Learning the Hustle

Imagine being trapped, living in the inner city, surrounded by people from every walk of
life, from the hoodlums living next door, to the Jewish people walking to church on
Saturdays. Imagine experiencing watching dealers hustle contraband on nearly every
street corner; Fights are an every day occurrence on these streets, robberies are a dime-adozen. Think about being born into this life, as well as being shaped by the streets. This is
the story of Derrick Rose growing up in Brooklyn.
Derrick grew up in a housing complex that housed an average of 40 families.
Buildings like these are commonly found in inner city New York, and on any given block
one may find 8 such buildings. This is just one side of a square block; there would be
about 50-70 kids to play with. There would always be games raging, whether they were
racing games, stick ball,(this is an improvised form of baseball with a broomstick, or
any sort of stick available) or, most commonly, boxing, which Derrick was great at.
Fights amongst the boys on the block were very common, most times they would be
broken up; however, a fight was no big deal, one may get a busted lip, or one may
displace anothers teeth; which Derrick had done many times during his tussles. After the
conflicts, the boys returned to being friends and continued playing together. With so
many people living in such close quarters, a sense of community develops amongst the
youth on the block. The problem is leaving the block. When Derrick stepped foot off of
his block, he hardly knew anyone, and no one on the next block was looking out for him.
It was very common to be robbed or targeted on another block. Children were spared no
slack. The very first time Derrick was robbed, it was for his bus pass, and he was in the
second grade! Derrick was late for school, so there was no morning crowd of students

and working citizens as there usually would have been. Instead, there were very few
people, as Derrick was walking off of the bus with his sack-lunch, he heard a voice say
something along the lines of, you got a bus pass? Derrick tried to ignore them and walk
faster, even run, however a second grader isnt as fast as a young adult. He was quickly
grabbed by his backpack and punched in the stomach. It was at this point that the robbers
snatched his bus pass, threw him on the ground and kicked him. This would be the first of
many violent encounters that would occur in the youth of Derrick Rose.
As time went on, the streets hardened Derrick; he quickly caught on to the hustle
and flow of an urban society. Derrick was taught by the men on the streets you never let
anyone rob you, if you do get robbed, youd better come back with bloody knuckles. You
had better fight back. Never give it up! Robbery, as far as urban areas are concerned, is a
great embarrassment, and the young men of Brooklyn are taught never to let anyone just
impose their will on them. Of course young men would still get robbed, and robberies did
happen, and as a young boy, of course Derrick was still robbed by grown men: until one
day.
As Derrick grew into a young man, he tested into Brooklyn Tech High School,
this school issues a test across the state of New York and only the top 2% of 8th graders
are accepted into this high school. Of course, this school had a large amount of nerds
seeing as how the student body consisted of the most intelligent students in New York.
Many times, students from this school were targeted and robbed because of this
reputation. Derrick was walking home from school with friends one day, and a group of
thugs surrounded him, one thug pulled out a gun and demanded that Derrick surrender his
gold chain. Upon hearing this, three out of the five friends that Derrick was with backed

down. Only one friend stood with Derrick, as the thug began to show more aggression
and demand the chain be put into his hand. Derrick rushed him. The two were wrestling
in front of a high school. Immediately, a crowd began to form. As Derrick grabbed the
gun and threw it, his friend stepped in and punched the thug in the face. The thugs
friends backed down upon seeing how much attention this fight generated, this left just
Derrick, and his close friend, fighting a gangster in the middle of a Brooklyn street.
Before long, police appeared on the scene EVERYONE GET ON THE GROUND!
Guns drawn, the police asked what is going on here!? at this point the thug tried to say
that Derrick and his friend were robbing him. Derrick yelled, They tried to rob us! Were
from Brooklyn tech! the police demanded to see Identification, at which point Derrick
grabbed his backpack and showed the policeman his Brooklyn tech identification card. It
didnt take long for the police to look at Derrick and his friend, in contrast to the thug
with tattoos and gold teeth. The police handcuffed the thug and asked Derrick if he would
like to press any charges. Derrick knew not to snitch on anyone; however, when he saw
the thug, the thug was trying to stare him down and intimidate him! Baring his gold teeth,
in a spontaneous combustion of rage Derrick threw his hardest punch at the thugs face,
and busted his mouth. The police then said Whoa, well take it from here! and threw
the thug in the back of the police car. Upon returning to school the next day, all of the
students, especially the upperclassmen gave Derrick and his friend extreme respect. Word
had spread about the fight. Apparently, this particular group of thugs had been harassing
and robbing students from that high school in particular.
Its important for the public to hear stories such as this, because they can teach an
important lesson. Be careful who you choose as friends because just as Derricks friend

stood his ground, the other three friends in the group backed off. Because of that one
friends courage, it could have meant all the difference in preserving the life of Derrick
Rose, who is now a professional, working under the Loma Linda board of
Anesthesiology, with a family, and a tranquil life. Derrick was able to make it out of the
streets; he was able to survive, albeit a miracle, he made it out alive. Now, with more age,
knowledge, wisdom, and life experience; a more calm, and professional Derrick
concludes his interview with, if someone is trying to rob you, just give it up, you can
buy ten more, dont fight them, its not worth it.