“The train to Poissy will leave track 12”announces the voice of the SNCF, Saint-Lazare station, in Paris. Magali Bardak returns from her day at work. Since December 2023, he has lived in a residence called Commune Coliving, an address opened by a new company. Here we only rent to single parents, who are asked to earn double the rent. Before landing at this accommodation, he suffered a dizzying fall, which he tells us over the course of an evening.
Magali’s story is sadly banal. It begins with the happy snapshot of the family: a couple, two children, Gabriel, 17 years old, Léa, 13 years old (their names have been changed), a house in the suburbs, very decent salaries, a lively social life. . One day in June 2022, the father leaves for another. The mother declines psychologically, economically and socially. In the commuter train car, he tells his story in a low voice. The couple puts the house up for sale. “For me it is not possible to return to an apartment, I cannot be a loser everywhere, she said. I want to rearrange all my furniture so that everyone has their own room. I tell myself that this will help me, that we are doing “better.” » After two months of searching, he found a 120-square-meter house to rent. Her cousin agrees to appear as a roommate in the rental contract, to pass the file: Magali is office manager and earns 2,400 euros per month; the house costs 1,500.
“Drowned”, This is the adjective she chooses. Very quickly he understands that this house is not the salvation he expected. Fear colonizes their daily lives, especially that of losing their job. He no longer eats, he no longer sleeps. When her doctor offers to prescribe her antidepressants, she refuses. “If I take it, I’m going to swallow it. » She received this treatment at the age of 18, just before she met the man with whom she started her family. “We swear not to put this to our children.”he whispers bitterly.
The train enters the Poissy station. She invites us to the small apartment he occupies with them. Around a glass of water, in a windowless dining room, which serves as an entrance, kitchenette and individual living room, we meet Léa and Gabriel. From her room, with the door open, the young woman discreetly listens to this story that she already knows by heart. “You’ll be better off without dad.”they told him at the time of separation.
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