Finally, Sudhir is given the opportunity to partially run the gang for a day. He is not given full control for a day because J.T. is afraid of what he would do and he doesn't want his elders reprimanding him for letting Sudhir run the gang. However, just because his powers are heavily restricted, it doesn't mean he won't have some decisions to make. They start the day early and make the normal runs to all of the corners where the soldiers are dealing. For the first couple hours, Sudhir has no issues. His first decision of the day, however, is a tough one. They drive up to one of the corners where there had been some issues lately. Otis is a soldier, a college basketball star at SIU that dropped out because of his lust for dealing, and Billy. Billy is the leader of the corner. Otis says that Billy hasn't paid him in a week and Billy says that Otis was a hundred dollars short for his one hundred pack of the crack he sold. Sudhir analyzes the situation and comes to the conclusion that Otis is not lying because he kept the money that Billy owed to him from now paying him for a week. Billy never denied not paying him so Billy is the one that must receive a consequence. Sudhir is much too weak and scared to carry out a punishment so J.T. tells everyone to go to the car while he knocks out Billy. Nothing else that exciting happens but Sudhir has a newfound respect for J.T. and all gang leaders.
In the next chapter, Sudhir focuses his research on the underground economy of the projects. He interviews anyone and everyone. Anyone who makes any money "hustling" in the projects. Hustling doesn't just mean selling srugs and prostitution. It can mean selling food, apartment space, clothes, any services really . Everyone gets their cut and everyone owes a percentage to J.T. and/or Mrs. Bailey, the tenant leader who is also very corruptible. After Sudhir collects all his research, J.T. and Mrs. Bailey innocently ask for the numbers behind it. Without thinking Sudhir tells them everything and the next day when he arrives at the projects, everyone is giving him a dirty look and he can't figure out why. Then finally someone tells him that J.T. and Mrs. Bailey started taxing everyone much heavier because they figured out, through Sudhir's research, that they were lying. Everyone will eventually forgive him but living and surviving in the projects is an organized business.
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