around. It was best to stay home the days he was on duty, because he was as cunning as the Devil and knew the estate well.
Smaller houses were built in one area on The Other Side of the River. There were the Dread and Bastion pitches, where the football teams held matches and tournaments. On the same side, to the right, was New World, an old area of plots where there was a bakery that gave the kids bread on a sale-or-return basis to sell door to door in the estate. It was the breadsellers who woke the neighbourhood, shouting: âBread for sale, bread for sale!â Breadman Lolo and Paulo Cachaça, the only adult breadsellers, spent the mornings crying their wares:
âFrom Copacabana I trudge, to sell bread in the city of sludge.â
They both sold bread until eleven, then spent the rest of the day drunk.
The milkmen also rose before dawn, clanging away, shouting that they had fresh milk for sale. The ice-lolly sellers only appeared when the morning was at its peak. The housewives watered plants; water was abundant. There was none of that tin-of-water-over-the-head business. They planted vegetable patches and gardens, and washed the kids and dogs down with hoses.
Few gangsters circulated during the day; they preferred nights for playing cards, smoking joints, playing pool, singing sambas tothe rattling of a box of matches, or even chatting with friends. Only Squirt, Hellraiser, Pelé and Shorty were seen during the day. Holding up gas trucks, smoking dope on street corners, flying kites with the kids, playing footy with the cool guys. Other thieves preferred to operate in the South Zone, where the rich were. They robbed tourists, shops, and wealthy-looking pedestrians.
Up Top, old Teresa had set up a den to cater for the few dope smokers in the estate. Madalena already sold dope Out Front, but it was hard, as she didnât have a good supplier. As a result she couldnât stock enough weed to keep up with demand, even though it was small. On Middle Street, Bahian Paulo opened a bar: the Bonfim, open every night of the week. The gangsters played cards, smoked dope, drank Cinzano-and-cachaça and snorted the odd line of coke. They ate fried fish, chicken gizzards, crackling, sausages, hard-boiled eggs and bean soup prepared by Bahian Pauloâs wife. Couples swayed to the sound of the phonograph, and every so often trotted out some dance steps on the pavement.
Out Front, Batmanâs Bar was the hangout of the estateâs first dope smokers. This was where they met to chip in to buy weed to smoke in The Plots near the estate, in the bush, or even in the street when possible. Orange, Acerola, Jackfruit, Mango and Green Eyesâ favourite place for smoking was The Plots. They enjoyed walking up and down the tree-covered slopes, hanging out in the bush telling each other funny stories, picking fruit from the trees. The Plots were not watched by the police, the houses were few and far between, and there were dozens of hiding places where they could have a smoke.
A new community sprang up as a result of fights, football games, dances, daily bus rides, religious ceremonies and schools. The groups from the different
favelas
integrated within a newsocial network thrown together by circumstance. At first, a few groups tried to remain insular, but the tide of events soon led day-to-day life down new paths: the football teams, the estateâs samba school, the carnival groups were born ⦠Everything worked to integrate the inhabitants of City of God, paving the way for friendships, disputes and romances between these people brought together by fate. Teenagers took advantage of the notoriety of the
favelas
they had lived in to intimidate one another in fights or when playing games, flying kites and competing for girls. The more dangerous their
favela
, the easier it was to command respect, but soon everyone knew who the suckers, con men, no-goods, workers, gangsters, junkies and cool guys were. Those
Smaller houses were built in one area on The Other Side of the River. There were the Dread and Bastion pitches, where the football teams held matches and tournaments. On the same side, to the right, was New World, an old area of plots where there was a bakery that gave the kids bread on a sale-or-return basis to sell door to door in the estate. It was the breadsellers who woke the neighbourhood, shouting: âBread for sale, bread for sale!â Breadman Lolo and Paulo Cachaça, the only adult breadsellers, spent the mornings crying their wares:
âFrom Copacabana I trudge, to sell bread in the city of sludge.â
They both sold bread until eleven, then spent the rest of the day drunk.
The milkmen also rose before dawn, clanging away, shouting that they had fresh milk for sale. The ice-lolly sellers only appeared when the morning was at its peak. The housewives watered plants; water was abundant. There was none of that tin-of-water-over-the-head business. They planted vegetable patches and gardens, and washed the kids and dogs down with hoses.
Few gangsters circulated during the day; they preferred nights for playing cards, smoking joints, playing pool, singing sambas tothe rattling of a box of matches, or even chatting with friends. Only Squirt, Hellraiser, Pelé and Shorty were seen during the day. Holding up gas trucks, smoking dope on street corners, flying kites with the kids, playing footy with the cool guys. Other thieves preferred to operate in the South Zone, where the rich were. They robbed tourists, shops, and wealthy-looking pedestrians.
Up Top, old Teresa had set up a den to cater for the few dope smokers in the estate. Madalena already sold dope Out Front, but it was hard, as she didnât have a good supplier. As a result she couldnât stock enough weed to keep up with demand, even though it was small. On Middle Street, Bahian Paulo opened a bar: the Bonfim, open every night of the week. The gangsters played cards, smoked dope, drank Cinzano-and-cachaça and snorted the odd line of coke. They ate fried fish, chicken gizzards, crackling, sausages, hard-boiled eggs and bean soup prepared by Bahian Pauloâs wife. Couples swayed to the sound of the phonograph, and every so often trotted out some dance steps on the pavement.
Out Front, Batmanâs Bar was the hangout of the estateâs first dope smokers. This was where they met to chip in to buy weed to smoke in The Plots near the estate, in the bush, or even in the street when possible. Orange, Acerola, Jackfruit, Mango and Green Eyesâ favourite place for smoking was The Plots. They enjoyed walking up and down the tree-covered slopes, hanging out in the bush telling each other funny stories, picking fruit from the trees. The Plots were not watched by the police, the houses were few and far between, and there were dozens of hiding places where they could have a smoke.
A new community sprang up as a result of fights, football games, dances, daily bus rides, religious ceremonies and schools. The groups from the different
favelas
integrated within a newsocial network thrown together by circumstance. At first, a few groups tried to remain insular, but the tide of events soon led day-to-day life down new paths: the football teams, the estateâs samba school, the carnival groups were born ⦠Everything worked to integrate the inhabitants of City of God, paving the way for friendships, disputes and romances between these people brought together by fate. Teenagers took advantage of the notoriety of the
favelas
they had lived in to intimidate one another in fights or when playing games, flying kites and competing for girls. The more dangerous their
favela
, the easier it was to command respect, but soon everyone knew who the suckers, con men, no-goods, workers, gangsters, junkies and cool guys were. Those
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