the park so she could run me to
death to burn off the energy. She’d
take a Frisbee and throw it, and I’d
run and catch it and bring it back.
Over and over and over. Sometimes
she’d throw a tennis ball. Black
people’s dogs don’t play fetch; you
don’t throw anything to a black
person’s dog unless it’s food. So it
was only when I started spending
time in parks with white people and
their pets that I realized my mom
was training me like a dog.
Anytime my extra energy
wasn’t burned off, it would find its
way into general naughtiness and
misbehavior. I prided myself on