Born a Crime

indoors. If we left the house, he’d
have to walk across the street from
us. My mom and I used to go to
Joubert Park all the time. It’s the
Central Park of Johannesburg—
beautiful gardens, a zoo, a giant
chessboard with human-sized
pieces that people would play. My
mother tells me that once, when I
was a toddler, my dad tried to go
with us. We were in the park, he
was walking a good bit away from
us, and I ran after him, screaming,
“Daddy! Daddy! Daddy!” People
started looking. He panicked and
ran away. I thought it was a game
and kept chasing him.