Chapter 18: Recruit
Mr. Liton was passing through the street cautiously. Muddy street, half-torn buildings, faces of fallen women, and the foul scent of feces made the environment awful. Yet, some cunts believed it to be a men's paradise, a pleasure district. How foolish!
Not wanting to stay here more than necessary, Liton walked at a fast pace. He went inside a den whose location he bought from an agent.
A suffocating feeling consumed him as he went inside. Darkened by smoke, the room looked like a ghost house, with dirt forming a deep layer on its interior.
Beside a wooden table filled with old alcohol bottles, cigar packets, and a dead rat, five men were sitting on a bench.
A hopeless look with the foul scent of drugs filled their faces. Clothes—unwashed for centuries, hair—as long as a woman's.
Eyes had seen enough, hearts had endured enough, hands couldn't earn enough, brains couldn't find solutions enough—it was exactly their situation.
The entrance of Liton went unnoticed by them. Their minds were in a wonderland where the suffering of war, the reality of the dreadful situation, didn't exist. It's a land far beyond human comprehension.
"Hey, wake up."
"Keep your hands off me, you filthy whore. Go away whoring around your body to those bastards."
A man outburst suddenly, but seeing Liton standing beside him, his face showed confusion.
"Who are you?"
"Well, I heard you guys used to work in a factory, quite skilled workers too. But... you guys don't look like that and..."
Coming back to his senses, that guy replied, "Sorry for the outburst. I thought you were my w\... I mean some whore. You know how those bitches act."
He tried to laugh but miserably failed to do so.
"Well, there's a textile in Gazipur... we'll provide you meals," Mr. Liton offered them a job with no wage. Well, even food was a costly thing.
Initially thinking about turning it down, he shook his head. The reality was grim and opportunities rare.
"Very well, but you should know we've got family members," the man was making his final amends. If a man couldn't provide for his family, life wasn't worth living.
"It's not a problem. But I hope they contribute too," Mr. Liton indicated that everybody had to earn their own bread.
"I'll tell others. They'll agree unless they want to die."
"Care to fetch me some skilled technicians?"—he handed over a list of vacant posts. Jobs should be done by specialists; leaders don't need to concern themselves with everything.
Liton went back to the truck where he found Mashrafi, Rakib, and an unknown girl.
"Looks like you were picking up chicks. Can't blame you, your age is like that."
Rakib didn't know what to say, just sighed it off.
"We didn't need to walk around. You alone were just fine. I even got myself in trouble," Mashrafi was the one to open his mouth.
"Well, we have the bad habit of chasing down trouble. Don't worry about small things."
From the truck, Jakaria got down and said—
"You guys were just enjoying with women, leaving me alone."
Nobody bothered to reply.
"Workers will come in the afternoon, make sure to place them properly. We have to return with a crowd."
"No worry, we'll enjoy the damn weather on the roof," Jakaria said nonchalantly.
"If you enjoy the weather, who will drive the truck, you idiot?"
At dawn, when several armed vehicles carrying high and mighty officers were entering the streets, a group of haggards was approaching the place.
Men were deeply tormented, addicted to drugs to escape reality, whereas the women didn't look any different from them in the streets. Children were brutally beaten, faces filled with dried tears—the bones of their bodies weren't covered by flesh.
Looking at the crowd, Rakib, Liton, and Mashrafi all were expressionless. The grim reality of war shaped their minds; long since, they had forgotten the beauty of the world. But even after the war, the never-changing situation made them feel frustrated in the corner of their hearts.
The crowd carved out its place on its own. Be it inside a dark truck filled with machines or the rooftop's abundance of air and risk, all spaces were filled.
The truck got kick-started on its own. Whether someone fell off or went missing, none of it cared.
The journey came to an end, but the greater journey—the journey filled with hope, hope for a better future—had only just begun.
The sun set in the west, but the dazzling eyes filled with determination lit the path ahead.
The clock was ticking just at 12 on the white wall.
Fayez took a glance at the clock's direction then again began strategizing for the next move.
His king was in a bad position as the only thing protecting it was a single rook. The pawn in front didn't secure its king but blocked its path for escape.
Not finding any defensive move, Fayez moved his knight which actually put captain in a bad position.
"Even in this dire situation, you're still assertive"
"those who have the power have to play defensive, those who don't gamble everything you have, else you wont get a shit"
The captain chuckled at his response. "You young dare to take the gamble, we don't"
Instead of going for a check, captain moved his queen right next to Fayez's knight. If he goes for the kill, captain would take his revenge, if he didn't move captain would happily accept it as a gift.
But Fayez wasn't a man who chose between two options, he liked to expand his options. If plans fail, there are 5 other plans to follow.
"It's always better to keep your knight fighting with minimal security rather than making them a liability"
He moved his pawn forward safeguarding the knight. Could Captain afford to let his queen stay on a dangerous position, so he moved his bishop instead. He's a cautious man with rational mindset.
"Those guys should have come by now with cotton. Did something happen perhaps?"
"Things don't go as you expect "Fayez said with a low voice remembering the failure in his previous life.
failure to get a job, failure to start things over, most importantly failure to make parents happy. Instead of protesting, he should have worked harder to crawl the slipry ladder of social hierarchy.
"sometimes I wonder who is the adult one among us"
The game war coming to an end as captain used all his pieces for defense forgeting the fact that defence can sometimes become vulnerable. Own pieces became the greatest obstacle to save ourselves.
Fayez first moved his rook at the last column which captain didn't think much of . At the last move, fayez just moved his bishop checking the king. But the king had only backside for retreat . But at the back , there's rook waiting to backstab.
The game come to an with captain loosing despite having more pieces. Mistaking a weak defense formation as a solid one was his biggest mistake. .
The final movement of the rook was the gamechanger. Its stayed at its position until the very end only to visit the other side to give its king a decisive victory.
"so i lose, huh" captain tried to say with a smiling face but the hint of disappointment didn't vanish. No wounded pride, no envy, no skepticism. Only disappointment about his own lack of foresight.
Fayez didn't press the matter further just shook his hands.
______
At the dawn when the sun gave red rays alarming people the day had come to an end. So the mission Mr. Monish and reza was assigned to come to an end. They arrived at the textile truck filled with cottons.
In front of the textile, fayez and sadat was waiting. So was mousumi, sumi and other woman with the hope of employment. It's not just employment but the hope of better future. The future they longed for. With vast population of bengal, job was as scare as virtuous beautiful woman. Sometimes, jobs became dearer than lover. Even in 21st , the situation didn't change though changed the once conservative lady bengal.
mr. monish came out with stoic expression while mr. wore nervousness expression.
"congrats, mr.monish, mr.reza finishing your mission so quickly despite its difficulty"
reza couldn't help but brush off the complement-
"we nearly got robbed....."
After hearing their response fayez fell into deep thought, he cant afford to say anything rude otherwise he's finished. Simply giving a careless reply would make them laid off in future.
"dont worry about money. I'm sure in no time you'll be able to cover up the losses"
Though it may sound careless, it implicated that its their responsibility to bear the losses.
They didn't want to argue about that. mr. monish didn't even care since his job was just to drive the damn truck.
"cotton has come!" sumi rushed to the truck and was trying to snatch away some cotton for herself. Having a small kid makes things easier. The heaviness of earlier conversation melted away in warm air.
"hey sumi stop. you'll hurt yourself" there's our babysitter girl mousumi shouting like a mom.
Even stoic person like monish smiled at this innocent scene.