"What about the documents I told you to prepare for my signature? Oh, you have placed them on my table?" He ruffled the table a bit searching for it. "Oh! I can see them now. You take care of those unruly inmates, I will talk to you later", the Prison Warden said into his phone before cutting the call.
The governor had indicated his willingness to grant some inmates parole for their varied offenses and the onus lied on him to recommend those he considered the best candidates for such act of benevolence. Among all the inmates in his care, two clearly stood out but he must choose only one of them so as not to stir bad feelings towards the prison personnel.
The prison yard was quiet as most of the inmates were done with their assigned duties for the day. The stretches of long blocks were almost identical except for the little differences in each block's structural design. The grasses had been newly cut, the environment was spick span clean and nothing was out of place.
Nothing obscured the view for miles on all sides, the thick barbwire that stretched across the perimeter of the facility was sufficient for most houses but not in a prison facility of this caliber. One of the patrol team with his heavy firearm slung across his shoulders came into view and disappeared not too long after behind one of the adjoining facilities.
Coming from not too far from the administrative block, the constant chatter of voices was unmistakable. The only nonstop activity in that facility was the occasional noise, fights, and of course the nonstop conversation of men who were only too happy to share some happy moments with other inmates close enough to them. Their fights were as constant as their happy moments, it was as spontaneous as a Savannah rainfall at its season.
The most joyous moment for the prisoners was when their food was served, the men had big appetites but the small portions of the often poorly cooked meals did nothing to assuage the hunger they usually felt. They attacked their meals with all the strength they have gotten and any inmates found slacking during this time had other inmates diving for his portion.
It was a known fact in the prison that spitting saliva into their meals wouldn't stop others from coming for the food, the only rule they all wanted their fellow inmates to respect was 'eat and eat fast'. Nothing else suffice. This unwritten code was a tradition previous inmates had passed down, the wardens didn't do anything to make them stop this, they helped fuel the notion that it was part of their prison's culture.
Block A was the worst block to be on, the most hardened criminals and multiple offenders were usually assigned to that block. Dave and Richard, amongst several other hardened criminals, had been assigned to the block when both of them had been sentenced to a total of five years imprisonment after their highly sensational court case ended. The judge sentenced them to be behind the bars with hard labor for at least three years without being considered for parole.
Some of the inmates had devised games they could play to while away the time whenever they felt bored, this was home away from home for some of them. Some had committed themselves to be repeat offenders, they had no legal means of livelihood, and the crafts they learned while in the prison didn't appeal to them. They wanted a life that would give them access to fast money and fast life.
They hadn't known themselves before they had been referred to the godfather, they had previously been independent mercenaries. The job had made them come together to execute one of their hardest jobs since they committed their lives to live outside the dictates of the laws of the land. They had been very successful in their other previous operations, hence their referral to the godfather, and in fact, they would have gone scot-free in their last operation except that the unexpected had happened.
No one, not even the godfather, had had the premonition that their victim, the politician had had those banknotes serial numbers carefully written out and the same had been given to secret operatives who had worked on that and other high intelligence reports to nab them. The rumor had gone out fast that the seer could no longer see and that had made the godfather very angry, his reputation meant everything to him.
