A deal between two worlds
link of the article in french here : https://www.mammouth.media/un-deal-entre-deux-mondes/
Is dealing synonymous with danger? Does dealing force you to be an outsider to society? To become an enemy of the police? Neo disagrees. For him, being a dealer is only being a street performer.
Neo arrived in Belgium when he was 8 years old. A smuggler abandoned him at Zaventem when he was supposed to go to London to find his father, who died shortly afterwards. The company he kept gradually led him to Matongé. At first, he was just observing what was going on, but eventually he got into the drug scene. However, he decided not to give up his studies and always kept one foot in 'big society'.
Neo differentiates between two societies: the big one, that of the outside world, and the small one, Matongé and more specifically, the gallery.
A child cries, a homeless man calls for help, a woman runs to catch her bus, everything goes too fast. Alone with his pockets full, he does not feel at ease in the big society. Better to get around on a scooter or on foot than on public transport where dogs can come and sniff him out.After working all night for the public services, Neo flips on his hat and goes to his second workplace. There he considers himself a street worker. He doesn't differentiate between the two jobs, except that in one of them he sells drugs.
In the gallery, it's a real family life: there can be violent acts, fights, but it always remains within a family framework. "A small discussion can become an earthquake, but in the end, we all eat from the same plates.
In the small society, there are small businesses: mothers who weave and sell clothes, others who offer drugs and finally, those who steal from the big society and then sell in the gallery. For any business here, it only takes one customer to change everything; 10 euros can influence the atmosphere of this place.
In the gallery, the notion of sharing is constant: unlike in the big society, where people will only think of themselves and their profit, in this small "village", the main value of the community is mutual help and generosity. At lunchtime, Neo offers half of his sandwich to a homeless Congolese boy. You can see the desperation in his eyes, he refuses the food. Neo looks at him with his big black eyes and cracks the drug with his teeth. He offers him a piece.
Here, the money he earns is either spent on food or sent to his family in Congo. He and his colleagues are not here to make a profit or to try to bamboozle big society. If they were, the police would be much quicker to try and stop it.
"We are not accepted by society, but without us there would be nothing. From the homeless to lawyers, we are the only ones who help all social classes. The system doesn't stop us, because it needs us to establish calm and relaxation. ”
The dealers in the gallery are all independent. They do not depend on a superior. They come to the gallery every day with the number of grams they want to sell. A customer arrives and immediately a mass of vultures forms around him. Everyone wants to sell their own weed. However, there is a fairly healthy rotation between them. Each one does his own business, but together they respect and protect each other.
When there is a raid, the sisters, the mothers and the whole community help them not to be caught: everything happens quickly and even before the policemen arrive on the spot, the bags of cannabis are already thrown on the ground and the dealers leave for secret places still inhabited by drug addicts.
With the police it is a cat and mouse game: if the police catch them with consumption in their pocket, the dealer has lost and has to accept the rules. If they arrest them, but there is no physical evidence, they let them go.
This is the game. The game is repeated many times, each member begins to understand the system: "On the one hand, they know we are selling and we know it's the police, but by spending time together, it creates bonds. Sometimes we even become friends."
A police car passes in the street. Neo doesn't try to hide, on the contrary, he approaches the car and starts chatting with the driver. It is Fabrice, a white policeman who has learned Lingala. For him, Neo and some of the other dealers are like his sons. After a friendly handshake, he will not check them today and continues on his way.
Neo is aware that what he is doing is not legal, but he needs it to support his family, because the debts are piling up and a small job in the big company is not enough.
Neo doesn't want to leave this neighbourhood full of stories and secrets. Whenever he is not well, he knows that passing through his street will make him think and make good decisions. The occupants are there for each other, no matter what happens. "We smoke a little, eat a little and calm down. It keeps us from doing anything stupid."