Namaste New York: A Novel

  ***

  It was early morning when Lucky got off the subway and slowly began walking towards the apartment. After getting a 4.0 GPA in his first semester, he'd thought about quitting his job and focusing more on his studies and research. Now he was going to have to keep his job at the gas station and find a second job to support himself and his family back in India. Just the thought of it brought Lucky to tears again, and he sat down on the sidewalk and wept.

  When Lucky finally reached home and unlocked the door to the apartment, he saw that Vijay and Raj were still sleeping. He closed the door quietly and slumped down against the wall. He had struggled his whole life to come here, and made so many sacrifices. And now, just when he began to think that maybe his life was finally taking a turn for the better, two thieves had stolen everything from him. They didn't just steal five thousand dollars; they stole Lucky's faith and his future. They stole his family's future. Lucky couldn't see through the tears streaming down his face, and he rubbed at his eyes with his shirtsleeve. Standing up abruptly, Lucky walked over to the window, grabbed the statue of Goddess Lakshmi in his hand, and with all of his strength, he threw it against the wall, shattering it into hundreds of pieces.

  Vijay and Raj awoke with a start and jumped up defensively, unsure of what had happened. They saw that Lucky had come home, and the statue that he had worshipped day and night littered their wood floor. They tried to wipe the sleep out of their eyes, unable to believe what they saw.

  Lucky stared at the broken statue and then threw himself to the floor, sobbing and crying out in his native language. Vijay and Raj rushed to him and tried to console him, having no idea what had happened to put him into this state of distress. Lucky was hyperventilating, and just kept crying and speaking Tamil.

  "Lucky! Is everything okay with your family?" Vijay asked. Lucky managed to nod. Raj ran to the kitchen and filled a glass with water. He handed it to Lucky and told him to take a drink. Lucky tried, but choked on it, spitting water out all over Raj. Raj didn't care, and encouraged him to try again after he'd taken a few deep breaths. Lucky was finally able to take a few sips and calm down enough to talk. He relayed the whole story of the robbery to his friends, and Vijay and Raj sat beside him with their arms around him.

  "Now I have to work for free, and I will have no money!" Lucky cried.

  "It's okay, Lucky. Raj and I make enough to cover the apartment and our living expenses."

  "You do not understand, Vijay. My whole life, I always shared my family's faith that no matter what happened in my life that the gods are looking out for us and they will not let us suffer too much as long as we keep them happy. So I pray and I pray, every day, for good things for my family. I pray that I will be able achieve greatness and help them live the better life. But after tonight what happened, now I know better. These men, they came and took what was not theirs and ruined everything for me, but there is no punishment for them. Why, Vijay? Why do I have all these problems since I was born? Praying to gods will solve the problems of my life is just stupid childhood fantasy. I am not stupid guy, but until tonight I have been behaving stupid. But it is okay. Now I know that only person I can count on is me. I am done wasting the time praying to gods that do not exist. Lakshminarayanan Durgalakshminath will make his own destiny."

  Raj and Vijay listened sympathetically, but didn't know how to react while they watched their friend's entire belief system break down before their eyes.

  "You know," Lucky continued, "with no money, I cannot send anything to India and my father and sister depend on my salary for their medicines. Without these medicines, they will get very sick." At the thought of his family, Lucky began to cry. "I work full-time at gas station, and I do not have much time for studying anyways. Now I have to find second job. But even if I find one, there is no way I can do school and two full-time jobs and keep up the grades. If my grades suffer, I will lose the scholarship and I cannot afford tuition from my pocket. All of my dreams are over." Lucky couldn't believe how bad luck seemed to just follow him throughout his life, and he felt trapped in a vicious cycle of never-ending problems. Unfortunately his friends were at a loss as to how to help.

  The sound of Lucky's weeping stopped so abruptly that Vijay and Raj were taken aback. A strange look came over Lucky's face as he wiped at his tears. "I make my own destiny," he said again, almost to himself. Then he turned to his friend. "Vijay, I think I know what to do."

  "What?" Vijay asked.

  "Few weeks before, Dan asked me to do his assignments and papers. He was ready to pay even three thousand dollars," Lucky replied.

  "What did you tell him?"

  "I told him no. I did not want to work for such big asshole," Lucky replied.

  "So you think he's going to be nice to you now?" Vijay asked.

  "Nice? No, not nice. But I do not have other option. I need the money. I will get no salary from now onwards and I need to send money to India this week. How do I do that?" Lucky asked. Vijay shrugged.

  "Lucky, I think that this job with Dan is your best option, at least for now," Raj said, speaking up. "If you're working for him, then you'd be spending time at the university, which would help you manage your studies also. And maybe we can help you with the assignments and share your workload."

  Lucky put a hand on Raj's shoulder. "You are right. I think this is the only way I can get out of this," Lucky replied. He sighed heavily. "You know, I showed him my middle finger twice. He is going fuck me back. Hard."

  "Just do it for one semester and then everything will be okay," Raj replied. "Who cares about his attitude?"

  Vijay had said nothing about Lucky's plan. He was not comfortable with the idea of Lucky helping Dan to cheat, and could think of a million things that could go wrong with the plan, but since he didn't have a better suggestion, he kept his opinion to himself.