Namaste New York: A Novel

  ***

  After lunch, the boys left the girls in Carrie's apartment and took the subway back to Bay Ridge. Raj was sullen the entire way home, and when Vijay asked him what was wrong, Lucky shook his head. "When we get home, Vijay. We will talk about it then."

  Vijay had no idea what was happening, but he was worried. Maybe Raj had been hurt in the fight, or maybe he'd decided earlier that the whole wedding crashing idea was terrible, but felt like he couldn't back out, and now he was angry at Vijay for involving him. Maybe he was worried about his job at the restaurant if the police found out, but that seemed unlikely, since Nadira said that Hina's family hadn't called them. Whatever it was, Vijay was anxious to get to the bottom of it, and when they were all in the apartment, he turned to his friends. "Okay, seriously. I really appreciate everything the two of you did for me today. It means more to me than you know. But what's going on? Are you mad at me? Did I do something wrong? I promise, you won't get in any trouble for this. If anyone comes asking, it was all my idea, I'll take the blame for everything. Just tell me?"

  "It was her," Raj said, his voice strangely monotone.

  "Her?" Vijay had no idea what he meant.

  "From the locket," Lucky volunteered.

  "Who from what locket?" Vijay asked, trying to grasp what his roommates were trying to tell him.

  Raj sighed and sat down at their small dining table. He pulled his locket from an inside pocket of his clothes and opened it. "Shoaib's mom. Hina's mom. She's the woman in the locket."

  Vijay gasped. "What? What are you talking about, what are you saying?" He pulled out the chair beside Raj and sat down. "Are you sure?"

  "Damn sure. There's no mistake, man. I've been looking at the woman in this picture for over ten years," Raj replied.

  "Did Hina ever talk about her mother? Did she tell you her name or anything?" Lucky asked Vijay.

  Vijay shook his head. "No. She just used to say that her mother loved Indian culture, Indian food, Indian movies. But she never told me her name." He looked at Raj. "You know that her family is from Pakistan, right?"

  Raj rolled his eyes. "Yeah, I know. I don't care. I have to talk to her mother. She's my only hope of finding out who I am."

  "There must be more to this story. It just doesn't make any sense. Do you want me to talk to Hina?" Vijay asked.

  Raj shook his head. "No," he said emphatically. "I think Hina is already going through a lot right now, and this would just be too much for her to handle. And what if her mother isn't the person I should be looking for?"

  Lucky spoke up. "I agree. I think it is better to keep Hina out of it. Confront her mother directly."

  Vijay nodded in agreement. "They're a very conservative family, so Hina may not know anything about her mother's past."

  Lucky began pacing the living area. "But what if they are his family? Does that mean Raj is Pakistani? But then how does he land in Kashmir? Maybe they came to India to see Kashmir and someone stole you," Lucky said, muttering to himself.

  "But then why they did not look for you?" he continued, exploring different possibilities. Vijay and Raj just sat at the table and listened to Lucky brainstorm for a while. "It means Hina is your sister, and?oh!" he said, wagging his finger in the air. "Her asshole brother," he said, pointing to Vijay, "is your asshole brother!" he said, pointing to Raj.

  Lucky laughed, and then coughed when Raj gave him a dirty look. "? and Vijay will be your brother-in-law. Hmm!" Lucky's face brightened. "Okay, okay! Well, that will be awesome, no?"

  Raj and Vijay looked at each other and shook their heads.

  "Wait," Lucky said, snapping his fingers. "You should also be Muslim, like them."

  "And?" Raj asked.

  Lucky's eyes narrowed suspiciously. "How is your dick?"

  "How is my WHAT?" Raj snapped. "What does my dick have to do with anything?"

  Vijay reached over to touch his arm. "No, Raj, he's right. Is it?you know?cut?"

  It took Raj a minute to understand what his friends were asking. "Oh. Um, I don't think so." Raj really didn't know what other guy's penises looked like, but he was pretty sure he still had his foreskin.

  "Fascinating!" Lucky clapped his hands together. "So they did not cut it off and leave you on the street? How is that possible?" The wheels in Lucky's mind just kept turning.

  Vijay gave Lucky a look. "Are you finished talking about his dick?"

  Lucky shook his head and kept pacing.

  "Okay," Vijay said. "Then by all means, please continue. But maybe a little less talk about his dick and a little more talk about what to do next?"

  Raj thought for a moment and answered the question Vijay had directed at Lucky. "I'll go to her house tomorrow and talk to her mother."

  "Alone? No way! We'll come with you," Vijay replied.

  "No, Vijay, it's not necessary. They already hate you. I don't want to make things worse for you," Raj replied.

  "Dude," Lucky laughed. "Last time they saw you, you were sitting on top of Hina's brother and beating his face. I do not think they will invite you inside and offer you a cup of tea," Lucky said.

  "Yeah, Raj, her brother would kill you if he sees you again," Vijay said. "I saw the way you guys were fighting. We won't let you go alone, and there's no point in arguing with us about it." Raj was still reluctant, so Vijay reached over and put his hand on Raj's arm. "Look, you've waited so many years for this day. Getting answers from Hina's mother is more important than my one-year old relationship with Hina. We promised we'd help you find your parents, so let us help you," Vijay said, half insisting and half pleading with Raj.

  Raj finally relented. "Okay, thanks guys. You can come, but this is something I need to do for myself, so promise me you'll let me handle things."

  Vijay and Lucky looked at each other and nodded. "Promise," they said in unison.