Dead Cat

Enduring bassets, chickens, and children in his house, Tigger was a tolerant cat. To amuse us girls, Daddy would catch the cat and drape him across his neck. After some teaching, Tigger would lie limp there, playing dead. In this game, Daddy was an African villager returning to his people with the day’s catch: a dead tiger. As we rejoiced at the kill, Tigger must have, for a moment, feared that we weren’t playing anymore, that he would become dinner. At those moments, he would dig his nails into Daddy’s shoulders, and leap away to safety. No dinner for us.