Chapter 2 Summary and Analysis

Henry quickly learns the art of the hustle. By the age of thirteen, he is asking the cab drivers to buy him beer that he then resells to the kids at school for a tidy profit. He also fences stolen goods for the neighborhood juvenile delinquents. The wiseguys admire his initiative and make use of his innocent youthful looks to further their own scams. Johnny Mazzolla takes Henry out to cash counterfeit twenty-dollar bills. Johnny drives him around to various neighborhoods where Henry buys small items like doughnuts or razor blades with the fake money, receiving real dollars as change. Henry knows how to soften up the fake bills by soaking them in cold coffee and cigarette ash, and on the rare occasions he is caught, he cries and pleads ignorance, telling the store clerk he is just a kid and...