Sheba Karim - The Marvelous Mirza Girls

For Anand, who brought me to the jinn.

DURING THE SPEECHES AT her high school graduation, Noreen picked at dirt on her sneakers and thought about her dead aunt. Today was the first anniversary of Sonia Khalas funeral, and Noreen would have preferred to stay home, bake Sonia Khalas favorite blueberry scones, and eat them on the hammock while listening to Sonia Khalas three musical beloveds (Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, Marc Anthony, and Prince), but her mother, Ruby, had insisted, saying, imagine how my sister would feel if she knew she was the reason you skipped your graduation.

Having researched notions of barzakh, the period between death and resurrection, Noreen had learned it was widely accepted that souls awaiting the Day of Judgment in Paradise (where, if there was a Paradise, Sonia Khalas soul would certainly be) could have knowledge of the actions of the living. Better not to risk it, given how much Sonia Khala had loved the academy, with all its towers and traditions. Had she been alive, she would have flown out for Noreens graduation and decorated the house with balloons and a big cheesy sign made by her nine-year-old twins, Amir and Sohail, illustrated by Amir with a silly rhyming couplet by Sohail. Somewhere on the sign, Amir would have drawn her portrait. The last time, hed gotten the shape of her eyes exactly right.

Hed stopped drawing since his mother died.

Noreen had worn running sneakers under her lacy white graduation dress so she could go far and fast on a moments notice. She used to hate running, but her adviser had suggested rounding out her high school resume with a sport, and shed joined cross-country because it didnt cut anyone. Though Noreen was not athletically inclined and considered second to last a victory, running grew on her. It was like writing; she approached it with a modicum of dread but was always glad to have done it, and, unlike her unfinished scripts, she always completed a race. She hadnt been able to write in the past year, but she ran four to five times a week. It took her out of her head, provided a respite from the grief and the doubts and the dark.

At the podium, valedictorian Purima Sen was addressing her fellow graduates, fifty-three white-clad girls poised at the brink of their futures. As you go through life, do not take no as an answer, but a challenge. Because if you put your mind to it, nothing is beyond your reach, whether its the stars or a Nobel Prize.

Every year, the same solemn speeches, go forth, bright young women, and achieve greatness in the world, courage kindness girl power Nobel Prize blah blah blah. Even Sonia Khala, when she was high school valedictorian, must have uttered the same sincere, inspirational hokiness, while a thirteen-year-old Ruby sat in the audience between their parents, rolling her eyes as their mother cried and their father filmed every last moment on his giant camcorder.

Why all these false promises? Why not speak the truth? That getting hit by a bus, dying quickly of a disease, dying slowly of a disease, even sunbathing at the unlucky moment an epic tsunami powered by climate change swept the whole island, all of those things were more likely than any of them winning the Nobel Prize for anything? Or at least quote Chris Rockyou can be anything youre good at, as long as theyre hiring.

The speeches ended; the distribution of diplomas began. Noreen made sure to smile at the congratulations of her teachers, some of whom had watched her grow from quiet, awkward middle schooler, mustache over braces, errant eyebrows, and a roving band of small but vicious pimples, to high school graduate with a far more manicured face, quiet still but less awkward. Coach Novak, for example, had witnessed Noreens transformation from girl who tried to dodge dodgeball to reluctant runner to breast cancer 10K participant. She was saying goodbye to the school where shed spent her formative years, met Abby, and started a humor zine (after the debut issue, half the junior class had come to her with some version of, Noreen, I didnt realize you were so funny!), and though she was moved by the finality and poignancy of this academic rite of passage, her aunt was rotting under six feet of dirt, of which Noreen had thrown three fistfuls, and since then everythinglaughter, hope, nostalgiacame steeped in grief.

Greetings, high school graduate! Care to spike your lemonade with some of Mama Wus finest bourbon? Abby wrapped her arm around Noreens waist, pulling her close as she dug inside a canvas bag for her flask, a skull and crossbones poison symbol etched into the leather. Noreen refused the booze and rested her head on her best friends shoulder.

How you doing? Abby asked.

Better than I expected, honestly, Noreen said.

Did your grandparents come?

Nah. They were going to but my grandmother couldnt get out of bed this morning, first anniversary and all, and my grandfather didnt want to leave her.

Got it. Where are Ruby Auntie and Adi Uncle?

Hitting up the jerk shrimp skewers before they disappear.

Did somebody say shrimp skewers? Abby despised fish but could eat half her weight in crustaceans.

Jumbo. Better get some before theyre gone.

Im on it. Want one?

Noreen shook her head. A few seconds later, her stomach gurgled. Hey, get me one too, she called out to Abby, girl on a mission in her fuchsia Doc Martens boots and a tight, white silk dress. Poor outfit for running, but excellent for the ass.

Then whoever had appointed themselves DJCoach Novak, probably, who always opened their school dances and was the reason every student at Covington School for Girls could perform the electric slide in their sleepdecided it was time to switch up the dulcet harp instrumental.

One, two, one two three huh!

Prince.

You had to be kidding.

Shed pretended through the ceremony, but she couldnt pretend through Prince.

Noreen threw her drink at a trash can, missed, kept going, turned back a moment later because grief would not make a litterer of her, dammit, disposed of the cup properly. She waved at Abby and her mother, hitched up her dress, lengthened her stride.