Summary of Kiese Laymon's Heavy

Please note: This is a companion version & not the original book. This title has been generated using AI Audio.

Book Preview:

#1

I was twelve years old, and three years younger than Layla, when I was assigned to steal the ID card of a fifteen-year-old black girl named Layla Weathersby. I was supposed to write a report about two politicians named Benjamin Franklin Wade and Thaddeus Stevens, and then imitate Faulkner’s style when writing a short story about Jackson.

#2

One week, the three of us had to make the older boys all the sweet Kool-Aid they could drink with perfectly chipped ice if we wanted to swim. The next-to-last day I spent at Beulah Beauford’s house, the rule was simple: Layla had to go into Daryl’s room with all the big boys for fifteen minutes if she wanted to float in the deep end.

#3

I was not allowed to leave the house without a license, so I borrowed my cousin's blue Jackson State University wallet with the tiger on it. I kept the two dollar bill Grandmama gave me for my birthday in it. Behind a black-and-white picture of Grandmama, in one of the folds, was one of my old licenses.

#4

I was invited to Layla’s house to watch her and her friends swim. I was nervous because I thought her friends might make fun of her.