take footage of Ian pointing to or touching random blocks and cards, and then George goes back and dubs in his offscreen voice asking for them a few seconds earlier. It’s the same thing with the math. Ian points at four and George goes back in and adds his own voice saying ‘What’s eight divided by two?’ It’s all a trick! Liars! Shame!” The woman would not give her name, but several present identified her as Kate Asper, George French’s ex-wife and Ian’s mother. George French did not respond to the accusations, and left with Merton  shortly after the event.