Chapter 5: The Railway Station
One morning, Devika took Arjun to a busy railway station. She had dressed him in a colourful saree, applied makeup, and instructed him to approach passengers for money.
“Smile. Don’t question me. Bring back what you collect.”
Arjun felt the stares of strangers as he stood beside the crowded platform. Some passengers offered money. Others ignored him. A few made cruel remarks. He wanted to disappear.
Devika watched from a distance, checking her phone and calculating how much he had collected.
“This is how you will pay for your accommodation,” she told him afterward. “You owe me for everything.”
That evening, Arjun realised the true purpose of her generosity. She had turned shelter into a debt that could never be repaid.
He began saving small amounts of money whenever he could, hiding it where she would not look. His fear remained, but now it had an opposite force growing inside it: the determination to escape.
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