Flying Lessons & Other Stories

Content Warning: The source material features depictions of racism and racial profiling.

Told from the second-person point of view, this story begins with the unnamed narrator, a Mexican American teenager, expressing his love for basketball. For the past three years, he has spent all his free time on the outdoor courts near his house. When he overhears others talking about the best pickup basketball in the city at Muni Gym, he decides that he needs to go there. After looking up the gym’s location and seeing that it’s a walkable distance from the factory where his father works, the narrator implores his father to take him along to the factory in the mornings so he can make his way to the gym from there. At first, his father does not say a word, but then he tells his son to be ready by 5am or the car will leave without him.

On the morning rides, the two rarely speak, and only the radio fills the silence, indicating that there is tension between father and son. Once they arrive at the factory and his father goes to work, the narrator finds a way to sleep in the small Volkswagen until his alarm goes off, and then he begins the journey to Muni Gym.

One morning, he is woken up by a policeman knocking on the car window. Despite being scared because his skin is brown and the policeman has his hand on a gun, the narrator explains the situation. Then, the cop removes his hand from the gun, holds the boy by the elbow, and directs him into the factory where his father is called over the loudspeaker. Upon seeing his son with law enforcement, the older man is upset. He has his own history with the police, which the narrator does not know about. The father politely thanks the cop for his understanding and service. Once alone, he reassures his son that he did nothing wrong. This exchange allows the narrator to feel a connection to his father for the first time.

Every other morning, the narrator sets his alarm to trek over an hour to the Muni Gym to play basketball, walking through neighborhoods, playgrounds, and even the San Diego Zoo parking lot. When he arrives at the gym, he and the other men wait for the manager to arrive and open things up. The men talk with the narrator but tease him, calling him “Mexico” and making derogatory and stereotypical jokes about him working in fields or playing soccer instead. They even tell him to return in a few years when he’s bigger and stronger. When he is teased one day about being skinny and weak by a guy nicknamed Mr. Unleaded, the narrator mocks him right back about the man’s Superman tattoo. The group, including Mr. Unleaded, laughs and fist bumps him, making him realize that this teasing is a way of including him.

Despite this verbal acceptance, the narrator is relegated to the bleachers for two weeks straight. He is crestfallen, for all he wants to do is play and improve his game. He pleads to get into each contest with no luck. Despite this, he wakes up early every morning and makes the long journey. Day after day he is not selected to play. After concluding that they dislike him either because he’s Mexican or because of his age, he decides to quit going because he’s losing valuable time to improve. He shares this decision with his father, hoping for advice, but his father only laughs at him.

Despite this decision, the narrator rises the next morning, his body automatically going through the routine. Not long after, there is a turning point when he is confronted by Dante, the best player in the gym. Out of the blue, Dante challenges the boy and asks why he even bothers still coming. The six-foot-four man demands that he leave. The narrator, shocked, gathers his stuff and starts to go, but stops and says that he does want to play. A few other men try to escort the boy out of the gym so he doesn’t get hurt, but Dante yells that this is between the two of them. Dante gives up his spot in the game for the boy to play, but predicts that the kid will “get smoked” and demands that, once this happens, he should leave and never return (16). Dante voices the expectations of the men in the gym, who all believe that the kid is not good enough to play with them.

Once on the court, the narrator starts slowly but then begins to take over, making shot after shot with the men shouting their approval. The boy is not outmatched, and does not just hold his own, but shines as a talented player. Despite this, Dante yells at him at the game’s conclusion. However, instead of thrusting him out the gym doors, he pushes him toward the bleachers.

Another man immediately asks the narrator to join the next game. While two men argue next to the boy, Dante follows a stray ball to the sideline near the narrator and whispers advice that if he wants to be included, he should challenge the toughest, best player on the court. The boy realizes that the confrontation earlier was not meant to insult him, but rather, to teach him a valuable lesson. As a result of this exchange, the narrator expects Dante to mentor him, but the older man does not speak to the boy again, which reminds him of his father.

For the rest of the summer, the narrator plays in the pickup games. This experience sharpens his skills so much that he earns the starting point guard position on the varsity team as a freshman. A few months into the high school season, Dante comes to watch, eating popcorn but not acknowledging the narrator, even when the boy waves at him. The boy’s father also attends every game but rarely speaks to him about his performance. Upon reflection, the narrator thinks, “Maybe words aren’t what’s important” (20), suggesting that he sees his father’s silence as support rather than disinterest.

In the first English class of ninth grade, everyone must write about their summer. The narrator is secretly thrilled to write about his time at the Muni Gym. The words flow easily when he writes of how the men accepted him and argued over who had to defend him. In his writing, he realizes that the time on the sidelines was more important than his minutes on the court.

He recounts one specific moment when a guy named Slim offers to buy him a hot dog and a Coke. The narrator is grateful but declines because he knows the man lost his job. He does not want Slim to spend what money he has on him. When the boy shares this with his dad, he expects to be praised, but his father expresses disappointment. He tells his son that when a person with very little offers something, the right thing to do is always accept it.

In this moment he realizes that his father, who rarely speaks to him, has offered him advice. The narrator ends his summer writing with the note that he will always follow this advice and trust his father.