41. Chance lords of Serendipity - Lords of Serendipity

Night had gone from dark and moth filled to blue and bats discing back to their caves to hang. It was nearly dawn. Jack and Quinn were still arguing.

Well, what about Jesus? asked Quinn.

I think it’s time to end this conversation, said Jack.

No, mate, really, hear me out. One last way of thinking about this before you make your decision. What about Jesus?

Jack sighed. He considered Quinn, his bright blue eyes red and scratchy from a lack of sleep, but also pulsing, nearly bulging. He hadn’t given up. Jack wanted to go home and lie down in his lizard-walled bedroom, but the thought of getting up from his office chair, just then, was too much. It felt easier to stay a little longer. And it made no difference. He’d already made his decision.

Okay, Quinn. What about Jesus?

Well, think about what it was like for him.

In what sense does this relate to my plans to report Martin’s research fraud and resign my position?

And also give up on the fantastic new opportunity I’ve identified for you? Really?

Jack shook his head. Quinn had tracked him down in the lab, in the middle of the night, to let him know he’d recently become the prime candidate for the position of pro–vice chancellor of the new part of Serendipity. Thus far, Quinn admitted, he was also the only candidate. The decision had been made based on the immediate success of the data institute, and on Martin’s fast-approaching lecture promising to announce a major discovery, which would help attract other international scholars to the school. Also, Jack had won notice from the Chinese visitors at the opening ceremony when he observed that students should hang their laundry in private, not public. This was taken as strong evidence of his commitment to order.

As part of the position, the lodge where he was staying would become exclusively his, and he would receive a salary of two hundred thousand American dollars a year, with bonuses for recruiting other faculty, and a sizable research and travel budget. He would have to resign his position at Arcadia to accept it. Quinn himself would receive, as a finder’s fee, the equivalent of Jack’s first year of salary, which, he assured Jack, he was planning to use to do a lot of good things, not just treating himself to a gorgeous Laopu Gold bracelet but also making a generous donation to the university itself, and specifically to the office of the new pro–vice chancellor, to create a discretionary fund.

Everyone won if Jack said yes.

Everyone lost if he did what he was planning to do.

Which he was, even after hours of conversation with Quinn broken up by spicy mix and then, when the faculty lounge’s kitchen staff arrived, by hard biscuits and tea with promises of egg hoppers and cinnamon onion sambal whenever they asked.

What kind of university would put someone in charge of something as important as this research institute, knowing he’s covering up a lie? asked Jack.

No mud, no lotus.

What?

Sorry, that’s more of a Buddhist way of thinking about university leadership. What I really want you to think about is Jesus, mate. Think about what he went through, the lashings and then the cross. The bloody cross! He’s up there, he’s nailed in place, dying for hours on end. And what’s he thinking the whole time?

I don’t know.

Well, obviously, no one really does. But here’s my idea. He’s thinking, I’m going through all of this because I know what it means to everyone else, what it’s going to do for them, for so many people, for such a very long time. And I’m going to do it, for them, even knowing what I know.

Which is?

That it’s all a lie. He wasn’t the son of God any more than Martin’s found exploding black holes.

Colliding neutron stars, creating black holes.

Colliding black holes. Whatever! You need to carry this, Jack, for what it’s going to do for everyone else, and not just me. And no offense, but running the newest, best part of a university on a beautiful, exotic island, getting paid more than you would back home and also getting a free house and personal staff out of it? Compared to what Jesus went through? I mean, come on.

Jack got up and left. He went back to the lodge. Dangerous at last, he drafted a letter of resignation to Serendipity that included all of the evidence against Martin, and cc’d him. Two hours later, still awake, he drafted a letter of resignation to Arcadia, which included all of the evidence against Allard, and cc’d him. He didn’t know what he would do next, or how much it would cost him when the lawyers came for him. Katrina would have to go on aid and take loans.

For the next two weeks these letters remained in Jack’s drafts, slugs in the heart, slugs in the chamber.

Katrina and Martin arrived in Sri Lanka in early December, on the same flight. Quinn met them at the airport and brought them to campus. It was well past midnight. Jack and the servants were waiting on the verandah. Mosquito coils smoked on clay plates along the perimeter, and citronella torches lined the walkway and steps. One of the servants was holding a ribbon-tied shoebox. Jack hugged Katrina for a very long time. He asked how Cham was. Katrina told him she was good, that she was going to heal and come back to school, eventually, but she was in no hurry, she was spending time at home, and that was a really good thing, too. Katrina said she’d explain everything later.

