noticed the slight curl at the end of Sam 11S
But have you
mouth, when he looks at you? It means that he didn't want you
to name him Sam II, for one thing, and for two other things it
means that he has a sawed-offin his left pant leg, and a baling
hook in his right pant leg, and is ready to kill you with either
one of them, given the opportunity. The father is taken aback.
What he usually says, in such a confrontation, is "I changed
your diapers for you, little snot. " This is not the right thing to
say. First, it is not true (mothers change nine diapers out of
ten), and second, it instantly reminds Sam II of what he is mad
about. He is mad about being small when you were big, but no,
thatS not it, he is mad about being helpless when you were
powerful, but no, not that either, he is mad about being contin-
ent when you were necessary, not quite it, he is insane because
when he loved you, you didn 't notice.
DONALD BARTHELME,
THE DEAD FATHER
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