Shiya was an Indian Muslim, and - prior to her pregnancies - a pro-India combatant in the contested region between India and Pakistan. Shiya was a political and religious fanatic; she expected both of her children to be soldiers, and trained them accordingly from near childhood. The Indian government removed both Shaheeda and her elder brother Aalim from Shiya's care when Shiya prepared to return to the frontlines with them at her side. Their caseworker, Thomas Vijayhanapril, was a Gods-touched specialist in child brainwashing; perhaps seeing a hint of Shaheeda's parentage, he devoted certain resources to repairing the minds and spirits of both her and her brother. In a matter of months, both children testified against their mother in Family Court; their removal to an orphanage made permanent.
While initially angry at the government Shiya long fought for, as they testified against her, she found it easier to blame her children. She railed at their weakness and unrighteousness, and threatened the man who had dared to intervene. And when their caseworker was found dead - apparently shot - Shiya was arrested for his murder. While no conclusive evidence linked her to Thomas's killing, the circumstances were sufficient for a quick conviction. Shiya died in an escape attempt.
With that scandal, adoption interest was non-existent. Living as orphans was difficult, but not insurmountable. They were relocated twice - winding up in the historic city of Madurai - but mercifully never separated. On the boys' side of the dormitory, Aalim became one of the brightest stars, earning scholastic achievements in mathematics and computer science. Shaheeda did not find herself so academically inclined, instead using her free time to grow hidden vegetable gardens, as a source of income for the future when they were of age and required to fend for themselves. She reflected on her mother in a way her brother seemed to have stopped doing following Thomas's intervention. In that reflection, finding comfort in the cycles and sacred texts of Hinduism.
Upon leaving the system, Aalim found a scholarship, and ultimately more - a job in New York City! Shaheeda had stayed behind, working as a gardener and guide in one of Madurai's largest parks. He pressed her to come. She demurred. The news of zombies in India alarmed them both; the United States must be safer. He had money to give them both a better life. With high hopes, she agreed. In her mind, she left India forever. Aalim had a home, a new wife (surprise!), a good life, and a place for her. There was even a small backyard where things could be grown. Aalim and his bride died with a million other New Yorkers.
Her father, Brahma, came to her soon after, as the world seem to dim from her blackest grief. He said how "he was expected to put up a fight against the enemy" and "as he understood it, like Shiya had done to gain a son, Shiya sought to father another child." He had been no more than a wanderer passing through, doing a duty. She was the creation of them both. He had to go. He gave her some gifts. His final words, remembered clearly before he vanished, "Even at the end, there are beginnings."
The things he left her convinced her it was not a fantasy. Yet she was unclear of what he meant, why he came, or what she was meant to do. She thought for some time. Despite the end, as her father said, some things would be born nonetheless; the great Cycle of Life, perhaps… While she knew no better, she worked on the garden in Aalim's house, to remember him by, and hoped to do something for the others, as well.
Shaheeda dealt with the financial issues surrounding her brother's death by ignoring them. Life insurance policies, stocks, bonds, and the like were beyond her ken. She continues to live in their house, in Midwood, Brooklyn, across from the James Madison High School. Probate eventually released this and the rest of the property to her, as their closest surviving relative.
She has thought about finding some sort of employment and has taken steps to forming some sort of larger purpose. Currently, she is working on purchasing the neighboring houses, to tear down and create a memorial park for her brother. She is also eying the large sports fields of the high school for the same purpose. She has thoughts about how to memorialize the others who have died, too, but those plans have not coalesced.
While the City and country is strange to her, she learned the streets, plants, parks, and byways by walking through them over the past few weeks.
