Namaste New York: A Novel

  ***

  The following day, Vijay went to the university hoping to see Hina, but again she didn't come. As the days passed with no word from her, Vijay's hopes began to fade. Finally Nadira found out from a friend of hers who worked in the Registrar's office that Hina had withdrawn from all of her classes for the semester.

  Vijay was despondent and blamed himself for everything. He knew that he'd destroyed Hina's present and her future, and the guilt was almost too much for him to bear. Hina had done nothing wrong. He didn't even know for sure if she'd had any feelings for him, but he had just kept pushing his own agenda, never stopping once to consider her wishes or her desires. He wanted to go to Hina's house and talk to her, or maybe even to her parents. But Nadira had been adamant that doing so would only cause more trouble for Hina. "I told you before, Vijay," Nadira warned. "If you really do love her, let her go."

  Vijay couldn't stop thinking about Hina, though. He missed studying with her, having lunches together, and laughing with her. But he was helpless, and he didn't hear anything from Hina for months. As the harsh New York winter gave way to spring, the university's final exam period began, and Vijay reluctantly forced Hina from his mind as he turned his attention to his studies. He had lost all hope for her and for their future together.

  Lucky had spent the winter and early spring working at the gas station, studying, trying his best to console Vijay, and with what little time he had left, doing all of Dan's assignments. Lucky barely slept, and had developed quite the caffeine habit. Dan was getting good grades on the assignments that Lucky was submitting for him, and as a result Dan grew complacent, spending all of the extra time Lucky had freed up for him partying with his friends instead of learning the material for his classes so that he could pass his final exams. He'd barely passed the midterms, so he knew he'd have to do well on the finals, and by early spring, Dan knew that there was just no way to learn that much material in a few weeks. In desperation, Dan had asked Lucky to take his finals for him, and offered him another thousand dollars for each exam. Dan had already paid one of his business contacts to make a fake student ID card with his name and Lucky's photo, and he convinced Lucky that no one would recognize it as a forgery.

  Although Lucky was paranoid about getting caught, he couldn't refuse the money. He still had a sizeable balance he owed to Aakash and his brother for the robbery, and hadn't been able to send much back to India, so he felt he had no choice but to take the risk and appear for the exams in Dan's place. He didn't even consult with Vijay and Raj, since he knew what they would say.

  Just as Dan had predicted, the student proctors, who were mostly PhD students, didn't recognize Lucky when he came to sit for Dan's exams, and didn't recognize the scam going on right under their noses. Lucky took Dan's three finals, and always left the exam hall without getting caught. Dan seemed pleased, and kept his word about the money. After Lucky collected his payout, he was able to pay off the remainder of his debt to the brothers, and still had enough left over to head down to the Western Union and send a money order to India. For the first time in months, Lucky was debt-free, and he was feeling pretty proud of his own ingenuity and resourcefulness, right up until the day he was sitting at the library computer and the email from the Graduate Dean's office showed up in his inbox.

  Lucky looked at the email header and his palms started to sweat. His throat went suddenly dry, and with a shaky hand, he clicked on the email to open it, and read through it quickly.

  It has come to our attention?

  inconsistencies in performance?

  allegations of academic dishonesty?

  presence is required for a

  meeting with Dean Horwitch?

  discussion of disciplinary action

  to include possible dismissal from the university?

  Lucky felt his stomach lurch. How had they found out? He'd been so careful. He'd never been stopped or questioned by the proctors, he'd said nothing about the arrangement to anyone, even his friends?Dan wouldn't have told anyone because he'd have nothing to gain by it, and he'd have to know that they'd both get kicked out of school?

  Lucky grabbed his books and slapped his hand over his mouth, running out of the library. He barely made it to the men's room before vomiting up his lunch.