When he stopped hugging her, Jack looked up and saw that Quinn and Martin were still there, standing between the torches. He nodded at Quinn and barely nodded at Martin, who didn’t seem to notice. In fact, Martin seemed almost proud of himself as he waited patiently until the father-child reunion concluded.

Katrina, tell him your idea. Please! said Martin.

Jack, trust me, it’s brilliant! Your daughter! I mean, no surprise, knowing you, but she’s brilliant, said Quinn.

Well, Professor Martin—

Martin, please.

On the way here, Martin was telling us about his big discovery, thanks to what you did here, Dad, and he was saying that usually people in his field have stars named after them. But sometimes, like with Stephen Hawking, it happens with other things?

Hawking points, Jack. Named by Sir Roger Penrose as part of his work in cyclical cosmology—

Why don’t we continue this discussion another time? Katrina, let’s go inside. Good night, Martin and Quinn.

Just wait! Jack! You’re going to be the first to hear it! Katrina, please, said Martin.

Absolutely, you need to hear this, said Quinn.

So, he told me he was thinking of using his last name for his new discovery—

Not just mine, said Martin. Your father played an important role, too.

Right, and that’s amazing, Dad. Anyway, Martin was explaining that his last name was kind of hard to pronounce?

Polish, Martin said.

So I said, what about Martin Glows? But then I thought, that sounds kind of boring. So I said what about GlowMartins, which sounds more scientific but also cool, like a British band or something?

Brilliant! said Martin.

Fucking brilliant! I can already see the T-shirts, said Quinn.

And now two members of your family have helped make scientific history, Jack, said Martin.

Congratulations, really, everyone, said Quinn.

Jack looked away.

Slugs.

The servant holding the shoebox stepped forward and whispered, Sir? Now?

Jack nodded, and the servant gave Katrina the shoebox.

Please. Open carefully, miss.

She opened it and put a hand to her mouth, whispered, Oh my God, and sighed. Quinn and Martin approached, leaned in, and also sighed. The shoebox was lined with shredded Chinese newspapers. Inside was a baby chipmunk.

Welcome to Sri Lanka, Miss Katrina. Welcome to Serendipity. Only, don’t let the crows see.

Devi wasn’t dreaming. She definitely wasn’t dreaming. Professor Martin was standing right in front of her. He was that close. She was this close. Only, there was that bloody glass wall between them. And Professor Jack. The men were inside Professor Jack’s office, and they had been in there for hours, talking. Was this what professors did when they were together? It was awful. Professor Martin had been on campus all day, and Devi had yet to meet him. She’d tried to bring tea and been turned away. She’d knocked to remind about the luncheon with other professors, and Professor Jack told her to cancel it and closed the door.

So she just waited in the lab, in her best dress, along with the graduate students, who were also dressed up. They looked very worried. She asked them if everything was all right.

Can’t say, said Piyal.

We’ll see, said Krisanthi.

But what did they have to worry about, compared to her? It was now only an hour before the lecture, at which point she knew she’d never get to speak with him. Devi had made copies of the schedule: Professor Martin’s day began with meetings in the lab, then the canceled luncheon, the lecture, a VIP reception, and dinner at the chancellor’s house. Devi was invited to none of that, not even to take names at the door. Professor Martin would leave campus in the morning for an island tour with Quinn—the famous temples and ancient ruins, an eco-safari, an elephant orphanage, an ayurvedic spa, a traditional village attraction, a handicrafts factory where civil war widows and orphans worked, a glass-bottom boat trip, and a dinner party on the ocean floor at low tide. Then he had meetings at the Chinese embassy in Colombo before he flew back to America, back to his famous university, back to the university that could be Devi’s, if she could just explain herself, telling her story going all the way back to the Oxford English Dictionary prize she nearly won as a little girl.

Or she could tell him none of it.

Whichever he preferred, so long as he recommended her for admission.

But he didn’t even know about her dream and his university’s Dream School, and she was running out of time. And not just because of his schedule and Professor Jack not letting her speak with him. She checked her phone. Her family would arrive any minute. Devi had arranged standing-room tickets for Professor Martin’s lecture. They were coming by bus, having left the village before dawn so that Menaka Aunty wouldn’t see and ask where they were going in their washed and pressed funeral clothes. She would have insisted on hiring them a car and then taken all the spots for herself, her purse, and her grandsons and their video games.

