Chapter 6 - Summary, The Autobiography Of Malcolm X | The Autobiography of Malcolm X -Summary, Themes & Characters - Novels PDF Download

Detroit Red

• Malcolm starts to gamble. Everyday people come into the bar attempting to win big, and sometimes they actually succeed.
• Malcolm is interested in everything about his new job, though, not just the gambling. Every day he learns something from the old people who frequent the bar. They even give him the gift of a new, conservative suit.
• Eventually, Malcolm learns about the gang members that come to the bar and how they run their business. He even learns how to identify plainclothes investigators, and how to keep his mouth shut so he won't get in trouble.
• Most importantly, he knows which people he should never upset. These people are called the Four Horsemen, and are hired hands that persuade people… with things like lead pipes and brass knuckles. Yeah, you probably don't want to make them angry.
• Then Malcolm gives us a list of all the pimps and thieves that he knows, along with a short biography on each one. They certainly were a bunch of characters. There is Cadillac, a pimp who employs only ugly women; Fewclothes, a pickpocket with arthritis; and Jumpsteady, a cat burglar who uses drugs to keep himself on his toes.
• After all of this description, Malcolm reminds us that the bar wasn't full of criminals. It's just that those were the people he found interesting as a kid.
• After Malcolm loses his railroad job, he needs an apartment. He ends up moving into one full of prostitutes and criminals. Obviously this is great real estate. Anyway, he learns a lot from the prostitutes who live in his building. They tell him all about their clients, teaching Malcolm about what women want and how they let men think they're getting what they want instead. According to the prostitutes in Malcolm's building, women want to be dominated and men want to be domineering.
• Naturally, this brings us back to the subject of interracial sex. Apparently, black guys at this time were obsessed with white women and vice versa. But Malcolm also shares an interesting story with us. There's this guy who hangs around the bar and he is obsessed with black people. He slicks his hair to imitate a conk, tries to talk their lingo, and even wears a zoot suit. But despite all of his so-called love for black people, he gets mad when he sees Malcolm with Sophia.
• Sometime later Sophia gets married, but Malcolm isn't surprised. He knows that their relationship wasn't the kind that ends in marriage.
• By this time, he's been around Harlem long enough that he's met several people called Red. So it's finally time for him to get his own nickname, Detroit Red.
• One day a black serviceman comes to the bar and Malcolm asks if he wants to find a prostitute. We don't know about you, but we were screaming in our heads when this happened. It doesn't go well. The next thing he knows, there is an investigation and Malcolm is taken down to the police station. After everything is resolved, he's fired, and even banned from going back to the bar. It's a pretty major bummer.
• Now Malcolm needs to get a new job. Sammy the Pimp has the perfect one for him: selling reefer, also known as marijuana. All of Malcolm's friends are pretty happy with his new job since it means that they get easy access to cheap marijuana. For the first time in his life, Malcolm has money.
• Now Malcolm has enough money to go see movies, and he watches five a day in the theaters. Another day he just decides to go to Boston and give his family some money. He even checks in on his old friend Shorty who finally has that band that he wanted.
• Back at home in Harlem the police have discovered that Malcolm is selling marijuana. He starts doing discreet drops instead of selling directly so that he won't be caught in possession of marijuana. But this isn't enough precaution, and one day Malcolm comes home to find his whole room has been sacked.
• From this night forward, Malcolm becomes very careful about how he sells marijuana. The only problem with this is that his high-end clientele doesn’t want all of this sketchy behavior. So now he has to sell people who are really hopelessly addicted. Eventually, Malcolm gets so poor that he has to borrow money from Sammy.
• But then Sammy has an idea. Why doesn't Malcolm just sell marijuana on the trains? No one will look for him there. Sammy is right and Malcolm becomes the first traveling marijuana salesman.
• He finally heads back to New York after the heat dies down, and his brother Reginald is waiting for him there. Reginald's all grown up now. After their brotherly reunion, Reginald returns to his job on a merchant ship.
• Not long after this, the draft board finds Malcolm. But Malcolm has a plan. He dresses up in his suit and starts talking about joining the Japanese army. After a while, he's sent to the Army psychiatrist, where Malcolm puts on a real act, pretending that he wants to join the Army so he can steal guns and kill white people. If you're thinking he probably didn't end up getting drafted, you're correct.