Born a Crime

they could take Andrew’s and Bolo’s
merchandise, say “I’ll pay you
later,” and then not pay, because
Andrew and Bolo were too scared of
black people to go back to ask for
the money. I leaned in to their
conversation and said, “Listen, you
shouldn’t get upset. Black people
don’t have any money, so trying to
get more stuff for less money is just
what we do. But let me help. I’ll be
your middleman. You give me the
merchandise and I’ll sell it, and
then I’ll handle getting the money.
In return, you give me a cut of the
sale.” They liked the idea right
away, and we became partners.