A white girl walked into the lab. She was very white. She was also very pretty, and she was holding a shoebox. Devi wanted to touch her hair.

Hi, I’m looking for Jack? He’s sort of a professor here? Also, he’s my dad?

Welcome! I am Devi.

She held out her hand and Katrina did the same. Devi saw a black mark on her palm. She wasn’t perfect perfect, like Devi had imagined a genuine American university girl would be. This was disappointing. But never mind, she was useful.

Please, wait here, and I will obtain him for you.

Oh? Is he in a meeting? That’s okay. I can wait. I just need the password for the Wi-Fi?

Devi heard none of it. Her ears were full of rushing and her heart was beating hard and her vision was only the door into Jack’s office. Everything else blurry and wet, she went and knocked and went right in and, not even breathing, said:

Excuse me, Professor Jack, but you are wanted outside and it is urgent.

Devi. We’re in the middle of a very important discussion here. Please step out.

But it’s your daughter.

My daughter?

Yes. She’s just outside, asking for you. And holding a box. And saying she needs something.

Can you tell her to wait, please?

I think she wants to speak with you right away, Professor Jack.

Ask her to wait. Now please step out.

Devi swallowed and turned to go. Dashed. Not even broken winged. Grounded here, for the rest of her life.

No.

Not yet.

She turned around and looked through Jack to Martin.

One last flight.

Greetings, Professor Martin. I am Devi. I work here, in the institute.

Very nice to meet you, he said.

I would like to speak with you about my interest, Professor, in attending your institution. Actually, it is my dream. And are you aware of the Dream School?

Devi! I asked you to leave, said Jack.

You mean our international student access program, Ilé Álá? said Martin.

Yes! Yes, Professor, that’s right! Shall I say more, truly?

She was about to cry.

Yes, please. Tell me, what do you want to study? Astronomy? Statistics?

Sorry? No. I want to study at your university.

I see. Yes. That’s wonderful. Please, continue.

Devi, leave now! said Jack.

No, Devi. Stay. And please don’t speak to a member of my team like that ever again, Jack. I suggest you leave.

This is my office, said Jack.

It’s mine, actually, so long as I remain director of this institute. I allow you to use it. And there are other opportunities in my gift to grant, for as long as I am in this position and this lab exists, and this is why I’d like to hear more from Devi now. I have heard enough from you.

Jack didn’t move.

Very well, said Martin. Devi, would you like to tell me a little more about yourself while we walk to the lecture hall?

You can’t give this lecture, Martin.

If memory serves, I was invited to do so by the chancellor, not by the visiting assistant director of the data science institute.

Associate director.

Martin smirked and mouthed Congratulations.

Jack looked at Devi and back at Martin.

I know what you’re doing, said Jack.

So do I, said Martin. Now, Devi, shall we?

Yes, thank you, Professor. This is like a dream.

They walked out of the building and down the pathway to Serendipity’s newest lecture hall, a flat glass cube. Devi and Martin were in front, followed by the graduate students and then Jack and Katrina. Quinn saw them coming and joined the procession.

From under the shade of a mai mara tree, a group of brown people dressed in heavy black clothes suddenly dropped what they were eating and began washing their hands from plastic jugs. They threw the jugs away and began waving and walking toward them.

Devi! Devi!

Is that your family? asked Martin.

Sorry, Professor, yes.

Why sorry? I’d love to meet them!

They slowed down and waited for Thathi, Ammi, Achchi, and Devi’s brothers on the pathway. Everyone was smiling and nodding. Devi’s brothers were writhing at Katrina. Phones were out. Only Jack and Ammi weren’t smiling or nodding.

Devi! Darling, my god, look at you walking in such a place, with such people. I always knew, I always knew! Didn’t I always bloody know Devi was our future! The future!

Ammi nodded at Thathi. But she was studying Jack.

Devi stepped in between the groups and turned.

Professors, these are the members of my family. Thathi, Ammi, everyone, these are—

The chance lords of Serendipity! What an honor to meet you at last! I was previously employed on the Serendib Road! How auspicious for all of us! I congratulate you on choosing my daughter!

Not chance lords, Thathi. Not chance lords. Chancellors. Chancellors. And these are professors, not chancellors.

Well, we’ll see, won’t we, said Quinn. Everyone, let’s take a few pictures and then we need to get inside for the lecture.

Jack turned and walked away. Katrina followed him. Ammi followed after them.

