Chapter 11: The Recruitment Drive
The Central Jail wasn't just a cage; it was a marketplace. Everything was for sale—cigarettes, soap, protection, and loyalty. Most prisoners were just trying to survive until their release date. They counted the days, kept their heads down, and prayed for freedom.
Arjun didn't care about freedom. He cared about infrastructure.
one week had passed since he arrived. He had established his territory in Barrack 6. Now, he was expanding.
He sat on a concrete bench in the recreation yard, the sun beating down on his white shirt. He wore it unbuttoned at the top, sleeves rolled up to show the defined veins on his forearms. He held a crumpled piece of paper in his hand.
Shiva stood behind him, casting a long shadow. He was cracking a walnut in his fist, the sound sharp and dry.
"Ten names," Arjun said, studying the list. "These ten men are scheduled for release in the next three months."
"Why them?" Shiva asked, flicking the shell fragments away. "They are small-time crooks. Pickpockets. Thieves. Drunks."
"Exactly," Arjun looked up, his eyes shielded by the glare. "They are desperate. When they go out, they have nothing. No money, no job, no future. They will be back in here within six months unless someone gives them a purpose."
Arjun folded the paper.
"We aren't going to be stuck inside these walls for four years, Shiva. We are going to build the foundation outside. I want eyes on the city. I want to know where the land prices are rising. I want to know which politician is sleeping with whom. These men will be my eyes."
"And if they say no?" Shiva asked.
Arjun smiled. It wasn't a nice smile.
"Then we convince them that staying inside is safer than saying no to me."
Target Number One: Salim.
Salim was a wire-thin man in his thirties, serving time for burglary. He was leaving in ten days.
He was sitting near the water taps, washing his face, when a shadow fell over him. He looked up to see Shiva's massive frame blocking the sun.
Salim gulped. "I didn't do anything, Shiva Bhai. I swear."
Arjun stepped out from behind Shiva. He looked calm, professional.
"Salim," Arjun said. "I hear you're leaving us soon."
"Yes, Bhai. Ten days. Allah willing, I won't come back."
"What's your plan outside?" Arjun asked, leaning against the wall.
"Plan? I... I don't know. Maybe drive an auto. Maybe labor work."
"Labor work pays two hundred rupees a day," Arjun said. "My work pays ten thousand a month."
Salim's eyes went wide. Ten thousand was a fortune for a man like him.
"What... what work?"
"Information," Arjun said. "You go to the city. You find the construction sites owned by Satya Builders. You find out who the foremen are. You find out where they buy their cement. You report to a number I give you every Friday."
Salim hesitated. "Satya Builders? That's big mafia stuff, Bhai. I just want to live quietly..."
Arjun nodded understandingly. Then he looked at Shiva.
Shiva moved. His hand shot out and grabbed Salim by the back of the neck, slamming his face into the wet concrete wall.
"AGH!" Salim screamed, blood gushing from his nose.
Arjun didn't move. He just watched.
"Quietly is not an option, Salim," Arjun said softly. "You have two choices. You work for me, and you live like a king. Or you say no, and Shiva breaks your kneecap right now. Then you can crawl out of prison in ten days. How will you drive an auto with a broken leg?"
Shiva pressed harder. Salim whimpered, snot and blood mixing on the wall.
"I'll do it! I'll do it, Bhai! Please!"
Shiva released him. Salim slid to the floor, gasping.
Arjun crouched down, patted Salim's shoulder gently.
"Good choice. Welcome to the company."
Target Number Two: Mallesh.
Mallesh was a different animal. He was a heavy-set goon who used to work for a local corporator. He was in for assault and was getting released next week. He was currently in the open-air gym, bench-pressing rusty weights. He had a crew of three guys around him.
When Arjun and Shiva approached, the gym went quiet.
Mallesh racked the weight and sat up. He wiped sweat from his hairy chest and grinned.
"The Pretty Boy and the Bodyguard," Mallesh laughed. "What do you want? Autographs?"
"I want to hire you," Arjun said, standing with his hands in his pockets.
Mallesh laughed louder. His lackeys joined in.
"Hire me? Kid, I worked for Corporator Reddy. I break bones for a living. You can't afford me."
