General's life in street gangs began in elementary school, while he was enjoying himself in personifying his elders. Then, from high school, he identifies with the oldest fighting with the enemies of his clan. As he gets older, General is introduced to crime through his gang. The war takes on a new meaning. He no longer defends a family but a loot. As money enters, enemies multiply.
General spends his adolescence to devote a hatred to his enemies, the Blues. Little by little, he is enlisted by the oldest who initiate him to crime: theft, receiving, selling drugs, beating, burning shops.

Rage in a street gang
gang-de-rue-montreal-north-gang-rue-pascal His rage is turning away from his rivals. He begins to become aware of his taste for money. He likes independence that he buys himself and the respectful look that accompanies him. At 17, he does not listen to his parents anymore and moves away from home. He is an adult who earns a good living. He covers his girlfriends with presents, offers a car of the year, jewels, clothes. He has class. His friends, with whom he rides, live in the same way. When he looks at them, he sees his success. A tough man with a well-stocked wallet who has everything he wants.
"I noticed that danger and money attract the world. Especially women! Every night we had a party. We were preparing our crimes by chilling. "General's clan has some 70 members. The young thug is spoiled for choice if he wants to have fun. And he has the money to feast as he sees fit. "I could call a friend who was already with 5 guys. I called another, and it was the same. Finally, we ended up at 30! We went out and we never queued. You could say anything, make a racket, be hateful, take the whole place in the bar, nobody dared to tell us to go out. In Montreal North, no bar could refuse us. "General and his gang acted like tyrants even on their territory. Nothing to do with the war against the Blues where they posed as defenders of their neighborhood. The war changed face.
Bloods and money
rapper-general-rap-montreal-nord-hip-hopThe red family sits against the enemy but acts according to the interests of each. There are no structures, no organization. Young people gather according to their friendships and affinities. "There are some who just want to carry a gun. They enter the gang with their hatred. They are there for the violence. They just want to commit crimes. Others want a membership. I was money. I was more of a hustler than a happy trigger. My crew was cash first. "
At the beginning of high school, General got up in the morning to watch some blue at school. At the end of his adolescence, he thinks he is awake when he wakes up. "I get up in the morning and say to myself: I want a car. But if I did not make money for the day, I do not sleep! Not everyone makes money. You have to be wise, you have to want it. The majority of gang members, I would say 60%, are poor. Really poor. They sleep on gas, they just hang out. They do not think about it day and night. They live in the street, go to sleep from one apartment to another, to friends' homes. We are a minority to have an apartment, a condo, a house. Those who hang out in the subway, the small dealers, they are not leaders. They are not serious. "Members' areas of interest diverge as they get older. The unions of yesterday, the cause, are crumbling.
The territory of the Bloods
gang-de-rue-montreal-north-gang-street-pelletier General's gang is looking for a larger territory to control to sell his drugs. A drug he always buys from the oldest of his clan, the first generation of Reds. Of all the groups of his generation, that of General rolls the most. "We made more money than the others. And we were the most crazy. It was rolling. Downtown, West Island, Montreal North. Just with 5 strong guys, you can control a territory. And call for reinforcements as needed. "
When he does not take care of settling any disputes himself, the small group of General has only one call to make to find a member who can make a flight, to intimidate a person or even to lower it. "Anyone in the group can make a decision. But we usually take them together. We keep in touch."

The Bloods in Downtown against bikers

Greedy, General and his friends eyeing the side of St. Denis Street, an important artery in Montreal, to expand their territory. "We knew that the street belonged to the bikers. We went to 20 to get their attention, to show that we were there.
We sold our drugs. Until the neighborhood boss sees us. So, we confronted him. And usually there are not many people to oppose him. "The group uses a cameo to call his provider and wait for his arrival. They tied him up and called his boss in front of the hostage. "If the boss did not want to give up his territory, we would get our message out by beating his pusher."
General has no emotion, when he tells this part of his life. For him, it's business as usual. "We were typing everyone. We did not care, they had patches. We were a gang, too. We tapped two or three of their guys. They said ok, but do not touch St. Laurent Street. You would abuse. They are warriors, bikers, "he says respectfully.
General and his group, in addition to their expansionist aims, must protect what they control. What they did to bikers, on St-Denis, others imitate them to steal what they own.
Violence attracts violence
general-blood-gang-of-street-montreal-north-gangs If one of his young salesmen is beaten by enemies who send him a message, General must react. "I have no choice but to reply. Otherwise, my youth will no longer trust me. And the others neither. We had to solve the problem. In this environment, you know who does not love you, who watches you. It's easy to make someone talk. If we judge that it takes a beating to be understood, we do it. But it can go wrong. Because if we land in a place and people are armed, anything can happen. "
General and his gang are fighting for their business first. They walk on the flowerbeds of the Blues, bikers and mafia. And their affiliation with the Reds also leads them to marry the wars of the other members of the clan. The business of some creates problems for everyone. "Bikers are not afraid of anything. They have gangs that exist just to kill. They are as bastards as we are. They too will shoot in the heap no matter who is there. It's been our biggest wars. In fact, the war with the bikers lasted a year. It was the one of the oldest Bloods. "General speaks respectfully of those enemies with whom he has crossed paths. But the tone changes when he talks about the mafia.
Mafia, police and politicians
"They are fearful! Side fights, they can not answer. They have a lot more than us to lose. We can destroy their businesses. They can just kill us. And it's going to cost them $ 50,000 to hire a killer who will murder only one guy! We do not take anything! During the war with the Italians, in one evening, they burned seven bars! They lose a lot. What saves them is that they are everywhere. They have the police and the politicians in their sleeve. "
But the enemy, when one makes war for money and power, can take on the traits of a friend. Even within the family, friction occurs. General's best friend, very ambitious and productive, was shot in the leg by one of their good comrades after he made him understand that he was not making enough money. "They stayed in the gang but they do not talk to each other anymore. It divided the group. They spoke in the back. But we come from the same clique. The one who shot, made him understand that we did not agree with his act. I did not see him so much after. He took his hole. "
The generation cycle continues. General's friends, with their business, will distance themselves from the war, bad for business. They will let the younger ones do the wrong thing while they make their money grow. The violence continues.