Autobiography of Malcolm X

America's Casbah. Small's had been a part of all that. There, I heard the old-timers reminisce
about all those great times.
Every day I listened raptly to customers who felt like talking, and it all added to my education. My
ears soaked it up like sponges when one of them, in a rare burst of confidence, or a little beyond
his usual number of drinks, would tell me inside things about the particular form of hustling that he
pursued as a wayof life. I was thus schooled well, by experts in such hustles as the numbers,
pimping, con games of many kinds, peddling dope, and thievery of all sorts, including armed
robbery.