"Corporator Reddy is dead," Arjun stated flatly. "Heart attack last year. You have no boss. You're going out to be a stray dog."
The laughter stopped. Mallesh stood up. He was taller than Arjun but carried more fat.
"Watch your mouth, kid. Or I'll smash those pretty teeth in."
"I need enforcers outside," Arjun continued, ignoring the threat. "You leave next week. You will gather a team. You will wait for my orders. In return, you get twenty percent of the take."
Mallesh spat on the ground near Arjun's shoe.
"Get lost. I don't take orders from children."
Arjun looked at the spit. Then he looked at Mallesh.
"Shiva," Arjun said. "He's tired. Help him rest."
Shiva stepped forward. Mallesh threw a heavy right hook.
Shiva didn't dodge. He took the punch on his jaw. His head snapped back slightly, but he didn't fall. He looked back at Mallesh, whose eyes widened in shock.
Shiva headbutted him.
CRACK.
It sounded like a coconut splitting. Mallesh stumbled back, clutching his forehead.
Before Mallesh could recover, Arjun moved.
This wasn't the slow, calculated movement of the library. This was the explosive speed of the shower block.
Arjun jumped, planting a kick squarely into Mallesh's chest, sending the big man crashing into the weight rack. The rusty iron plates clattered everywhere.
Mallesh's three lackeys rushed in.
Shiva grabbed the first one by the throat and threw him—literally threw him—five feet away into the dirt.
The second lackey swung a metal bar at Arjun.
Arjun ducked under the swing, stepped in close, and drove a dual-palm strike into the man's ribs. The breath left the man in a wheeze as his ribs cracked. Arjun followed up with a brutal elbow to the jaw, dropping him instantly.
The third lackey looked at Shiva, looked at Arjun, and backed away, hands up.
Mallesh groaned, trying to stand up from the pile of weights.
Arjun walked over. He picked up a 5kg iron plate.
He stood over Mallesh.
"You said you don't take orders from children," Arjun said, weighing the plate in his hand. "Do you take orders from iron?"
Mallesh looked up, blood streaming down his face. He saw the plate hovering over his head. He saw Arjun's eyes. They were completely void of mercy.
"Wait... wait..." Mallesh gasped.
"Yes or No?" Arjun asked. "If you say no, I drop this on your knee. You will limp for the rest of your life. No one hires a crippled goon, Mallesh."
Arjun raised the plate higher.
"YES! YES!" Mallesh screamed, covering his face. "I'll do it! I'll work for you!"
Arjun paused. He held the plate for another second, letting the fear sink deep into Mallesh's bones.
Then, he dropped the plate.
It landed inches from Mallesh's head with a heavy thud. Mallesh flinched violently.
Arjun dusted his hands.
"Smart man," Arjun said. "Shiva will give you the details."
He turned around and walked away, stepping over the groaning bodies of the lackeys.
By evening, the message had spread through Central Jail.
The new kid wasn't just surviving; he was recruiting. And his recruitment policy was simple: Join or break.
Arjun sat in Barrack 6, reading a newspaper.
Shiva sat next to him, nursing a slightly swollen jaw.
"We have eight men," Shiva said quietly. "Salim, Mallesh, and six others. They are all leaving this month."
"Good," Arjun said, circling a headline about a new Special Economic Zone (SEZ) being approved near the city outskirts. "Give them the contact of the lawyer I met in the visitation room. He will handle their payments."
"Where are you getting the money, Arjun?" Shiva asked. "Your accounts are frozen."
Arjun smiled. He tapped the newspaper.
"I'm not using my money, Shiva. I'm using the prison's economy. I reorganized the gambling ring for Kaalia last week. I took a 30% cut. We are already generating cash flow."
He looked at the high barred windows.
"We have four years. By the time we walk out of here, Mallesh and the others will have an army waiting for us. We won't be starting from zero. We'll be starting from a hundred."
Arjun leaned back. He felt the soreness in his knuckles, and it felt good.
"Tomorrow," Arjun said. "We target the guards. I want a mobile phone."
Shiva grinned. "Consider it done."
The jail was no longer a cage. It was Arjun's headquarters. And the hostile takeover had just begun.