The Autobiography of Malcolm X Chapter 8 Summary

Trapped

  • West Indian Archie barges into Sammy's apartment. He wants his money. He thinks that Malcolm has cheated him, and is pretty close to killing him. Things don't look good and Malcolm has no idea what's going on.
  • West Indian Archie thinks that Malcolm owes him $300. The problem, though, is that even if Malcolm gets the $300 for him, the argument won't be over. One of them has to die in order to save face. Nope, things aren't looking very good at all.
  • Malcolm is so confused by the whole debacle that he starts doubting himself. He's not even sure if he really won the correct numbers.
  • Malcolm wants to run, but he has to go about life as if nothing happened, or else the situation will get even worse. He's sniffing cocaine just to stay calm and alert, and he has a gun in the back of his pants. Malcolm's pretty sure that he's going to kill West Indian Archie.
  • Fortunately for Malcolm, West Indian Archie gets to him first. He tells Malcolm that killing him won't solve anything. Instead, Malcolm will just end up in jail. The situation is diffused without anyone dying and West Indian Archie just leaves. But it's not over yet.
  • You might not have noticed, but Malcolm has become an addict. He's so high that he can't even roll his own marijuana cigarettes. That's pretty high. It seems that he smokes anything and everything he can get his hands on. So now he's crazy, high, and he has a gun.
  • The police manage to hear about Malcolm and Archie's feud. Malcolm ditches his gun before the cops come looking for it. He knows that he's super close to getting thrown in jail.
  • But it's Sammy to the rescue. He's such a good friend that he calls Shorty to take Malcolm down to Boston until everything cools down. They may be drug addicts and thieves, but they are best buddies for life.