"So," she mocked me impishly. "You teach me to read. Then I can think quick as I want."
"Quickly," I corrected in a weak voice. "The word is 'quickly,' an adverb."
She looked at me impatiently, as if she saw through this allegedly adult device to show up a younger's ignorance. I felt like the dope!
September 1st
A great deal has happened the past few months. I have tried, a number of times to bring the conversation around to discuss Star's affliction with her. But she is amazingly adroit at heading me off, as though she already knows what I am trying to say and isn't concerned. Perhaps, in spite of her brilliance, she's too young to realize the hostility of the world toward intelligence.
Some of the visiting neighbors have been amused to see her sit on the floor with an encyclopedia as big as she is, rapidly turning the pages. Only Star and I know she is reading the pages as rapidly as she can turn them. I've brushed away the neighbors' comments with: "She likes to look at the pictures."
They talk to her in baby talk—and she answers in baby talk! How does she know enough to do that?
I have spent the months making an exhaustive record of her I.Q. measurements, aptitude speeds, reaction, tables, all the recommended paraphernalia for measuring something we know nothing about.
The tables are screwy, or Star is beyond all measurement.