Jack? Dad? What is it? What’s wrong?

Katrina, I can’t do this.

Can’t do what?

I can’t say yes to a lie. Again.

What are you talking about? What do you mean, “again”?

I’ll explain while we pack.

Pack? We’re leaving?

We’re leaving.

No you’re not.

It was Ammi, standing right behind him. Jack turned around.

I’m sorry, madam, but you don’t understand what’s happening here.

Of course! How could I? I’m just a useless village woman.

Please. I mean no offense and this has nothing to do with you.

This has everything to do with me, sir, because it has everything to do with my daughter. You told her, you told us, she was not to apply to your Arcadia and you gave her a job here at Serendipity and now you’re leaving? What will happen to her?

I’ve seen enough of your daughter to be confident she’s going to be fine, said Jack.

And I’ve seen enough of my daughter to know she’s not going to be fine. The vultures will get her, whether here or in your America. You university people come here and make our children sick and crazy with stupid ideas of going to your Ochpys psycho world and becoming rich and powerful and owning AC houses with upstairs bedrooms, and then you leave? I have no schooling like you, sir, but you’re the same as the bloody old Britishers. Same as your armies in Afghanistan, Iraq, Palestine. At least the Chinese won’t leave.

No. He’s not like that, said Katrina. Sorry, but I don’t know what Ochpys is—

Your Oxford Cambridge Harvard Yale business.

Okay. Whatever. But that’s not what he is. My father left his old university instead of going along with something that was wrong. That’s why he’s here, instead. To do something good and right. That’s my father. Right, Jack?

My god, your child calls you by your given name? No wonder your country is destroyed and ruining the world.

Dad, tell her. Tell her you’re not like the rest of them. Tell her you’re going to help her daughter. Please? Please, Dad?

Katrina, you don’t understand—

That you can help a person and you’re not going to?

It’s not that simple.

It is, unless you’re a professor.

Katrina—

I am asking you, Professor. Please, help my Devi. You promised me, when we first met. Don’t you remember? I asked you and you promised me. Didn’t you? You did! And how many people in America have done this for your daughter? For all the American girls like her? No one is doing this for my Devi. I am asking you to do this for my Devi. She is my only daughter. This is your daughter. You must know, no? What it’s like?

What he knew was that Martin would promise to get Devi into the program at his university, and that he could only do this if he wasn’t exposed for what he was. A lifetime cheat. Devi and her family’s lives would change. As would the lives of everyone connected to the lab and to the new Serendipity. More professors would come here because of Martin’s discovery. Serendipity’s reputation would rise. The glow. The glow of the university. The false glow. The faked glow. But so many more Devis would have chances that were real, if only Jack fell deeper into the black hole of higher education.

Katrina took his hand.

Come on, Jack. Let’s go to the lecture.

Wait a moment, he said.

He took out his phone and deleted his letter of resignation to Serendipity. Then he sent his letter of resignation to Arcadia, including all evidence of years of cheating by Allard Hamburger, who was just then fast asleep in Costa Rica. Jack forwarded the message to Allard. Was it a mercy? A crow? Yes. He was deserving.

Okay, he said.

Katrina led him down the path. He went slowly, like a roulette ball at the end of its run, the end of the dealer’s spin, the end of all hopes save one.

They kept walking.

Chatting warmly, Devi and Martin had already gone into the lecture hall, where they were noticed and photographed. They were followed by Quinn and Thathi, who were exploding ideas for the future. Everyone else had waited but now gathered around Jack and Katrina and Ammi. The brothers pointed and asked Katrina what she was holding. She opened the shoebox to show them her sleeping baby chipmunk. She told them how much better it was than Haven’s puppies. No one understood what she was talking about. But everyone said yes to Katrina.

A murder of crows was perched in the mai mara tree. They were watching for their chance. We always say yes to Katrina, and we always watch for our chance. The fattest one flew down into the crowd and grabbed the chipmunk, but Katrina closed the box before the crow could fly away with it. She opened the box. The baby was torn up, bleeding, all but dead. Katrina sobbed. Jack held her, and Devi’s brothers touched her hair and promised they’d get her another one, as many as she wanted. The lecture was starting. Achchi took the shoebox from Katrina and sat on a bench in the foyer while everyone else went inside. Waiting there, she began to shiver from the strange cold air. She left the building and found real shade. That night, after the family celebrated Devi’s dream coming true, she would go home and give her old snake a treat.